NATURE TO NURTURE

Hatching turtles, cinnamon-trees and a coral nursery: the beauty of the Seychelles is in its living wonders and flourishing landscapes By Lucy Halfhead

Wildlife wonders on an ecological jewel of the Seychelles

From 25,000 feet, it is immediately apparent that the Seychelles is more than just a fly-andflop destination. Yes, there are crystal-clear waters, swaying palm-trees and white-sand beaches, but these 115 beguiling islands off East Africa are also home to rolling green mountains and rocky outcrops: terrain that holds the potential for a very different tropical experience.

Mercifully, British Airways has recommenced direct flights from London to the Seychelles, a decade after the airline last offered the service, and we had enjoyed a seamless 10-hour journey to Mahé, the gateway to this Indian Ocean idyll. I slept so deeply on the new Dreamliner aircraft that I had to be woken up and ushered off the plane after we touched down, before being whisked by car to another terminal where the helicopter transfer was waiting.

Journey’s end was Félicité Island (whose name aptly translates as ‘bliss’), the fifth largest in the archipelago, and once a coconut plantation, back in the 1900s. Giant granite boulders line the shore and are dotted across the lush landscape, tall and otherworldly; today, the island is also home to the exclusive resort of Six Senses Zil Pasyon, and I gazed with equal wonder at my one-bedroom Panorama Pool Villa, with its infinity pool that overlooked a vast expanse of ocean, swirling with inky blues and turquoise. There are 30 villas in total, spread far enough that you don’t have to meet another soul if you wish, all clad in beautiful balau-wood and sumptuous white linens. Playful touches include a wooden swing-seat in the bathroom, glass jars filled with moreish coconut biscuits, and a ‘do not disturb’ sign in the shape of a turtle that can be rotated depending on your mood.

Surrounding these are some 652 acres, lovingly tended by Félicité’s resident ecologist

Steve Hill, who has made every effort to improve the two thirds of the island that are untouched by man-made developments, by driving out invasive species and encouraging native flora to grow. So effective has Hill’s work been that our two-hour dawn hikes turned into a fascinating show-and-tell of plants and birds – a coco de mer tree here, a Seychelles paradise flycatcher there – as if we were starring in our very own episode of Planet Earth. We saw spiders as big as my hand (thankfully harmless) clinging on to giant webs, as well as cinnamon-trees, wild vanilla orchids and medicinal leaves that the locals hail as a cure for all ills.

Six Senses’ commitment to conservation – more apparent and convincing than other private-island retreats – is also illustrated by the elimination of single-use plastic bottles, which have been replaced by refillable glass, and a bountiful organic garden growing aubergines, squashes and herbs. When we went snorkelling with Anna Zora, the marine biologist from the resort’s dive centre, as well as pointing out myriad multicoloured fish and the odd turtle, she showed us a coral nursery that the resort has installed to help rebuild the underwater environment suffering from the impact of climate change. The value of these endeavours came magically to life one evening when I received a phone call in my villa. Abandoning my shower and throwing on the nearest clothing I could find, I raced to the island’s Grand Anse beach, where dozens of baby hawksbill sea turtles had just hatched and were making their perilous journey from their nests to the sea, watched over by Zora and her team.

As well as sustainability, at the heart of every Six Senses property is its spa, and although the waterside world of wellness at Zil Pasyon is reached by crossing a wooden rope walkway, it goes far beyond a rustic Swiss Family Robinson fantasy. Each of the five treatment-rooms, offering African-inspired rituals from rose-crystal facials to avocado hair masks, is embedded between the vast prehistoric rocks, and there is an outdoor yoga pavilion where I enjoyed a sunrise stretch and savasana accompanied by the salty breeze and the sound of gently lapping waves (no soundtrack required).

Delicious meals awaited at the all-day Island Café, where eggs to order and vibrant tropical-fruit platters were de rigueur, and the meat-free Ocean Kitchen, headed by the talented British chef Richard Lee. Here, we feasted on superb barbecued fish zinging with flavours from the Seychellois spice route, served with focaccia, fresh out of the bread oven. There was also an ice-cream cart featuring 42 flavours, from toffee-banana-ginger to honeydew melon, and a dedicated rum bar decorated like a stylish pirate’s lair.

On our last night, we were whisked by golf buggy to the island’s peak for a champagne picnic atop those incredible stone promontories, where giant beanbags had been arranged around a firepit. As the sun set, enormous gothic bats did somersaults above us and slowly, one-by-one, the stars began to glitter across the dark night sky. Talk about ending on a high… British Airways (www.ba.com) flies from London Heathrow to Mahé, from £653 return. Six Senses Zil Pasyon (www.sixsenses.com), from about £1,195 a night for a Hideaway Pool Villa.