Tembea: ARIDE ISLAND

The Seychelles island has a lot to offer and among those is one of the finest jewels in the Indian Ocean, an island whose bulk is granite rock, forming steep cliffs that offer magnificent views of the wealth of natural treasures in a wild and beautiful paradise. Aride Island is home to one million breeding seabirds of ten species, endemic birds such as Magpie Robins, Fodies, Brush Warblers and Blue Pigeon, Endemic Plants like wrights Gardenia and Turtle beaches and rich marine life. The Aride is the only place in the granitic Seychelles where these birds can be so closely encountered, and is home to a roosting population over ten times the size of that on any other island in the granitic Seychelles. Over 1.25 million seabirds regularly breed on Aride, including the worlds largest colony of Lesser Noddies, the world’s only hilltop colony of Sooty Terns, and the Indian Ocean’s largest colony of Roseate Terns (named arideensis, after the island). The island is also home to the world’s largest colony of Audubons Shearwaters, and what is thought to be the world’s largest colony of White-tailed Tropicbirds. There are also very large numbers of breeding Brown Noddies, Fairy Terns, Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and a few pairs of Red-tailed Tropicbirds - Aride is the only place in the granitic Seychelles where this species breeds. The island is native woodland, and the signature Wrights Gardenia, a shrub with beautifully scented flowers that is found naturally nowhere else in the world is a highlight of the fauna. The protection of coastal woodland, devastated on most other islands, is being encouraged on Aride. Mapou woodland is by far the best example of such habitat in Seychelles if not the Western Indian Ocean. Aride has a particularly rich reptilian fauna that includes 3 species of skink, a type of lizard, 3 species of gecko another lizard species and 3 species of harmless snake. In fact, Aride has the highest density of lizards in the world. Two species of marine turtle, Green and Hawksbill regularly nest on Aride’s beaches. The island is becoming an increasingly important breeding site for the Hawksbill in the Western Indian Ocean. The reserve boundary extends 200 m offshore, thereby protecting a beautiful coral reef and its associated marine life. Over 400 species of fish, from Whale Sharks to Flying Fish have been recorded on the reefs surrounding Aride. No vessels other than those of the reserve are allowed to land on Aride Island. As such visitors will have to disembark from their vessel and board the islands. Ends

Lifestyle

Tembea: ARIDE ISLAND