Moyenne Island in the Ste Anne Marine National Park - National Parks of the World on Waymarking.com

[DE]

Moyenne Island ist eine etwa 450m lange und 250 Meter breite Insel, die sich im “Sainte Anne Marine National Park” befindet. Sie ist seit 1975 im privaten Besitz von einem Engländer namens Brendon Grimshaw, der hier mit seinem Kumpanen wie Robinson Crusoe und Freitag lebt. Die Insel ist einen Tagesausflug wert.Kombiniert wird der Trip mit einer Fahrt im Glasbodenboot und Schnorcheln. Auch hier gibt es 75 Riesenschild- kröten, die frei auf der Insel leben.


[EN]

Moyenne Island is a small island (.089 km²) in the Ste Anne Marine National Park off the north coast of Mahé, Seychelles. Since the 1970s it has been a flora and fauna reserve. From 1915 until the 1970s, the island was abandoned until its purchase by Brendon Grimshaw, an English newspaper editor. Presently he is the only permanent resident of Moyenne and is responsible for returning the island to its former natural state.

Brendon Grimshaw purchased the island for GBP 10,000 in the 1960s and set about making the island habitable. He did this with the help of only one other man, Rene Antoine Lafortune. They operate the island as a nature reserve, charging visitors Eur 12 to come ashore, roam the island, dine at the "Jolly Roger" restaurant and relax on the beach. Apart from a wide variety of plant and bird life, the island is home to over 100 land tortoises. The eldest, "Desmond", being 76 years old according to Grimshaw. He named the tortoise after his godson.

Grimshaw is happy to talk about the island's potential as a hiding place of pirate treasure. There are rumours that over GBP 30 m of treasure is buried there. He has made two major digs and found some evidence of man-made hiding places, but no gold or other treasure found as yet. There are two graves on the island which have been said to be those of pirates, although this cannot be confirmed.

After 20 years of persistence, Brendon Grimshaw and his assistant Renne achieved their goal of making Moyenne Island a National Park in its own right, separate to that of the St. Anne marine park. Now known as the Moyenne Island National Park, it is the smallest National park in the world, harbouring one of the most species per square foot than any other part of the world.

While Grimshaw lives in a remote location, he is not deprived of the necessities of running water and electricity and he totes a mobile telephone in case of emergencies. The island is 4.5km away from the main island of Mahe.

Park Name: Moyenne Island in the Ste Anne Marine National Park Historic/Cultural Park: no Natural Park: yes Type of Listing: Entrance Fees in Local Currency: 12.00 (listed in local currency) Dates of Access: From: 01/01/2011 To: 12/31/2011 Hiking: no Camping: no Bicycling: no Horseback Riding: no Off-Roading: no Swimming: yes Snorkling/Scuba: yes Boating: no Rock Climbing: no Fishing: no Recreation Area: Not Listed Wildlife Refuge: Not Listed Other Park Type not listed above: Not listed Park Website: Not listed Other Type Detail: Not listed Hours available: Not listed Other Activities: Not listed

Visit Instructions:

A log will require a recent photograph at the coordinates. Some of these locations will be placed for the scenery, so a gpsr will just ruin the picture.

If you don't have a digital camera post a descriptive log.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   02/19/2012 luzzi-reloaded visited it