SOME FAMOUS VISITORS TO ARIDE
Edward Perceval Wright 1867
Edward Perceval Wright (Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
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Edward Perceval Wright (1834-1910) was an Irish zoologist, botanist and surgeon, who visited Seychelles for 6 months in 1867. He was an enthusiastic traveller and collector of natural history specimens.
He published widely on flora and fauna subjects including his time in Seychelles, recalled in the book Six Months at the Seychelles: Letter to A. Searle Hart (1868). Wright’s Skink and Aride’s unique shrub Wright’s Gardenia are both named in his honour. |
Marianne North 1883
Painting by Marianne North
The Marianne North Gallery at Kew Gardens, London is, as Wilfrid Blunt described“…a gigantic botanical postage-stamp album.” The lady responsible for these glorious works of botanical art was Marianne North. Born in 1830, in England, she travelled widely with her father. When he died she, most unusually for a lady in those days, continued her travels alone. She visited Seychelles in 1883 visiting islands including Aride, where she painted this scene, reporting just one large tree, beneath which the island staff sheltered from the burning sun.
Frederick ("Tim") Betts 1940
Frederick Nicholson "Tim" Betts
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Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Nicholson Betts (1906-1973) (known to his friends and family as "Tim") was an ornithologist who visited Aride in 1940. He published an early paper in the prestigious journal Ibis: Birds of the Seychelles - 2 . The sea-birds more particularly those of Aride island. Ibis (14) 4: 489–504. He noted that the plateau was “thickly planted with tall old coconut palms with an undergrowth of bananas and fruit trees.” Betts reported that the vegetation was kept short, presumably to facilitate the nesting of the Sooty Terns and the collection of their eggs. He described these areas as covered in “rank, coarse grass, a couple of feet in height, hiding tumbled screes of rocks and boulders.”
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Dr Lyall Watson 1985
Lyall Watson (via Wikipedia, author unknown)
Aride's clifftop: spiritual home of Lyall Watson
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Lyall Watson (1939 – 2008) was a South African zoologist, biologist, anthropologist and author of many books, including the best seller Supernature. A full biography can be read here.
Lyall Watson represented Seychelles at the International Whaling Commission and was instrumental in the passing of a Seychelles Resolution to create the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary in 1979. He was a leader of many expeditions and visited Aride a number of times as a guest lecturer aboard the cruiseship Caledonian Star. On one such visit in 1985, Adrian Skerrett recalls sitting together atop the northern cliffs of Aride gazing at a scene little changed in thousands of years. "We watched the frigates soaring above the waves, which crashed on the last outcrop of rock before the Indian subcontinent. 'This is where I want to build my home' said Lyall Watson" (Silhouette magazine Vol 2 No: 1 p. 54). |
Christopher Cadbury 1973
Christopher and Betty Cadbury en route from Praslin to Aride
Lucy Cadbury, granddaughter of Christopher, at the Christopher Cadbury memorial stone, Aride
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Christopher Cadbury (1908-1995) was President of the Royal Society for Nature Conservation (now RSWT) from 1962 to 1988. Grandson of one of the founders of Cadbury's Chocolates, he ran one of the family’s fruit and jam companies before turning to wildlife conservation. He was a man of vision, well ahead of his times. He recognised the importance of creating reserves to protect nature long before conservation became mainstream. His contribution to nature conservation in Seychelles cannot be overestimated. His donation of funds to purchase Aride Island in 1973 was probably the most important of his many nature reserve acquisitions. He was also at the forefront of the acquisition of Cousin island as a nature reserve and the establishment of the Vev Reserve of La Digue.
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The Duchess of Kent 1993
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Katharine, Duchess of Kent visited Aride on 4th December 1993. Despite the landing through the surf onto the beach of Aride, the duchess retained a remarkable royal elegance. In the photo to the left (from left to right) are Peter Carty, Hariet Herzig, Ann Savy, Simon Smith, Jessi Herzig, Duchess of Kent, Malinda Skerrett, Adrian Skerrett, Rob Lucking, Judith Skerrett, Vicki Ayrton and Stella Le Maitre.
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Hadoram Shirihai 2014
Hadoram Shirihai photographing petrels off the eastern edge of the Seychelles Bank
Renowned ornithologist Hadoram Shirihai visited Aride to collect photographic material for a new book in November 2014. Hadoram has discovered or rediscovered 6 species of petrel and recorded many new species for the Western Palaearctic. He has written a number of bird books and papers including Birds of Israel and (as co-author) Macmillan Birder's Guide to European and Middle Eastern Birds. A new owl species, Strix hadorami, was named after him as acknowledgement for his part in its discovery.