29 June: Seychelles Independence Day

Seychelles Independence Day is today. 10 things you might not know about these islands.

1. The Seychelles is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean. It comprises over 115 islands. 45 of these are granite-based and the only mid-ocean granite islands in the world. The other islands are coral or coral and sand.
2. In terms of population, The Seychelles is the smallest African country with a population of just 90,024. With a population of 25,000, the capital, Victoria, is the smallest capital city in the world.
3. The Seychelles is home to some very rare and unique animals and plants, including its national bird, The rare Seychelles Black Parrot, which only lives in The Vallee de Mai. Despite the name, the bird is actually brown. On Bird Island, you will find Esmeralda, the heaviest wild land tortoise. She weighs 304 kg.
4. Unique plants include the jellyfish tree and the Coco de Mer, a palm tree that produces the world's heaviest nut. This nut is sometimes called the "love nut" because its shape resembles a female bottom.
5. 150 million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, the Seychelles was part of the super-continent Gondwanaland. The coco de mer grows in The Vallee de Mai on Praslin Island, which according to legend was the location of the original Garden of Eden, and the forbidden fruit wasn't an apple, but the nut that looks like female buttocks.
6. There is said to be hidden treasure in the Seychelles. It was a hideout for pirates. Olivier Le Vasseur, an infamous pirate, had treasure worth 100,000 euros that remains hidden there to this day. Perhaps it is on the Moyenne Island in Ste. Anne Marine National Park, which is believed to be haunted by a spirit that guards buried treasure.
7. Whether or not the Garden of Eden was there, in recorded history nobody lived there before 1770. Even today nearly 50% of the country is uninhabited by human beings and is set aside as nature reserves.
8. Aldabra is the world’s largest raised coral atoll and is home to the world’s largest giant land tortoise colony, the world’s second largest Fregate bird nesting colony, only island nesting site for the Pink Flamingo, and the only flightless bird in the Indian Ocean.
9. It is a popular tourist destination and attracts celebrities, including Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, who named one of his characters, Milton Krest, after a tonic and ginger beer drink he tried while on holiday there. It was also where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge went on their honeymoon.
10. Eat breadfruit in the Seychelles, and according to legend, this means you will return to the islands someday.

My Books

As well as this blog, I also write fiction and have published two novels (Death and Faxes and Glastonbury Swan) and a collection of short stories (Jigsaw). If you like ghost stories, crime stories, a bit of romance and anything slightly bizarre you might enjoy them. 

Further details on my books page