NEPENTHES
PERVILLEI
AND THE
SEYCHELLES ODYSSEY
If we could look
back through time to its very dawn, when the shape of our planet was still
evolving, we would witness the crumbling of the giant super continent of
Gondwanaland. We might see how a line of sparkling islands floated free
into the Indian Ocean, finally coming to rest between India, Africa and
Madagascar. Today, we know these gems as the granitic islands of
Seychelles, the only mid-oceanic granite islands in the world, which have been
isolated for 75 million years. They lie between 4-10 degrees south of the
equator and 1,000 miles off the east African coast. Together, with others
of coral formation, they make up the Seychelles archipelago. 115
magnificent islands of striking beauty, spread like gemstones across more than a
million miles of ocean, and harbouring diverse and marvellous life forms that
are today a prized natural heritage and the pride of its people.
Forgotten for centuries by all but the most intrepid Arab sailors, pirates, and
adventurers, who were the first to wonder, wide-eyed at her natural beauty,
followed by the Portuguese, and the Dutch who did not settle there.
Seychelles remained uninhabited until the late eighteenth century when the
French, with their innate eye for beauty, finally made the islands their home.
From a diverse and prophetic assortment of "15 whites, 5 Malabar Indians and 8
Africans" the population swelled to 3,500 persons by the time Seychelles was
ceded to Britain in 1814, remaining a British colony until Independence in 1976.
The Seychellois people characterize a colourful and harmonious blend of
different races. Representatives from almost every race on earth have at
one time or another contributed something of their own customs and harmonious
nation, whose lingua franca is Creole, but where English and French are also the
official languages. The result is a common culture enriched by the
influences of many continents, and clearly visible throughout the domains of
language, architecture, music and cuisine. Today the Republic of
Seychelles has a multi-party political system, with an executive President as
head of state and government.
Only a handful of the international carnivorous plant fraternity have ever
visited these beautiful islands. For Seychelles is remote, very expensive,
and hosting only one endemic carnivorous plant, Nepenthes pervillei,
which has been poorly researched and documented. Most of the information
about it is buried in obscure, or out of print, scientific publications,
unobtainable to all but the most dedicated researcher. Tantalizing
glimpses of variations occasionally appear on the internet, with no references
of where the photos were taken. I have written a book "Seychelles
Carnivorous Plants" which I hope will stimulate interest in the carnivorous
plants of Seychelles, and enable those interested to know where, when, and what
to look for.
COLIN'S EMAIL HOME
Inhabited by rare
carnivorous plants, giant primeval mountains made from granite left over when
the world was formed. Remote and mysterious, these mountains and their
prehistoric vegetation, are found only the the tiny island of Seychelles in the
middle of the Indian Ocean. Visited by a mere handful of botanists, and
even less carnivorous plant enthusiasts, this was the destination of my choice,
and Tina's too, for French was their language, and any chance to practice it was
not to be passed up lightly. So after much research as to where to find
the plants, and was I fit enough to actually climb the mountains. Yes, I
could find them [I hope]. Yes, I was fit enough [I hope]. The other
concern was, could I find my way on and off the mountain. So a feat in
itself. No internet booking here, but a real travel agent skilled in the
ways of Indian Ocean travel, with lots of "my cousin have car yard" and "my
brother's wife's uncle have place to sleep". With these words of warning
from Tina's finger nail painting girl [DON'T TRUST THE MAURITIONS], I have never
seen Tina so apprehensive about a trip [don't know why], and its off we went.
First stop Mauritius. In typical French wisdom they build the airport on one
side of the island, and hotels on the other side. This employs lots of people
transporting everything from one side of the island to the other, and generally
wastes a good day. Great island, discovered in 1600 owned by everyone in
succession, who cut down all the trees, made every living creature on it
extinct, including the famous Dodo birds. There's not one feather, bone,
or anything of the 10s of thousands that once roamed here. Accommodation
FANTASTIC, beach resort like you see on Getaway or Lifestyle of the rich and
famous. Full board, all food and drinks included, what a place, Tina was
impressed except for the sparrows. The dining room was full of them,
pooped in and on everything. Ate out of the same buffet as us. The
management just ignored them. Car was a mini rent a wreck, no tread on
tyres, full of dints, but it went [sort of], only 450 thousand K.s on the clock
[only thing that worked]. Trundled around looking at stuff. Other
drivers seemed to have death wish, their driving made no sense, pass here, pass
there. Maybe they're the same religion as the suicide bombers, and were
just hurrying to get to a better place, maybe Mecca. The day we went into
the hills to look for plants there was a car rally, and every car on the road
was a world rally replica driven to its limit, and these were just the
spectators. Looked at lots of stuff, including what started out as a sort
of hypnotic attraction. For every attraction in Mauritius and Seychelles
had a pen of giant land tortoises, and every one you came to you could not help
looking at them just in case they did something. They never did.
Read where someone watched a pet one for 20 odd years, never did a thing, came
out one morning and it had turned around and they had missed it.
Next stop, Seychelles. As for airport, re-read Mauritius, but add mountain
range and narrow roads. Hotel a bit of a downer after the last one, but
adequate. POOL good. We swam even while watching the giant fruit
bats feed on nearby trees. CAR. Booked a Jeep or similar. A
micro something with wheels no bigger than a small wheel barrow turned up.
At least it had air con, as this place was hot. Car was actually adequate,
as Seychelles is only 18 miles long and 2.5 miles wide, with the smallest
capital city in the world. [Fuel 2 dollars plus per litre]. All of
the traffic is funnelled through this capital [VICTORIA] twice a day, creating
the world's biggest traffic jam. Tina and I started to climb the first
mountain, met some people on their way down, they told us no plants up there.
Go back, climb next mountain, see plants they said. Tina definitely
decided mountain climbing was not in her genes. Her ancestors came from
the flat part of France, and none had ever climbed mountains ever.
Guarding the car was more her "forte". [Check out my French] [Did her
ancestors have cars for her to inherit this incredible skill from?]
Climbed the next mountain and found some of the Nepenthes pervillei I had
come so far to see. I think I was the first person there ever, as the bush
was quite thick [3 metres high] and there were no signs of anyone ever pushing
through it. Extremely difficult photography as plants were growing in
vegetation choked valleys, between granite boulders as big as houses. No
paths or tracks, by the time I had left some of the vegetation was quite
damaged. All in all, the site was quite disappointing. Nothing like
the photos I had seen. Next morning climbed up Mt?? [see my book], a short
difficult climb. Only 800 metres long but steep all the way up. And
there at the top were patches of the most magnificent Nepenthes pervillei
growing, exposed to the full sun. This is what I had come so far to
see. At this very moment a lady, 2 children and a dog appeared. The
dog immediately attacked me. I finally kicked it over a cliff, only to see
it scramble back. From then on it stood its distance [1 metre] and just
barked and jumped on the plants I was trying to get photos of. The lady at
no time acknowledged that I was there, looked at me, or said anything.
WEIRD! This place was very dangerous to ever find your way down.
Finishing my photos, pH, G.P.S. and T.D.S. measurements I sadly but triumphantly
made my way down.
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Colin on the mountain amongst Nepenthes pervillei. |
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Note the "dog" behind him! |
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Nepenthes pervillei in Seychelles |
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Nepenthes pervillei with flower spike growing up a tree. |
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View from the top of Nepenthes pervillei mountain |
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The walking track to the top of Nepenthes pervillei mountain! |
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Two free days were now ours, time to explore the museums, libraries, herbariums,
what fun. And most of all, to see the legendary Coco de Mer palm.
This palm's giant life sized seed is shaped like a woman's private parts.
Every tourist thing on the island has a representation of this seed pod on it.
Even the Immigration stamp your passport with a woman's private parts stamp.
We found the palms in the botanic gardens, and there was one planted 50 years
ago by England's Prince Philip. The palm was huge, and had 100s of these
life size women's private parts coconuts hanging off it. Some dignitaries
plant rose bushes, but Prince Philip plants women's private parts trees.
The palms have male and female trees, and you guessed it, the male ones have a
hundred or so giant meter long ****** hanging off them. Legend has
it that in the middle of stormy nights they break off and go searching for
female Coco de Mers. No human has ever witnessed this and lived.
Tina went shopping, everything was made from coconuts, wood, palm leaves and the
finished products all looked like women's private parts. She finally gave
up in disgust. You could actually buy the real things, $450 each.
Prince Philip's tree had enough nuts to pay off the 3rd world debts. We
had two days of leisure to explore this emerald gem-like island. The
tropical vegetation was magnificent, with giant creepers festooning everything.
All in all, a wonderful place.
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A female Coco de Mer tree |
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HARD
SELL
Now you have had a good free read.
But to really learn about the famous Nepenthes pervillei of Seychelles,
and where to find them, you have to actually buy my books:
"SEYCHELLES CARNIVOROUS
PLANTS - A FIELD GUIDE AND CULTURAL NOTES TO THE INDIGENOUS AND EXOTIC SPECIES"
BY COLIN H. CLAYTON, 2005.
Posted within Australia $35 + gst
Posted overseas $45
English text, paperback, spiral bound, 30 pages of text, color photos, maps and
drawings. Describes and tells, in detail, where to find the Carnivorous
Plants of Seychelles. Particular reference to Nepenthes pervillei.
"CARNIVOROUS PLANTS
OF MAURITIUS AND SEYCHELLES - A FIELD GUIDE AND CULTURAL NOTES TO THE INDIGENOUS
AND EXOTIC SPECIES" BY COLIN H. CLAYTON, 2005
Posted within Australia $40 + gst
Posted overseas $50
English text, paperback, spiral bound, 39 pages of text, color photos, maps and
drawings. Describes and tells, in detail, where to find the Carnivorous
Plants of Mauritius and Seychelles. Particular reference to Nepenthes pervillei.
Please note: fax
number below is incorrect, but I am unable to change link bar at present.
NEW FAX NUMBER: 61 (0)3 9701 5816
If anyone is skilled in Microsoft FrontPage web making, I
would love to hear from you.
