Seychelles Botanical Garden

The botanical garden is located in Victoria. You can get to it by taking the bus to the bus station, and then walk to the supermarket and the marlin fountain at the intersection and from the supermarket (if you face it) go to the left.

At the entrance to the Botanical Garden you can buy a brochure with a map of the garden and a description of the plants growing there. There is a fee to enter the park, the ticket office is at the entrance.

The garden is divided into thematic areas with different species of plants.

The main attraction of the park is the Coco de Mer palm.

Coco de Mer or sea nut got its name when the Seychelles were not yet discovered. And when they found heart-shaped nuts in neighboring islands they thought it was from the depths of the sea because they had never seen palm trees where such nuts could grow.

Coco de Mer is a rare palm. It grows only on two Seychelles islands (out of 119) in the natural environment and on Mahe in the Botanical Garden. Each palm on the islands is counted and each nut is assigned an inventory number. The ripe nut is extracted from its shell and the shell is sold as a souvenir.

When buying a nut the tourist is given a certificate which not be lost. Otherwise expect a huge fine or even imprisonment.

In addition to Coco de Mer there are several other species of endemic palm trees in the garden. For example, the walking palm.

These palms are called walking palms because they can grow stilt roots about a meter off the ground. And if the palm has unsuitable growing conditions, the main trunk dies off and the palm remains standing on the stilted trunks. Such a palm can move one meter in a year.

The park has a small pond where you can relax on the benches under the shade of trees.