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Lying some 8,000km off the European mainland, the Seychelles archipelago consists of 115 islands scattered across the Indian Ocean. With most of the population of Seychelles living on the island of Mahé, it is the centre of the archipelago's lively Creole culture and its colorful history.
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Praslin
Praslin is Seychelles’ second largest island. The popular Vallée de Mai in Praslin is one of Seychelles’ two UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Vallée de Mai contains the largest intact forest of endemic Coco de mer palms, Lodoicea maldivica. The Coco de mer nut holds the record for the largest leaf and the biggest seed in the entire plant kingdom. Seychelles’ black parrot is also found only on Praslin.
La Digue
La Digue is the fourth largest island in Seychelles. The tranquility and the serenity of the breathtaking Seychellois island of Anse Source d’Argent is a major tourist attraction. La Digue is famous for its brand of Creole architecture, boat building and cultivation of the aromatic vanilla pods. It is also home to rare Seychelles black Paradise-Flycatcher which is one of the rarest birds on earth.
Bird Island
Bird Island owes its name to the thousands of birds which have turned it into their home. From May to September, the air resounds with the chirping and cooing of birds, accompanied by over a million and a half terns which nest on this island. Home to “Esmeralda”, the world’s heaviest land tortoise, Bird Island also has an extraordinary rich marine life in the form of hawksbill and green turtles, dolphins and even whales.
Silhouette Island
About 20km from Mahé, Silhouette is Seychelles’ third largest granite island which rises steeply from its beaches to form three high peaks. Silhouette is the only other island apart from Mahé to have a mist forest on its Mont Dauban peak. It is protected by the Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles and features many unique species of plants and trees on its verdant hillsides.
Aldabra Atoll
Aldabra, one of the world's largest coral atolls, encloses a huge tidal lagoon, which is large enough to be called a sea. Aldabra is the original habitat of around 200,000 giant land tortoises, as well as thousands of seabirds, including the white-throated rail, the sole remaining species of flightless bird in the Indian Ocean. Aldabra was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1982.
