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Fregate

Description

Fregate
Fregate is a popular island for visitors seeking rest and relaxation. The island offers a wide variety of recreational activities such as swimming, snorkelling, fishing and bird watching. Many visitors also enjoy walking on the canopied pathways amidst cashew thickets, bamboo glades, citrus and avocado plantations. Situated at about 55 kilometres from Mahe or 15 minutes flying time by Air Seychelles, this island of 2 square kilometres has an interesting bird population of nearly 50 different species. Despite its small size and relative isolation, it has an exceptionally rich fauna. The island has five beaches offering total privacy. The sea around the island is protected by coral reefs and is rich with numerous varieties of fish.

Accommodation

Fregate is also the home of the rare Seychelles magpie robin which appears to survive only on Fregate. Studies in the past recorded no more than 40 birds. Most of them can be found on a large eastern coastal plateau. Other birds include two land birds endemic to Seychelles, the fody and the sunbird, as well as hundreds of blue pigeons, first brought to the islands in the 1920s. There are also the water-birds, moorhen, green-backed herons, fairy terns and the white tailed tropic birds.

Facilities

There is also a population of nocturnal skinks, geckos and terrapins which can be found in and around the fresh water marsh. Two species of marine turtles are also known to breed there and a population of around 100 giant tortoises introduced from Aldabra about 40 years ago roam freely. Some of them are believed to be nearly 150 years old and they are usually seen amongst the cashew thickets which provide them with the juicy fruits they seem to love most. In the world of insects, the flightless giant tenebrionid beetle found generally under dry bark and known on the island as "bib arme" is yet another inhabitant of the island.

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