Poivre Atoll and Island are part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles – located within the Amirantes Group:
The remote islands of Poivre Atoll remained undiscovered until the 1770’s and so the AREA had provided a protected sanctuary for numerous species. The islands were named after Pierre Poivre, the Governor of Île de France (the central administrative region of France which includes Paris) and Réunion (an overseas department and region of France located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar). Pierre Poivre also played an important role in introducing spices to the Seychelles.
Throughout the years, the atoll was used for farming vanilla as well as cattle and pigs.
Poivrre Island had one of the oldest and most productive and lucrative coconut and copra operations in the Seychelles outer islands
- Copra is the dried white kernel of a coconut. It yields coconut oil, which is then used to produce cooking oil, soaps, cosmetics, and margarine
Among the many species found in the area are herons, fodies, frigates and fairy terns (the fairy tern is an extraordinarily beautiful bird and I will share my encounter and photos in a later post). The island is also a nesting ground for turtles.
Today there are only a few human inhabitants, about 10 caretakers of the island and these people conduct research, conservation efforts and regulate tourism. There is a small village and also an unpaved airstrip allowing access to Mahé, the largest island of the Seychelles which includes the capital, Victoria.
I knew this was going to be special for as soon as we disembarked our Zodiac onto the beach of Poivre Island, we were met by a special cadre of natives:
We took a combined historical and nature walk, first exploring the remains of the coconut plantation:
As we moved into the interior of the island we began to see some other inhabitants – first a glimpse from a shy red fodie:
Then we came upon what seemed to be a simple stump of a tree:
Inside, there was an entire colony of hermit crabs of all shapes and sizes (clearly these crabs are not hermits):
As I noted previously you never know when nature is going to pop up. Similarly when we walked along the unpaved but beautiful open area of the airstrip:
A blue heron made its appearance , walking along with us for a bit before gracefully gliding away into the lush foliage::
One last nature viewing of the day occurred after returning to the ship and it necessitated taking an elevator below the waterline into the hull of the ship. Opening a door, I descended into an other-worldly experience:
The Blue Eye Lounge on Ponant’s Le Bellot is called the world’s first multisensory underwater cruise ship lounge – there are similar lounges on other Ponant expedition ships.
Two large, curved portholes shaped like the eyes of a whale enable guests to watch marine life swimming by. Hydrophones capture the underwater sounds of the ocean and the seating included “body listening sofas” that vibrate in sync with the sounds caught by the hyrdophones to let guests “feel” the ocean.
This lounge is also a bar, serving complimentary drinks – standard brand cocktails, fine wines, champagne and spirits. However, the bar does not serve blended drinks as the loud blender or shaker might disturb the marine life.
I joined a small group of fellow shipmates, sipping our drinks feeling the vibrations and watching the windows.
Alas, there was no live marine life passing by. This, I think is not an uncommon occurrence as the lounge also included the above screens which projected previously taped footage from three external underwater cameras.
There was also, I am sure, a not unusual result – one of our party, softly lulled by the undulating ocean against the hull of the boat, along with the acoustics and vibrations, combined with imbibing a number of libations, stretched out on a sofa and took a nap.
Not a bad way to end another lovely day in the Seychelles
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What an incredible trip and adventurous experience- great photos! Just back from holiday in the UK! Great time! PK