The best travel tips for the Seychelles island of Bird Island

Bird Island, the northernmost Seychelles island, lives up to its name. Because the island is inhabited by millions of birds.

Vacationers come here not only to watch birds and other animals, but also for the white beaches, tranquility and some popular activities.

The flight from Mahé, the main island of the Seychelles, to the 82-hectare island of Bird in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa takes 30 minutes. What first catches your eye from above is the snow-white sandy beach that surrounds the lush green island. In the east and south, a reef protects the island – it is home to countless tropical fish. The island itself is home to around 750,000 sooty terns, as well as other species of swallows such as the noddy tern and the rare snow-white fairy tern. Other bird species include the tropic bird and the wedge-tailed shearwater. Altogether, several million birds live on Bird Island. Many of them breed on the ground. For this reason, we ensure that Bird Island remains free of rats and rabbits.

“Esmeralda” – encounter with what is probably the oldest giant tortoise in the world

But there are still four-legged friends on Bird Island: hawksbill and green sea turtles and also some giant tortoises. One of them is world-famous: “Esmeralda”, weighing 300 kilograms and occasionally looking a bit grim, is more than 200 years old and is probably the oldest giant tortoise in the world. Even if her name suggests otherwise: Esmeralda is a male.

Heavenly sandy beach

So animals play the leading role on Bird Island. But the Seychelles island is also a paradise for people. There are five kilometers of dream beaches and lush greenery. There are no cars, and neither is noise. At least not a human one. The birds can make a lot of noise when they are in the right mood.

Overnight on Bird Island

Visitors to Bird Island can rent “Private Island Villas” on the island. The bungalows are around 70 square meters and furnished with great attention to detail. However, guests have to do without air conditioning, television and telephone. But who wants modern advances when you can feel like Robinson Crusoe for once?

Activities on Bird Island

Those looking to exercise on Bird Island can rent kayaks or snorkel. In late fall (late October to early December), whale watching tours are another of Bird Island’s attractions.

History of Bird Island

The island has always been a paradise for birds. Because there were also many manatees living there, the island was called Île aux Vaches (island of the manatees). For a long time, however, little attention was paid to the birds, which led to their numbers falling sharply. Bird Island’s legacies still brought in hard cash: between 1896 and 1905, the island exported 17,000 tons of guano to Mauritius – as fertilizer for the sugar cane plantations there. Bird Island served as a coconut plantation and as an area for growing cotton and papayas.

The island has been privately owned since 1967. Conservation plays a key role. Since then, the vegetation has been carefully tended, there are research projects on the biology of the sooty tern, the turtles are given special protection and intruders such as rats are kept away.