Travel Guide Denis

The island of St. Denis was discovered in 1773 by the commander of the royal flute L'Étoile, which had ventured off Praslin. In his logbook, Denis de Trobiant underlined the generosity of this land: "The coast seemed to us to be fertile in coral of a beautiful red color. It is full of fish and the island is generally covered with land and sea turtles, sea cows and birds, several species of which are unknown to those of us who have made rare campaigns. These birds were so unaccustomed to seeing men that we caught a very large quantity in the trees and killed as many as we wanted with sticks." As soon as discovered, as soon as annexed! Mr. de Trobriant planted the symbolic flagpole bearing the king's coat of arms and buried, it is said, a bottle in the sand as another mark of sovereignty. It was also him who named it... his first name! Later on, he immortalized his name by naming the Trobriand Islands, which are now also known as the Kiriwina Islands, off the coast of present-day Papua New Guinea.The empire of coconut trees. First French, then English, Denis was at first, whatever the flag at half-mast, the empire of the coconut trees, being inhabited only by the workers needed to harvest the nuts: some eighty thousand per month in the heyday of copra, which became a major export commodity for the Seychelles in the 1850s. The powerful Temooljee family exploited this coconut plantation from 1930 to 1949. The Seychelles Coconut Estate succeeded it, until the fall of the world copra prices sounded the death knell of this culture and, at the same time, of the exploitation of this coconut fief. St. Denis became a wild island, more or less forgotten, since it is anchored 95 km north of Mahé, near the drop-off where the famous Seychelles Bank ends. This island has a boomerang shape, of about 1 800 m in its longest length and 1 300 m in its widest width. On this postcard island, a French pulp and paper industrialist, Pierre Burkhardt, set his sights in 1976, conquered by these 157 hectares of green sailing in the blue. This is how Denis soon became a fashionable Eden. Shortly after the construction of the airstrip, the first guests arrived to celebrate Christmas in 1977. Word of mouth spread... The twelve palm-roofed pavilions were soon joined by twelve others, as the Tout-Paris quickly made it a point to stay at Jean Minchelli's (at the Château de Feuilles, in Praslin) and at the generous Tonton Pierre's, who had an easy invitation. From Romy Schneider to Pierre Perret and from Yannick Noah to Eddy Mitchell, including Jean-Michel Jarre and Catherine Deneuve, many celebrities walked these other Champs-Élysées in the 1980s. An enchanting "elsewhere" that the owners of Mason's Travel bought in 1996 from Tonton Pierre. Happy succession! Two years of work will have been necessary so that all the old bungalows are replaced by beautiful "cottages" covered with pine. The Denis of the interior is also conducive to exquisite walks, three paths crossing it from north to south, connected by a few alleys, the one of Chinese Church being the most majestic with its two hundred year old filaos and its enormous badamiers, whose leaves follow the four seasons (a rare occurrence in tropical vegetation): a fairy tale alley! From the Muraille Bon Dieu to Bilimbi and from Bois Blanc to Pointe l'Est, passing by the Vanille d'Olivia and the ancient cemetery, one must take the time to wander (never for long!) in this protective nature with its multiple shades of green. Beyond the track, the only scar of this tropical forest, we come across what is called the Old Village, where the majority of the hundred or so inhabitants of the island live, managed by the Mason family, who regularly come to recharge their batteries in their big house, next to the big banyan tree and the vegetable garden. Just next door, the old abandoned calorifier must be put back into service to produce coconut oil. A few steps away, the Mason's wish to make Denis a self-sufficient island... and an exporter: organic farm (vegetables, fruits, meat), but also solar panels (since 2018), for a green and sustainable development. Dedicated to the workers of the island, the Old Village also has its desalination station, its store and some "antiques", from the copra shed (from 1896) to the famous old lighthouse with its metal frame, the last specimen of its generation. The lighthouse is very useful for the boats which cross the open sea in the darkness. It is on the most classic route to Mahé from the north and the east, and is a reminder of the dangerous shores that once caused the loss of many ships. Classified as a national monument, it is now one of the oldest in the archipelago and remains accessible to the walker ready to face its 104 steps. A tropical cure for good living. In Denis, life is good for the ten thousand terns that sleep on the island and for the straw-tailed bird that has made its return. Two endemic birds, the little island blackbird and the toc-toc, have even been reintroduced. And always mosquitoes, especially in the late afternoon. It is then better to sit in the wooden seats planted in the sand, at the western point, just beyond the bar, to enjoy the "bye, bye" of the sun. The scene may be a cliché, but it's much more beautiful than a twilight on the ring road... and with a cocktail in hand. There are then only two hours left to enjoy the chalet before dinner under the high and imposing straw hut of the restaurant, to the glory of the fishes of the nearby aquarium. The chef proves to be quite convincing, using beautiful products, both local and imported. At lunchtime, there is a pleasant buffet, as varied as it is refined, with so many good Creole desserts that a nap is in order. On Saturdays, for a long time, it is Creole buffet, with grilled suckling pig. This is the perfect island for a tropical wellness cure in a relaxed atmosphere. We are here among good company, with a chic just suggested, to recharge our batteries in a pure state of nature, with the sea in all its splendor ... It is also the time or never to explore the world of silence. A mask and flippers are enough to wander around the coral (30 meters from the shore), but since the opportunity arises, why not try a deeper discovery, the diving center offering a wide range of underwater excursions, on the edge of the Seychelles plateau (of which Denis is only an emergence). At 20 minutes by boat, the sea floor dives from 40 m to more than 2,000 m! More than fifteen spots are waiting for divers of all levels: House Reef, Aquarium Reef, White Bank, Boulders, Coral Garden or Bat Fish, to name but a few, are the promise of colorful memories and thrills around manta rays, turtles, grey sharks and tiger sharks, which are numerous in the area. This drop-off is also a godsend for big game fishing enthusiasts: barracudas, wahoos, dorados and other bonitos abound in this corner of the ocean. Fishing or diving, windsurfing or canoeing, tennis or billiards, swimming or sunbathing, walking in the forest or jogging around the island, there is always something to do, the greatest luxury being perhaps to do nothing!