Brimming with life with rare birds and breeding turtles in abundance, this privately owned Garden of Eden nature reserve gives you a very private luxury Robinson Crusoe island experience.
With just a few very private gorgeous villas and The Pavilion as the focal point, you have the rest of the island to yourself, undisturbed. The Pavilion overlooks a fabulous expansive freshwater swimming pool, with an open-plan dining room, bar, lounge, and air-conditioned library. Exquisite cuisine comes from the well-equipped kitchen with two talented chefs to prepare menus to your taste, and you can even choose to have private dining in your villa.
Built in French Colonial style, the Presidential Villa and four individual villas and are dotted around the lush natural vegetation, a short stroll from the pristine powder beach. Each has their own private swimming pool.
The specialness of Cousine Island with so few guests, ensures you have complete privacy and personal attention while protecting the fragile ecology of the place. This is somewhere you can NEVER forget.
Where is Cousine Island located?
The Island is approximately 5 minutes from Praslin and 20 minutes from Mahé by helicopter. If you choose a more leisurely approach, it is a lovely catamaran or yacht journey taking around 20 minutes from Praslin or one and a half hours from Mahé. If the weather is less predictable, then helicopter transfers are to be recommended.
Transfers to and from other inner islands are also available and the travel times will vary.
What sort of accommodation is available at Cousine Island?
There are four one bed luxury guest villas:
With fantastic views over the sea, and the islands of Praslin and Aride in the background, each villa is situated to make sure guests have utmost privacy.
All four villas offer the highest degree of comfort with spacious bedroom, separate sitting room, large bathroom with jacuzzi and shower (inside and outside), as well as front and rear patios. Each villa is fully air-conditioned to ensure comfort even in the hottest months.
The Presidential Villa:
With your very own Butler and Chef, the Presidential Villa is a dream – with two enormous bedrooms and en suite bathrooms, it can be used for two couples or a family of six. Lavishly furnished and completely private, it has a private outside bar area, private gym, spa, study area as well as accommodation for nanny or au pair.
What activities are available at Cousine Island?
If you can manage to get enough energy to rise from your relaxing day bed or sunbed by the pool, you can just about make it to the Spa, or for those with more energy, use the fabulous gym. Your whims and fancies can be arranged by the wonderful team – who will make it happen, and these expertly curated moments with no detail spared, makes this the place to be.
The many activities include fishing and diving, a rustic spa, fitness centre, snorkelling, and guided walks by the conservation officer.
These are included in your stay:
Paid extra activities include:
Does Cousine Island cater for families with young children?
Families are warmly welcomed and from every age. Each day is choreographed to suit everyone, and activities are planned accordingly. The solar catamaran is wonderful, and some families like to go cruising almost every day exploring the surrounding islands, scuba diving and snorkelling – and the children can even catch their lunch, which the chef will prepare for them on their return which they adore.
When is the best time to visit Cousine Island?
There are always different considerations as to when is the best time to visit Cousine Island. Seychelles is a year-round destination but generally it can be divided by rainfall and monsoon winds which give the varied conditions here.
There are two different seasons on Cousine Island:
North West monsoon winds bring more rain and November to March is the turtle breeding season. During these months Hawksbill turtles come on the island to lay their eggs and it is also possible to see hatchlings scurry down to the water. March and April are the hottest months, but temperatures never normally go above 31 degrees.
The South East trade winds bring the drier months of April to October – and this is bird breeding season - when about 60,000 pairs of Lesser Noddy Birds breed on the island. They mainly breed in the forest areas on the hill. This is a very pleasant time of the year and during the coolest months, July and August, the average low is around 24 degrees.
There is a weather and activity eco-calendar guide you can click on to show what it is like each month of the year. This does not guarantee any of the weather or breeding conditions, as these can vary according with the ever-changing climate conditions.
How does Cousine Island protect and nurture the local environment?
Ever since the present owners became custodians of Cousine in 1992, the island has slowly been coaxed back to life by the many researchers and conservationists, from the exploited habitat it was. Predator species have been removed, as well as foreign flora and fauna - and the delicate ecosystem has been restored. Cousine Island is now a private conservation sanctuary with its own indigenous tree nursery preserving many species that are critically endangered due to habitat loss, exploitation and climate change and guests are invited to get involved and love to take part in tree planting.
This private nature reserve is home to five endemic land birds of Seychelles namely the Seychelles Magpie Robin (Copsychus sechellarum), the Seychelles Fody (Foudia sechellarum), the Seychelles Warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis), the Seychelles Blue Pigeon (Alectoenas pulcherrima) and the Seychelles Sunbird (Nectarinia dussumeiri). Cousine is one of the only four islands in the world with populations of Seychelles Magpie Robin (around 50 birds are now thriving on Cousine).
Also, from May to September, there are more than 100 000 seabirds present on Cousine Island, an awesome sight, including white-tailed tropicbirds, fairy terns, sooty terns, bridled terns, wedge-tailed shearwaters, tropical shearwaters, lesser noddys (50 000-55 000 pairs), brown noddys, and the greater frigate bird.
In the ocean around the island, you can spot some of the 880 species of fish to be found, and three of these unique to the Seychelles (Seychelles anemonefish, Seychelles squirrelfish and Seychelles soldierfish). Sharks and stingrays also lurk around Cousine reefs, including whale sharks, white-tip reef sharks, grey reef sharks, spotted eagle rays, manta rays and round ribbon tail rays.
The island is also utilizing all possible ways to conserve and preserve, and not a drop of water is wasted – with rainwater filtered and used for showering and irrigation, and they even have a desalination unit as backup. A new solar power plant has been constructed to ensure that their high sustainability goals are reached. All biodegradable waste is composted and of much of the remainder is sent for recycling on Mahé Island.
A Fixed Wing Flying Safari is a unique concept of travel in Africa. It introduces another dimension to a typical African safari, that of the beauty of the continent from the air. Accompanied and guided by experienced pilots who are also experienced safari guides a Fixed Wing Flying Safari is a truly memorable and exclusive experience.
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Epic helicopter journeys exploring corners of Africa that few have been to or even ever heard of. We specialise in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, the Congo and Namibia. Our tailor-made safaris cover wild and spectacular mountains, valleys, forests and deserts, with a focus on ‘remote and unknown, unexplored and unforgettable’.
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Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour and catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore – Dream – Discover - Mark Twain - You can view clips of some of our own favourite discoveries here.
- Utterly designed and tailored around you and your requirements
- Totally unique every time you travel with us
- The very best hand picked guides which can make the difference between a good and an outstanding holiday
- Established over 30 years ago we have been around longer than most
- Our specialists come from, have lived in or travelled extensively in the regions we cover
- Unparalleled knowledge provides you with the best possible experience
- Philanthropy is our philosophy
- Our founding principle is to always ‘put something back’
- An amount from each holiday is donated to our selected conservation and humanitarian charities
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By Marcela Kunova - 20th April 2017
Nicola Shepherd, founder and CEO of The Exploration Company, organises unusual trips for HNW and UHNW clients ranging from birthday parties at an Indian Maharajah's palace to reliving Sir Vivian Fuchs's 1950s expedition to the South Pole. Citywealth caught ...
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