As part of our mini-shakedown cruise we headed over to the marine park on Curieuse Island to check out the Aldabra Giant Tortoises. The island had endemic tortoises when the Europeans showed up, but it didn't take long to wipe them out. Starting in 1978 the island was repopulated with the big guys from Aldabra island, also in the Seychelles. These beasts can weight 350 lbs and live over 200 years.
Chris fancies herself as a bit of a wild tortoise hunter, having stalked them when we sailed to the Galapagos. Me, I stay far enough back in case they start spitting.
The island was used as a Leper Colony from 1829 to 1965.
The island has a nursey for youngsters. When the small ones are found around the island they are brought to the nursey and kept there till their shells are large and hard enough to protect them from the crabs and rats.
Chris was well on her way to sneaking one of these babies out as a boat pet until I showed her this sign.
The island is also famous for its Coco de Mer, the largest and strangest looking coconut in the world. These promiscuous looking coconuts are the national symbol of the Seychelles and you see the outline everywhere you look --on the visa stamps in your passport, on the tourist advertising, on many government forms, on graffiti on the walls. I even see the outlines of the Coco de Mer symbol on the back of people I see walking around.
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