Moyenne and a Meeting with a Real Robinson Crusoe

Moyenne is a tiny Seychelles island just off St Anne’s in the middle of the Marine National Park. We went there on a boat excursion for two hours and the highlight must have been meeting Brendon Grimshaw…

Brendon is a real modern-day Robinson Crusoe, but one with a definite ecological mission.   He has lived on the island for the last 30 years or so and planted over 16,000 trees to give it the look of a real jungle. It’s full of tortoises of varying sizes and he buys large bags of rice to feed the host of birds that live there.

Brendon trained as a journalist and for many years was a foreign correspondent based in Dar Es Salaam for Reuters, the Times, Telegraph and others. He was also PR advisor to President Nyrere of Tanzania. He then retired to the Seychelles and achieved the dream of getting away from it all that so many of us share, but very few have the opportunity to realise.

Moyenne is a short boat ride from St Anne’s which is featured in the Tropical Sky Seychelles programme. His island has a wonderful nature trail marked with orange blobs so you cannot get lost and it also has a simple map to lead you round. You do have to pay a small fee (€10) as it is part of the National Park, but the journey is well worth it. One of the highlights has to be the House of Dogs, built by a former owner Emma Wardlow.  She rounded up the stay dogs of Mahé and looked after them from 1899 to 1919.

Speaking of sea dogs, although they may be more popularly associated with the Caribbean, Pirates do figure in Moyenne’s history because before 1700 they were the only inhabitants.  There is reputed to be hidden treasure on the island so Pirate’s Cove may be well worth a visit.  If you get the chance, drop into smallest all-denomination church in the Seychelles and take a look at the graves of two supposed pirates and Brendon’s father. There are also two splendid look out points: Elephant Rock Viewpoint looks out over Coral cove and 12 Islands Viewing Rocks look out over, as the name suggests, 12 different islands.

Brendan has done a wonderful job in preserving the place and is determined not to turn it into another Five-star island hotel:  “They ruined Round Island when they built the hotel.  It should never have been allowed.”  He just loves to talk and has wonderful stories about the island and the ghosts that haunt the place.   A film about the island is just about to be released and you can read some of the articles written about Brendon and his island in a charmingly small dilapidated museum.

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