Vallée de Mai

The Vallée de Mai is a primeval palm forest in the centre of Praslin, protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to the coco de mer — a palm that produces the largest seed of any plant on earth and grows nowhere in the wild except this valley and the neighbouring island of Curieuse. The nuts, shaped like a female lower body and weighing up to 25 kilograms, float on ocean currents for thousands of kilometres; before the 18th century, when the tree's actual source was unknown, the nuts washed up as far as the Maldives and philosophers earnestly debated whether the tree grew on the ocean floor.

The forest has a cathedral quality — the palms rise 30 metres, the fronds block the light, and the ground is covered with leaf litter and the enormous fallen nuts. Walking the paths, you share the valley with Seychelles black parrots, fruit bats, skinks, and the persistent sounds of birds you cannot identify. The black parrot exists only here, feeding almost exclusively on the palm fruit; you will hear its call before you see it. Three other species of endemic palm also grow here, along with vanilla orchids that scramble up the older trees.

Allow at least two hours. The paths are well maintained but the heat and humidity are substantial.

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A story
General Charles Gordon of Khartoum visited in 1881 and became so overwhelmed by the forest that he concluded this was the original Garden of Eden. He identified the coco de mer as the Tree of Knowledge and the palms overhead as the source of Eve's temptation. He spent weeks mapping and writing up his theory, completely convinced. The palm's shape — a nut that weighs 25kg and looks remarkably like a female pelvis — gave him some explaining to do, which he did with considerable enthusiasm.