SEYCHELLES AHEAD OF IT'S NEIGHBORS
By Bob Van Leer

  (PRASLIN, SEYCHELLES, Indian Ocean, Feb. 18, 1995) - Our ship anchored at Praslin, the second largest of the Seychelles, this morning and we went ashore by launch. There is no deep water dock on the island but there is a dock for our launch.

  The highlight of the morning was a tour of the Valle de Mai, a World Heritage site. The feature of the park is it's groves of Coco de Mer, an unusual palm tree that grows naturally only two places in the world and this is one of them.

   It is a wonder the palm has survived at all. It has the world's largest seed. Fertile seeds are double coconuts that average 60 pounds for one seed and can go up to 90 pounds, It takes seven years for this seed to mature. After that, it takes two to three years for the seed to germinate.

  The tree does, however, have a long life. The oldest tree in the park is 300 years old. The fronds of the palm are quite spectacular, 20-30 feet long including a fan 6-8 feet wide. But the trunk isn't much. The 300 year old tree had a trunk about 10 inches in diameter.

  The park is a real jungle with Coco de Mer the most prominent plant and many others. The jungle floor is mostly covered with a mat of palm leaves a couple of feet thick.

  The towns on the island are quite small. I asked to be dropped off downtown and was told we had just passed it. The beaches are terrific, hard white sand and ankle high surf. Our activities directors, Michael and Midge, both dropout Miami attorneys, are planning to leave the tour business and settle in Praslin, teaching English in local schools for a living.

SEYCHELLES DIFFERENT

  Politically and economically, the Seychelles are a different kettle of fish from the other islands we visited. Life expectancy is 75 years for women and 65 for men, not far below the U. S. In much of this region, life expectancy is about 50. Literacy is high - 85%, and the annual population growth is low (0.8%). The major religion is Roman Catholic.

  Economically, the Gross Domestic Product is $5200 per capita, compared to about $450 in Madagascar. More than a third of the 70,000 people (24,325) live in the capital city of Victoria on Mahe. The total land of the Seychelles island chain is about 445 square kilometers, scattered over a vast expanse of ocean.

  The Seychelles are about 1500 kilometers east of the African mainland and about 3000 kilometers from India. Conservation is a major consideration and all development is regulated and controlled to protect the natural beauty of the islands.

  This is almost the end of our island adventure. Tomorrow morning (Sunday) we will make the short trip south to Mahe and disembark the ship. Plans include a tour of the island and then depart for home by plane in the afternoon. It will be a long day. We are now 12 hours ahead of home, halfway around the world, an we will regain the hours as we retrace our steps, so Sunday will be 36 hours long for us. We are now in the southern hemisphere, so we will be going from summer in the tropics to winter at home.

  We will return direct from Mahe to Athens, Greece, then on to Manchester, England, and finally, Newark, New Jersey, by Monarch, the same charter airline that brought us to Africa. At Newark we will transfer to American Airlines and return to Portland with a stop at Dallas, Texas.