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About Praslin
Praslin Island was named after the Duc of Praslin who
was guillotined during the French Revolution. It belongs to
a group of islands called the Aldabra, which includes
Curieuse, Cousin, and Aride. At eight miles long
and three miles wide, Praslin is the second largest island
in the Seychelles. It's a granite island awash with lush forest
preserves and some great beaches and yet another Seychelles
embodiment of a tropical island paradise.
About Vallée de Mai Forest Preserve
Most people come here to visit the Vallée de Mai
Forest Preserve - a renowned World Heritage site. The
island's hot and humid tropical climate has created a cornucopia
of wildlife, aided by the fact that the islands of the Seychelles
were settled on by humans only 200 years ago, so there hasn't
been enough time yet to wreak too much havoc on the environment;
the landscape is still very much pre-historic. Here you can
see wild pineapple, wild coffee, allspice bushes, and
in the air or nesting on a tree you may spot a rare Seychelles
black parrot.
There are over 1,000 species of plants that thrive in the
Seychelles, sixty of which are indigenous. The most talked
about is the Coco de Mer, which is found only in Praslin
and Curieuse islands. There are 4,000 of the trees is the
preserve.
What is a Coco de Mer?
Coco de Mer means coconuts of the sea; legend has it that
the first one grew from an underwater tree. They're so large
- weighing in at up to 20 kilos - that you have to see it
to believe it. The female tree has the largest seed in the
world. Don't walk under the trees because if the fruit falls
on your head it will probably kill you. Legend also has it
that Praslin Island is the legendary Garden of Eden,
and the famous Coco de Mer palm was actually the fruit of
knowledge of good and evil that led to the expulsion of Adam
and Eve from Paradise. Perhaps this myth is born from the
erotic shape of the fruit: it's a double nut with an uncanny
likeness to the female genitalia. The catkin is the male flower
of the fruit, and it looks equally like a giant male phallus.
In another similarly homosapien similarity, the Coco de Mer
tree takes between 20 and 30 years to bear fruit, and a further
seven years to fully mature, however, men may blush to be
outdone by a plant as the female fruits grow up to 10 inches
and males up to 12 inches in length. The tree can live for
between 200 and 400 years.
How to buy a Coco de Mer
Each fruit is sawn into two parts, emptied of the dried milk,
and glue back together. It is then it cleaned - some are polished,
some are completely shaved, others are just left with what
looks like pubic hair! You cannot eat the fruit - it's purely
used for decorative purposes. Each coco de mer is allocated
a certificate with a number, details of it provenance which
is a green label glued onto it, but only licensed sellers
can have them in their shops. You can buy a coco de mer for
the mighty sum of 200 Euros ($250) in some of the upmarket
tourist shops in Mahé, La Digue, and Praslin.
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