The Seychelles are the most beautiful islands on Earth...why?

                                               

here aren’t many places on Earth where hawksbill turtles feel so unthreatened that they come ashore in broad daylight to lay their eggs. The Seychelles is one place where they do. There she was: a turtle scooping a hole in the sand, then entering the trance that accompanies the egg-laying process. Her carapace swayed as lychee-like ova plopped into the hollow.

Erin, the ecologist with me on the beach, measured the turtle’s shell and checked her tags. The only sounds I could make out were the turtle shuffling leaves, and the whisper of the warm breeze. Half an hour slid by before I moved from my supine position at the back of the beach to dust myself free of fine, white sand.

                   

Many of the turtle’s progeny will not survive; only around one in every 1,000 sea turtles makes it to adulthood. In most parts of the world turtles use the cover of darkness for protection as they lay and hatch their eggs – an attempt to address those odds. But in the Seychelles, quiet, protected beaches surrounded by indigenous forest allow them a degree of safety, even in daylight. 

                                   

With some exceptions, development and conservation sit together 

well in this archipelago of 115 islands. One coastline on the 

mainland, Mahé, aside, buildings cede to vegetation. Awareness of 

the need to preserve island ecology is increasing. Indigenous 

animal species that have been adversely affected by human 

development patterns are being reintroduced.

                      

  These granitic and coral islands, around 1,100 miles from the Tanzanian coast, are wilder and less glossily perfect than the Maldives, to the north and  east. But they are certainly alluring, with the attractions of surreal rock formations, lush forests and Creole heritage, as well as some of the world’s best beaches and cerulean seas. 

I was staying at the Fregate Island Private, 20 minutes by helicopter from Mahé. The resort is certainly luxurious. But as well as private infinity pools and a platoon of butlers, it provides access to some of the world’s rarest fauna and flora, so the need to preserve habitats and landscapes is fundamental.