Cousin & Curieuse

Today we went on an island hopping boat trip. The first island was the Nature Reserve and Special Bird Reserve island of Cousin. Click the map to enlarge it.
I took this photo of Cousin from our plane on the way to Praslin yesterday.
On arrival at Cousin we are taken ashore in Nature Seychelles boats. They are very keen to avoid any rodents getting onto the island. Rats have got onto other islands in the Seychelles and decimated the bird populations. Here's Lisa looking for fishes, and the Cousin boat ferrying people onto the island.
Two volunteer guides showed us round the island.
We found a very friendly hermit crab. Hermit crabs live in old seashells. They don't have pincers, but they are very scratchy.
There are no predators on Cousin so many of the birds nest on the floor. Here is a White Tailed Tropic bird on it's nest.

A Tropic Bird chick waiting for mum to come back with the take-away.
The Fairy Tern is the emblem of Air Seychelles. We often see them at Beau Vallon Beach, but never this close. They usually hang around in pairs.
Fairy Terns lay their eggs on the branches of trees, with no nest. The chicks hatch out and sit on the branch being fed by the parents until they are ready to fly off. This a Fairy Tern chick.
This is a Lesser Noddy. Lisa asked 'Where is Lesser Big Ears!'
We were also lucky to see a Seychelles Magpie Robin. A few years ago there were only 25 of these birds left in the whole world. This one was forgaging about on the ground and didn't seem all that bothered by the threat of extinction. They are usually described as black and white, but infact they are a shiney blue, as you can see in the photo.

We also spotted a Seychelles Warbler on our walk, another very rare and endangered species.

Lisa and Karen are waiting for a lift back to the boat.
Next we went to the island of Curieuse. This island used to be a leper colony. Here's Lisa on her way up to the doctor's house, which is now a museum.
After a swim to cool off and a BBQ lunch we went over to the other side of the island to see the giant tortoises. Lisa fell for the smallest one...
We got back to Praslin and had a nice walk along the beach at Anse Volbert.

Back at the hotel some French Paris St German fans had arrived, so the dinner chat turned to football again....sorry Karen!