Fond Ferdinand - Coco de Mer Nature Reserve on Praslin (Seychelles)

Today we visited the nature reserve Fond Ferdinand on Praslin and learned more about the flora and fauna of the Seychelles. In the park there are many different, sometimes even endemic, i.e. only in the Seychelles, to marvel at animal and plant species.

Table of contents

The Nature Park Fond Ferdinand

Compared to the great well-known sister Vallée de Mai, the Fond Ferdinand Nature Reserve, which opened in 2013, is still an insider’s tip on the island of Praslin, as significantly more tourists visit the former.

The location on the island of Praslin

The Fond Ferdinand Nature Reserve is located in the south-east of Praslin and is very easy to reach by car as well as by public bus.

Opening hours, parking, entrance fees & tours

The Fond Ferdinand can only be explored via a guided tour, which is already included in the entrance fee of currently 150 SCR (about 10 EUR). So it is (unfortunately) not possible to explore the park on your own.

The guided tours take place at the following times:

» Monday to Friday: 9.30 a.m. / 11 a.m. / 12.30 p.m. / 1.30 p.m.
» Saturday and Sunday: 9.30 a.m. / 11.30 a.m.
» The park is closed on public holidays.

Following the large island road, a gravel path on the right side of the island goes about at the height of the Anse Marie Louise in the southeast of the island. A large entrance sign shows the way here, so that you can not miss the descent. After a few meters you will reach the free parking facilities, from where you can walk directly to the small shop. This is a white building on the right, where on the one hand the entrance tickets are sold, but also certified Coco de Mer seeds. There are also toilets. Until all the tourists had gathered for our tour at 9.30 a.m., we looked at the little turtle enclosure directly at the park entrance.

The entrance to the Fond Ferdinand

Information board

The Fond Ferdinand Nature Reserve

Welcome to the park

Tickets, Shop & Toilets

A map of the island of Praslin

A giant tortoise

Our guided tour of the nature reserve

Just in time at 9.30 a.m. our guided tour through the nature reservestarted. In total, the group consisted of about 30 people. We didn’t expect that much crowding, but probably everyone thought that the early tour wasn’t so well attended. Our guide conducted the tour in English. However, as there were also some guests from France who did not understand English, our guide always translated everything that was said into French. Accordingly, the tour, which is actually scheduled for 90 minutes, has dragged on to about 2 hours.

Welcome to the park

The entrance to the Fond Ferdinand

Our guided tour of the park

The way through the national park

The way through the park

The Fond Ferdinand Nature Reserve extends over an area of 122 hectares and is practically a densely overgrown jungle. If trees or leaves fall due to age or weather conditions, they will be left lying. Therefore, the reserve looks rather wild and natural. A total of 600 steps are divided into 23 stations, where there are interesting things to see and interesting things to know. We stopped briefly at almost every station so that our guide could tell us a little something.

The 600 steps

The different stations in the park

The way through the national park

The 600 steps

Our guide

Our group

The way to the lookout point

The Coco de Mer (Seychelles Palm)

The Fond Ferdinand is best known for the famous Seychelles palm, which has become known as Coco de Mer. The palm is endemic and occurs exclusively on the islands of Praslin and Curieuse in the Seychelles.

Our guide told us that there are about 850 Coco de Mer palms in the Ferdinand Fond and of which about 800 to 900 seeds (only those that fall off) are collected each year. Since the seeds of Coco de Mer with a weight of up to 30 to 40 kg are the largest seeds of the plant kingdom and still look very interesting, they are very popular as souvenirs with tourists. Therefore, 80 of the collected seeds are sold as (certified) souvenirs and 20 are used for the re-breeding of the palm trees. It is interesting that the maturation of a seed can take up to seven years and a palm usually only produces one seed per year.

Of course, we were also allowed to touch and lift a fallen seed once – once with inner life (insanely heavy) and once without content (very light).

A Coco de Mer Palm

Our guide to a Seychelles palm

The seeds of Coco de Mer palms

The male inflorescence

The seeds of Coco de Mer palms

A Seychelles palm

The seed of the Seychelles palm

A hollowed-out Seychelles nut

The flora and fauna in the park

To have a guided tour with a guide we actually found very advantageous in the Fond Ferdinand Nature Reserve, as we would probably have just walked past most things without knowing what to see next to us. And so we could see many plants, small animals and spices like a cinnamon tree, vanilla plants or spiders.

The flora and fauna in the park

Vanilla

Vanilla plants

A cinnamon tree

A termite hill

The flora and fauna in the park

A spider

Coco de Mer Seeds

The viewpoint with a fantastic panoramic view

After “tormenting” the 600 steps in hot and sweltering weather, we were rewarded at the top of the viewpoint with a fantastic panoramic view of the Baie St. Anne Bay. In addition, you can see many offshore islands such as La Digue, Sister Island, Félicité, Coco Island and Round Island. In addition, the turquoise-blue-glittering sea and the best weather – what more could you want? 🙂

Our tip: You should definitely take enough water with you, as the way up can be very sweaty.

The way to the lookout point

View of the Baie Ste Anne

The viewpoint in the Ferdinand Fond

The panoramic view over Praslin

Viewpoint, Viewpoint, Fond Ferdinand, Viewview, Island of Praslin, Seychelles, Travelreport

The viewpoint in the Ferdinand Fond

A map with all the sights of Praslin Island

On the following Google MyMaps map we have mapped our hotel, the most beautiful beaches and sights on the island of Praslin.

Unsere Reiseberichte von den Seychellen

Weiße Traumstrände, kristallklares Wasser, Sonne und Palmen: die Seychellen sind der Inbegriff eines Inselparadieses. Für 2 Wochen haben wir die Hauptinseln Mahé, Praslin und La Digue erkundet und dabei die schönsten Sehenswürdigkeiten erkundet: Von traumhaften Stränden, faszinierenden Naturparks bis hin zu versteckten Fotospots, tierischen Inselbewohnern und wunderschönen Aussichtspunkten.