Articles
North Island
North Island
Island Group : Inner Islands Group
Population : 148
Distance from Mahé: 35km
Area : 2.01 sq.km
North lies only a few kilometres north of Silhouette and is the smaller of two visible in the distance from the beach at Beau Vallon on Mahé.
North was one of the very first Seychelles islands to be visited in a 1609 expedition under Captain Alexander Sharpeigh who found the island to have excellent ‘cokker nutts’ (i.e. coconuts) as well as a thriving population of giant land tortoises.
Widely regarded as one of Seychelles' most fertile islands, until recently North had been inhabited by smallholders producing vegetables, tending and harvesting the coconut plantations for shipment to Mahé, and engaging in fishing.
In 2003 Wilderness Safaris opened an 11-chalet, five-star resort on the island targeting the luxury eco-tourism market, promising visitors interaction with the island’s biodiversity at the same time offering a high standard of barefoot luxury.
The management is remaking the island into a wildlife sanctuary it dubs the “Noah’s Ark” project, a long-term plan to rehabilitate the island’s habitats to what it was before the introduction of human settlement, and to introduce endangered flora and fauna on the island to help preserve some of Seychelles’ precious endemic species.
The resort also taps into the abundance of fresh fish and produce on and around the island for almost all of its cuisine, and a “no menu” concept allows guests to personally interact with the head chef for a custom-made culinary experience tailored to their specific tastes.
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