My First Trip To
Bird Island Seychelles

"This is my story of how I discovered this bountiful island
the most charming little island in Seychelles"

My first visit to Bird Island Seychelles was in the late 1960's, as a wide-eyed teenager. My father informed me that the new owners had invited him to the island on some kind of business, and a schooner was bound there that night. And would I like to go? It was school vacation, so I was available... and would I like to go? I was eager. Boy was I eager!

We boarded the schooner around 10:00 that evening. The starry night crossing was pretty much uneventful, so I bunked down in a corner on deck but sleep wouldn't come so fast with all the thoughts of the day ahead.

With a tail wind in the sails we made headway fast and covered the 60 miles in just over 8 hours. But after what seemed like just a couple of hours of shuteye, my dad called me to what was to be the start of one of the most amazing days of my life. I remember it like it were only yesterday.

It was just before daybreak He pointed to the horizon and said: "there it is." But I couldn't see a thing at first. Maybe it was the sleep still in my eyes, maybe it was the half-light of the early dawn, or perhaps it's because I had never experienced such a thing. You see, I had lived all my life on a mountainous island, Mahe, and all the near islands around it are like mountains rising out of the sea when you look at them in the distance.

But that was something new. We were approaching Bird Island Seychelles most beautiful island - an island as flat as a pancake and small. I knew all about that but actually experiencing it is something else altogether. After a while I saw what he was pointing at. Yes it was unmistakeable, but it seemed like a floating log in the distance perhaps some 5 miles away. It was indeed very different.

We were on course and on schedule. We would be there just after sunrise. Well at that time all the sleepiness just vanished and I was alert and ready for a day of exploration that was to start soon.

Beach on Bird Island Seychelles - 5 km long white beach encircles the 180-acre island

What had appeared like a floating log, a little earlier, turned into what seemed like small, closely cropped bushes growing out of the sea, as we got ever nearer and almost daybreak.

Then much later in the rays of the early sunlight the unmistakable white beach cordon appeared the whole length of the shoreline and the trees started to be discernible. As the scene unfolded it just got better and better with every passing moment and it was a feast for the senses as I soaked it all up.

As we approached Bird Island Seychelles would indeed live up to its name once more. As the rising sun emerged from the sea that morning, it was such a wonderful sight - just incredibly beautiful. The fiery glow of the golden sunrise was picture perfect, as it illuminated cocoons of cloud dispersed in the morning sky.

And I was immersed in that magnificent experience as I gazed upon the island that was slowly but surely growing bigger and bigger. It was majestic and it felt so good. This was like a dream but I was fully awake and all the last traces of sleep had left me.

What a glorious sunrise! The white beach cordon contrasted sharply with the indigo blue sea while the emerald green forest canopy was highlighted over the horizon against the backdrop of the most beautiful gold-tinted morning sky.

Best Seychelles beach - Ptit Anse La Digue

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What made it even more beautiful was our relative position. And the timing was good too. You see we were headed due north while the sun was now rising out of the sea due east i.e. directly to our right. Perfect - the perfect sunrise on Bird Island Seychelles absolutely best island, where you lose all sense of time.

Shortly after sunrise we dropped anchor not much more than 50 metres from shore and the most beautiful white beach you can imagine. A long sleek black whaler (fisherman's canoe) that had been standing-by at the anchorage approached.

And that's how we were to be transferred right onto that beautiful beach. There's no jetty here. So we were to catch a wave and ride the surf right onto the beach in that flat-bottomed boat. Nice ride it was!

 

The sea here is the most amazing shade of turquoise, that you can imagine, which is accentuated by the white sandy bottom. There are no reefs on that side of the island, so the surf breaks with much force directly onto the beach. This has caused much land erosion in recent years on Bird Island Seychelles. But you'll find reefs and calm waters on the opposite coast with great opportunities for snorkelling there.

As we got ashore the task ahead for the few islanders were to get their supplies offloaded from the schooner, There were hardly a dozen contracted labourers on Bird Island plus an island administrator, all who would stay here anywhere from 3 months to a year at a time. That made up the island's inhabitants at that time - all temporary contracted workers. And they were all there at the beach to handle the schooner's arrival.

And as far as supplies were concerned they had to stock up the island store for 3 months at a time as the supply boats, like the one we came on, would visit only once every 2 to 3 months.

Bird Island Seychelles - a coral sand cay
The birds the beach and the sea

Great numbers of seabirds, that were milling around in the sky over one end of the island to our left, greeted us as they went about with their daily lives.

There wasn't much on the island, apart from the owners' house, right behind the beach where we landed and for the labourers, half a dozen small shacks lay further back among the coconut palms.

Now of course the island is permanently settled and the same owners live there.

But more importantly, a small hotel, Bird Island lodge, made up of two-dozen small bungalows are there for you, the welcomed guests of the island. All that came about after the 1970's, when a small airstrip for light aircrafts was built towards one end of the island, the furthest away from the bird colony. It is also on the opposite side to where we made our beach landing.

On my first visit, there was also a small, half-open bungalow, which was referred to as the hospital, although there were no doctors, no nurses and no medicines anywhere to be seen. This also doubled up as a guesthouse and that's where we would stay for the night, as we would only be leaving in the afternoon the next day.

After a hearty island breakfast and very little prodding I was off to discover Bird Island Seychelles at my own pace. And it was a joy. You can continue reading part 2 of my story here: A day on Bird Island.

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