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Brendan Grimshaw's Moyenne Island
Moyenne (Middle) island is a tiny deserted island, just
half a mile wide, twenty minutes boat ride east from Victoria
in Mahé, Seychelles. But your boat has to moor
some way off the island as the water's so shallow, so bring
your waders. The island is owned by Brendan Grimshaw,
a Yorkshire man and former Nairobi journalist who bought this
desert island for £8,000 GDP in 1973 when he was 48
years old. He's been living here, without respite, ever since.
The island was bare when Brendan first arrived - a waterless
land overgrown with scrub. He grew every tree himself - palms,
bread, and coconut - until the island was transformed into
a tropical paradise. It's now a haven for 200 endangered Aldabra
tortoises. He employs a Man Friday character called René
to help him. His house was built in seven days, but for 18
months, he and René would have to row every day to
Mahé to collect a barrel of water for sustenance.
Tombs, ghosts, pirates, and treasure hunters
Tombs Moyenne houses ancient tombs of Arab sailors and several
graves which are believe to have been those of pirates. This
region is famed as a stomping ground for pirates in the eighteenth
century. Oliver le Vasseur - La Buse ("the Buzzard")
- terrorised the merchant fleets sailing the Indian Ocean
in the 1720s. He was hung in Mauritius in July 1730, but not
before dropping a sheaf of documents, as they put a noose
around his neck, with clues as to the whereabouts of his booty.
This included the Portuguese Fiery Cross of Goa, encrusted
with rubies, diamonds and emeralds - a bounty so rich that
it took three men to lift it. His dying words were: "Find
my treasure, he who can!"
Lots of treasure hunters have descended to the Seychelles
and Mauritius as a result but no one has found the treasure
to date. While Brendan was hewing the island into shape, he
discovered a strangely marked grave site. He dug the ground
twenty feet deep but, alas, he found no treasure.
Pirates killed slaves so their spirits could protect their
treasure when the pirates left the island. Strange things
have been happening ever since. Moyenne is haunted by the
ghost of Mary Best, an eccentric Englishwoman who moved
to the island in 1910.
Robinson Crusoe survival tips
For a real Robinson Crusoe experience when staying on a desert
island like Moyenne, make your own tent. Make an "A"
frame shelter from a cut down tree with seven poles lashed
together with twine and tied to the branch of a sturdy tree.
Place two poles horizontally to the upright frame and parallel
to each other, three feet off the ground, with a tarpaulin
stretched over the poles to make the bed and a blanket or
waterproof tarpaulin stretched over the top to make a roof.
For hydration, make yourself a solar still. Dig a
foot-deep hole in the ground and places a plastic cup inside.
Rip up a rubbish bag and covers the hole in the ground with
it, then place a few small stones in a circle on the plastic
cover until it sags in the middle, making a funnel shape.
Then cut a small circular hole in the middle of the sunken
plastic. During the day, when it gets very hot, the heat sucks
up all the moisture in the soil and collects it in the buried
cup, giving you a few drops of liquid, even on a day without
rain.
For sustenance, go fishing - Neanderthal style. Bend
a forking sapling or thin branch into a tennis racket shape.
Slip a T-Shirt over the branch, tying it up at the nape of
the handle. Sharpen the nape of a pole branch into a spear.
The best way to catch a fish is in the shadows by a bank or
some kind of rock edge where it's dark, but it's better at
night, when they come to the surface. If you're really, really
thirsty, fish eyes contain a drinkable liquid. You can suck
out their eyes and, while you may not exactly feel quenched,
you won't die for another couple of hours.
Visiting Moyenne Island
Tourists can visit the island; entry is free but you need
to charter or taxi a boat to get there, which is expensive.
TSS tour company organises a day trip there, which
is a cheaper option. Tourist can hike, snorkle eat at the
island's restaurant, chat to Brendon, or play with the giant
tortoises and Brendon's dogs.
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