Like a shell holds the sound of the sea inside it, the Seychelles are proxy for paradise preserved. For this place of virgin beaches (with blonde boulders that seem nonchalantly tossed into place), tropical rainforests and azure waters is so otherworldly, it’s no wonder that early explorers thought they’d stumbled upon the original Eden.
I have just returned from a week of heady, sybaritic pleasures at North Island, Fregate and Six Senses Zil Payson, and remain amazed at the levels to which these destinations honor the very things we take for granted. First logged in the 1500s by intrepid Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama, the beauty of the 115 islands that make up the Seychelles archipelago have held us in their collective thrall ever since. To this day it remains a destination of standout experiences, particularly for those in search of jaw-dropping natural beauty, geographical isolation and the kind of barefoot luxury that strikes a primal chord in all who visit.
As difficult as it may be to believe, just twenty years ago North Island was uninhabited and overrun with invasive vegetation and a rat population fit for the Pied Piper. Its savior came in the form of Wilderness Safaris, who stepped in and set in motion a radical biodiversity and rehabilitation program that has seen it go on to become an eco-tourist destination par excellence. I was last at North Island ten years ago but found it as transformative and transcendental as I did when I first had the privilege of visiting it. North Island, neither a resort nor a hotel, offers an experience of epic proportions. Time spent here is precious because the protection and preservation of this place requires an emotional intelligence you will battle to find elsewhere. North’s strong eco-consciousness is evident from the issuing of your own glass straw upon arrival to the stringent waste management processes they have employed, including extensive recycling, grey water systems and their own sustainable water bottling plant. We were fortunate enough to witness conservation in action on the island too, with turtles hatching on the beaches where the island’s environmentalists could give us a first-hand account of their marine conservation policy. The opportunity to spot key bird species in the forests, including the rare Seychelles white-eye that were successfully reintroduced to the island – is a privilege. The views of the turquoise and green from your villa, handcrafted by local Seychellois carpenters, create a feeling that this is your own private island. Add to the eleven no-expense-spared villas the endemic tortoises, indigenous birds and plants that have all returned, and this is wild abandonment at its absolute best.
