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North Island is About a More Meaningful Life
The islands of the Seychelles are one of the best secrets on earth and ranked among the safest destinations
By: Mary Gostelow
It was the heavy grunting that alerted us as we cycled back through lush Rousseau-type forest from the island's West Beach (a good 15-minutes' pedalling).
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We both saw 'it' simultaneously, namely two giant tortoises humping it hard. The noise came from Brutus, an enormous guy-of-a-tortoise. The poor smaller female underneath presumably had no energy left to express her pleasure - or otherwise.
North Island has lots of activity for an eco-friendly retreat in the middle of the Indian Ocean, but there is so much space that none of it need bother the occupants of its 11 villas. We arrived by helicopter, one of Seychelles Helicopters' four Bell 200 B-IIIs, a five seater including the young American pilot, Todd. During the 20-minute trip he explained the lay-out of Victoria, capital of the main island, Mahe, and pointed out distant Praslin and Silhouette islands (it is so different from flying over the Maldives as here the islands, practically on the Equator, are heavily verdant, and quite mountainous. We zoomed down into an inlet of North Island, a small beach with a small green clearing behind, almost the only area on the 600-acre island that is not wooded.
Our buggy took us the quarter mile to villa eight, passing no-one enroute (IS there anyone else here? Yes, it is full occupancy, and there are 122 staff, as well, but you hardly ever see more than five people at any one time, and that includes meals). We drove into our turning circle, tall bushes all around. All villas are on stilts about a yard above the ground. Guided by our South African butler Fred - who whose colleagues included the marvelously-named Clever Zulu - we walked up a 30 ft graded ramp, wood branches set across, rough tree trunks forming the side. Through the main door we entered a domain that was totally private, at one with nature. Ahead of the outdoor salon and deck, four steps led down to our private grass, and 20 yards ahead was the water (we could not see the beach, below the grass). Still in the 'outdoor' area, to the forward left was a big deck with loungers, a sala and our 10 feet-wide circular pool (about six feet deep). To the immediate rear right was the non-aircon kitchen. Slightly back, to the left, was the air-conditioned study-office, ensuite and often used as a second bedroom. Immediate to the right was the master bedroom, about 20 feet long, 12 feet wide, and through that was the open-sided bathroom area, with attached toilet circle, and 2 showers, one rainforest and one overhead chute-style.
In 2000 the uninhabited island, which had been purchased three years before by a consortium put together by Johannesburg-based Wilderness Safaris, welcomed its first new-century guests, architects Sylvio Rech and his wife Lesley Carsten, and their kids (one three years and one only eight months old - they started with a tent, moved upscale as building progressed). Norisco and Wilderness Safaris, who manage the resort, originally planned nine villas, designed as the terrain suggested itself.
Quite soon into the project, when a giant old takamaka tree had to be removed for the main reception area, they had one of those Einstein inspirations. Why not use the lower ten feet of the trunk, turned upside down, as support poles? (Why no-one else had thought of it before is amazing... these trees, with bulbous, characterful bases and spreading roots, make statements just by themselves.) So, our villa had a couple of these upside-down takamaka bases forming main supports for the open-air areas, with the roofing formed of branches that had been covered with plastic (later removed) on which, simply put, concrete had been poured. The kitchen alcove is granite stones, from the island's three mountains. Flooring is sun-bleached South African pine, with varnished Indonesian teak panels for the 'indoor' parts, such as the sitting area of the terrace.
Indonesian workers had been brought in essentially to do the roofing of the air-conditioned areas, namely open cathedral ceilings with roofs of alang alang thatch (off-duty, the Indonesians were wood-carving for pleasure so Rech and Carsten got them to do a discreet amount of official carving, say on the deck steps). Three of the bedroom walls are all glass, with brown pull-down blinds for night: the rear wall is stone and wood. A mosquito net over the large white-linen bed hangs from ceiling beams, as does a three-blade black fan. The rear wall, stone and wood, has a work desk and full-length curtains hiding shelves movable cream boxes in place of storage drawers; hanging areas; the Elsafe, an LG flatscreen and a foot-long torch. The bathroom has a sunken double-bath, twin shallow sinks, Nu toiletries from South African, Mauritian bleached cotton robes. The kitchen has freezer and all-complimentary minibar stocked with soft drinks and South African 750ml wines; Illycaffé espresso machine, toaster, stove and all equipment for dining for four.
Amazingly, perhaps uniquely, the 'all-in' at this inclusive resort includes scuba-diving, and many head straight for the diving center, or for a fishing trip (you pay extra for more than a half-day of fishing, just as you pay extra for treatments in the hillside-set Espa spa, or for premium wines of the Ch Pétrus ilk).
Alternatively you might just want to stay on dry land. Say you arrive afternoon, and unpack and swim and generally laze... you might then head up to the air-conditioned gym (good equipment, stunning views), a five-minute hard walk up from the La Piazza restaurant-bar-reception area. You might swim in the main pool, a curvilinear affair built around the rocks just below the gym... swim here, no sight of but there is sound of the crashing waves below. You are surrounded by that Rousseau-type greenery, with just a couple of lounge areas, plenty of celadon towels set in rolls, and a big ceramic urn filled with ice, vainly trying to keep bottles of mineral water cool.
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Mountain bikes come with the villas (turquoise, black and white affairs, only labelled North Island), and the fit will cycle the hilly cross island track - about 15 minutes - to the straw-topped bar on deserted West Beach, to watch the sun go down. Once it has set, you need to down your drink jolly quickly to be able to get back home as there is no twilight here... You might then head for the well-stocked library, for the 7pm educational talk. One night it could be naturalist Linda, from Belgium, talking about the four types of turtles that inhabit the Seychelles' waters, or it could be maintenance genius Hendrik, from South Africa, on keeping this magical island actually operating. And after that, what about dinner?
You can eat whenever, wherever, here. One night we dined at La Piazza but our table was near no other - around 150 flares light the beach, shielding those dining at tables actually on the sand. Others choose to eat on the other beaches, or up by the pool, or in their villa, where you are served by your butler and a personal chef. There are daily suggested menus, put in folders in your outdoor salon, but you can actually order anything, design your own. Nothing is too difficult, says French chef David. Everything one eats is a delight, from chilled avocado soup drizzled with oil, via sweet and sour calamari through to exotic desserts. Bread, of course, is home made. You dine off white Villeroy & Boch china, Ercuis cutlery, finest Mauritian linens, on a sun-bleached rough pine table (this, says hotel GM Justin Arenhold, is what North Island is about, the smooth and the rough, a variety of natural senses).
Wine service is careful, professional, by staff wearing light cotton robes in the resort's muted colors, cream, celadon and a splash of pomegranate. Make sure that the South African restaurant manager, Justin, takes you into his cellar, to see thousands of bottles of premium wines, perfectly stored.
Nearly every guest sleeps late here, not appearing until mid-morning, but to get full value set the alarm for 6 am to watch the brilliant sunrise. Take an hour long guided climb up one of the mountains, Congement, with the head landscaper, Greg, to learn how plants are being repurposed - how rats were eliminated, and certain trees are being reintroduced to allow the return this July of bred-in-captivity Seychelles White-Eye (Zosterops Modestus) birds. These little grey-brown birds, part of the 1998 Seychelles White-Eye Recovery Program in which scientists all over the world are involved, have been facing extinction, and any predators have had meticulously to be removed.
Everything grows so fast here; pop a seed in compost and it will be sprouting nicely within a week. But because of this, and the continuous onslaught of natural elements, this is an island development that would return to a completely wild state if untended for a year, says Hendrik.
It is obviously a good idea to see behind the scenes. Hendrik - who, working in Johannesburg, had been hired over the phone, when all 3 generators had broken down simultaneously - explains what his 13-strong team does as though he is a professorial lecturer. We heard how between departing and arriving guests not only maintenance but also extermination specialists have completely to check the outside, underneath and inside of each villa. We saw bleaching (chlorine + two weeks' sunlight) of a replacement supply of deck-set chairs, and the Sewpac system; all personal waste is piped in from bathrooms, put into open-tanks with microbes that render it all sweet-smelling - eventually the liquid will actually be drinkable water (but in fact it is used for irrigation) and solids become powder fertilizer. Hendrik's partner Annette, the island nurse, is also store keeper, with a data programme that allows her increasingly accurately to order maintenance supplies, which come from South Africa and take up to take six months, including clearing customs.
There is no dock here, deliberately to keep away unwanted boats, who might unknowingly bring in pests, and also because the tides and currents vary around the island depending on the month, and beach erosion patterns might be affected. This means everything has to be man-handled from off-shore boats: it is worth watching the 3pm daily arrival of supplies, including food not only for the 11 villas but also the 120 staff, who all live discreetly on-site, though in the center of the island. During construction, indeed, everything - including heavy diggers - had to be brought from boats a few meters away from the beach: building this place was indeed a labor of love.
It is also an ongoing business operation (yes, it does have to make money). In order to give the even-better value that today ultra-luxury global travelers require, WiFi and broadband, and iPod docking stations, are being introduced, and kids' seats (and helmets) for the bikes.
We want everyone to take away at least one memory, says Ahrenhold - who wanted to be a surfer before he got hooked on the hospitality thing. Our memories were myriad, not only the tortoise pairing but the visits to the garden nursery, the bike trips, the sunrise and sunsets, the fresh pear juice at breakfast, and, as our helicopter took off again, being seen off - as all guests are - by the GM, and Fred. www.north-island.com
North Island, North Island, Seychelles
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