"BIRD ISLAND - DON'T GO THERE" Bird Island by JohnnySpangles

BIRD ISLAND – PLEASE DON’T GO THERE.

The reason you shouldn’t go there is that I don’t want this place to get too popular. You see it’s the best place on the planet. When I can afford to go again I don’t want to find out that there’s a twenty-year waiting list because you and your chums have booked it all up.

It’s the northernmost island of the Seychelles, thirty minutes flying time from Mahe. There’s only about twenty-five chalets, one eatery and the whole circumference of the island can be walked around in less than an hour. So your chances of bumping into a fellow guest are minimal. Much greater are your chances of bumping into a bird. Whereas there are probably no more than fifty people on the island there are over one and a half million nesting sooty terns. Still they keep themselves to themselves and leave the beaches to the humans. In fact the humans don’t seem to bother them much at all. You can virtually walk up to these things and tickle them under the chin. Mind you they’ll probably give you a nasty nip if you did.

NEXT STOP INDIA.

There’s also a giant tortoise called Esmerelda, reputedly the oldest tortoise in the world and the most inaccurately named. Esmerelda is a male tortoise. Call it a puff and it’ll definitely give you a nip. They can move fast when they want to.

The food in the evenings is wonderfully creole. Who cooks it, where they get the staff or even who owns the island is a bit of a mystery. It’s a coral island exactly as nature intended it and if you want to feel deserted for most of the day, with a fine bit of nosebag in the evening, then this is the place to go. Does anything need to be more complicated than that?

SAYS IT ALL.

Sadly I only got to spend one night there. That’s the problem though isn’t it? So many islands to choose from and you don’t really know where to spend your valuable time. Next time I’ll opt for three weeks solely on Bird Island, unless you’ve got there first.

For further lucid thoughts on the Seychelles you could try my other pages on ‘Seychelles’, ‘La Digue’, ‘Victoria’ and ‘Mahe’.

• Pros:DON'T GO.
• Cons:DON'T GO.
• In a nutshell:DON'T GO.