Valle de Mai Reserve

Vallee de Mai is a natural park and UNESCO World Heritage Site on Praslin Island of Seychelles. Vallee de Mai is one of the smallest natural earthly paradises. This quiet remote valley is the center of Praslin National Park and home to the famous and interesting coco de mer palms. The palm forest of Vallee de Mai is a remarkable living remnant of the prehistoric forests that existed when the Seychelles Granite Islands were still part of Gondwanaland - great land mass that included Africa, Madagascar and India. Millions of years of isolation have allowed unique groups of animals and plants to manifest here and some species are found only in the Seychelles.
I highly recommend to yachtsmen make visit to Vallee Mae. The reserve is only 4 km from the yacht marina of Praslin. You can get there by taxes by asking for one from the marina office or a charter company.

Flora of the Vallee de May

The palms of the coco de mer are surrounded by myths and legends. In part, this is because the strange double nuts were discovered long before the palm trees themselves were discovered. In addition the shapes of male and female coco de mer nuts resemble human reproductive organs. Unfortunately the "facts" about these unique and slow-growing palms have not been fully researched by scientific experts, so now there is a small amount of controversy described in biological statistics.

Coco de mer palms exist as "male" and "female" palms. Male palms grow up to 30 meters in height, while female palms only grow up to 24 meters. These palms produce the largest nuts in the world which can weigh more than 20 kg. The nut is in a shell and it needs about 6-7 years to mature. After planting, the first leaves appear after one year. On the Vallee de Mai, the leaves of young coco de mer palms are up to 14 meters long or even more. Typically these palms lives from 200 to 400 years.
Five other local palm species grow in the Vallee de May: the millionaire's lettuce (Deckenia nobilis), the thief's palm (Phoenicophorium borsigianum), the Seychelles pile palm (Verschaffeltia splendida), the latanier millepattes (Nephrosperma vanhoutteanum) and the latanier palm (Roscheria melanochaetes).

Fauna of the Vallée de May

The park is home to several bird species associated with palm trees as habitat. These are the black parrot (Coracopsis barklyi), called the "mystery bird", which feeds on palm fruit,

Alectroenas pulcherrima - Seychelles Blue Pigeon; Hypsipetes crassirostris - Seychelles Nightingale; Nectarinia dussumieri - Seychelles Nectarina; Collocalia francica - Mascarene swallow and Falco araea - Seychelles Kestrel.

Walking in the Vallée de May

The park can be traversed only by walking. All the paths are beautifully done and kept clean. There are few steep climbs or long hikes on Vallee de Mai. All trails are marked on maps. All the treasures of Vallee de Mai are accessible from absolutely all the trails, so use your eyes and ears to recognize them.

Photo walk in the Vallee de May Nature Reserve