To a land of animal magic

Exotic creatures and plants inhabit a world of their own in the exquisite Seychelles, discovers Tony Dawe

Young and old Aldabra tortoises are reputed to live for more than 100 years

For a group of islands created by a cataclysmic event, the Seychelles is a haven of calm, a place of almost unparalleled beauty and home to exotic flora and fauna, to plants and creatures that exist nowhere else on earth. The 115 islands possess such an aura because they remained uninhabited from their formation in a giant eruption 150 million years ago until the late 18th century.

Some of the most inspiring are still unpopulated, accessible only by inflatable boats and open only to the most caring of visitors. They stretch more than 1,000km from the Aldabra group, the world’s largest raised coral atoll in the south west of the Seychelles, to the biggest and best-known tourist islands of Mahé, Praslin and La Digue.

Sailing through them brings endless memorable encounters and experiences. The giant tortoises of Aldabra – there are 150,000 living in an intact ecosystem – make a great impression, as do 12m (40ft) plankton-eating whale sharks. Residing in the vast lagoon enclosed by the Aldabra atoll are much smaller but fearsome coconut crabs that use their strong claws to open coconuts and feed on the milk. The atoll is also home to the most important colony of frigate birds in the Indian Ocean; about 10,000 pairs live on the coral formations in the northern part of the lagoon.

Further colonies of spectacular seabirds, some found only in the Seychelles, can be seen on the Amirante Islands and Alphonse.

A friend playing host to an enthusiastic ornithologist on the island some months ago expected a long day in search of the rare magpie robin that resides there. As they sipped mango juice before setting out, the bird obligingly landed on a neighbouring roof. In one way, it was a shame because the island is one of the most beautiful and perfect for a walk as well as for snorkelling.

Walking is an essential mode of transport on Silhouette becauseit has no roads or cars. Paths into the interior lead visitors to the most beautiful virgin forest in the Indian Ocean. The island is surrounded by a continuous coral reef that for many years prevented any major development. One of the first was La Gran Kaz hotel, a charming, colonial-style plantation homestead near the island’s only landing point.

The tiny island of Aride has even fewer residents and is a nature reserve, offering protection to bronze geckos and white-tailed tropic birds. A hike to the summit of the island offers views of a wide variety of seabirds, while the plateau below blooms with paw paw, banana and guava.

Hotel developments are more obvious on the bigger islands of Praslin and La Digue but both boast splendid natural features. The Vallée de Mai Nature Reserveon Praslin is a Unesco World Heritage Site, where the coco-de-mer palm, famed for its huge buttock-shaped kernels, grows wild in a bundance. The island has striking beaches and the last remnant of the Seychelles’ high canopy palm forest.

Footpaths on La Digue lead to beaches characterised by massive boulders moulded into fantastical shapes by the waves.Taxis on the island are all 4x4s: they are carts pulled by oxen. Even Mahé, the largest island, where journeys through the Seychelles start or finish, is a place of beauty with wooded mountains, orchards and tea plantations, swaths of white sand beaches and one of the smallest but smartest capitals in the world, Victoria.

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