La Digue

For the 1911 French film, see La Digue (film).

La Digue

Geography
Location	Seychelles
Coordinates	4°22′S 55°50′E
Archipelago	Inner Islands, Seychelles
Area	10 km2 (3.9 sq mi)
Highest elevation	300 m (1000 ft)
Administration
Seychelles
Demographics
Population	2000
Pop. density	200/km2 (500/sq mi)

La Digue is the third largest inhabited island of the Seychelles, lying east of Praslin and west of Felicite Island. It has a population of about 2,000 people, who mostly live in the west coast villages of La Passe (linked by ferry to Praslin and Mahé) and La Réunion. There is no airport on La Digue, so to get there from a different country, one has to fly to Victoria, take the ferry to Praslin and then take another ferry to La Digue. La Digue has an area of 10 km², which makes it relatively easy to travel around the island on a bicycle. La Digue is named after a ship in the fleet of French explorer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, who visited the Seychelles in 1768.

History

According to modern historians, La Digue was first sighted by the French navigator Lazare Picault in 1742, but it was not until 1768 when it gained its name. The first people settled on the island in 1789, when French colonists arrived with their African slaves. Most of them went back to France, but some people were left and quite a few of today's inhabitants still carry their names. Later, more French deportees arrived, followed by a large number of liberated slaves and Asian immigrants. In 1854, the first Catholic chapel was built on La Digue by Father Theophile and presently, most inhabitants of the island are of the Catholic faith. French colonists on La Digue manufactured coral lime and they are believed to be responsible for the declining of the island's coral reefs. They also made cupra out of coconuts and they planted vanilla on their plantations, which still carry on with the tradition.

Climate

The Seychelles islands in general have a warm temperature all year round and thanks to their location near the equator, they get frequent and sometimes heavy rainfall. On La Digue, rainfall can be very heavy, but it usually lasts for just one hour or less. The day temperatures on La Digue normally stay between 24°C and 32°C and the nights do not get too much colder than that. There is most rainfall from October to March, with a monthly percipitation of 402.6mm in January. There is least percipitation in July, with only 76.6mm of rain.

Culture

The inhabitants of La Digue are called the Seychelles Creoles. The majority of them came to the Seychelles islands on ships in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. When the slave trade was abolished by Britain and the USA, some slaves who were already being transported from Africa were just "dropped off" at the Seychelles. Nowadays, the inhabitants of La Digue are not only from Africa, but from all around the world including East Asia, Europe and Indonesia and the Seychellois people are proud of being a multi-cultural mix of nationalities. Due to French influence, the population of La Digue generally follows the traditions of Europe; every Christmas Eve, more than half of the island gathers around the La Digue Church and waits for the festive sermon to begin.

Politics

There is no separate government of La Digue, so it follows the laws and legislations set from the government in Victoria. The Seychelles have a president and the main political sides are the PP and SNP. The law system of the Seychelles is modelled off of the European politics.

Government Services

Being an island with a population of only 2000 people, there are not too many government buildings or services and many people have to go to Praslin for satisfying their advanced needs. On La Digue, there is one post office which is closed on Sundays (similarly to quite a number of other services). There is also a small police station, but this was mainly set up for the tourists. Lastly, there is a small hospital, although some inhabitants of La Digue prefer to visit the hospitals in Praslin and Victoria. Pregnant women usually go to Victoria to give birth.

Tourism

The Giant Tortoise of Aldabra

Today, the island's main industry is tourism and it is known for its beaches, especially Anse Source d'Argent and Grand Anse. La Digue went through a major tourist increase in the previous century, which heavily impacted the economy of the Seychelles. In former times, copra and vanilla production were mainstays of the local economy, which is commemorated in the island's museum. Veuve Nature Reserve, in the island's interior, is home to the rare Black Paradise Flycatcher, of which there are only about 100 in existence. La Digue's tallest peak, Belle Vue (Eagle's Nest Mountain), is also in the central part of the island, with a summit more than 300 metres (1000 feet) above sea level. La Digue is also visited for its wide variety of underwater creatures like fish, sharks and rays. The island has plenty of accommodation and activities to offer tourists. There are at least twenty guesthouses and hotels, a few restaurants and a dive centre. One can go on a boat trip or a diving trip around La Digue for either one day or half a day. Furthemore, the Veuve reserve offers tourists a hiking trip with a guide who can show them the beauty of La Digue.

Transport

It used to be a very interesting specific of La Digue that it was not allowed to own a car. This has recently changed, but the main means of transportations are still bicycles. Tourists are requested to adapt to this lifestyle and so it is possible to rent bicycles right near the pier. There are a few personally owned vehicles, but most cars and busses belong to hotel companies. Driving a large car or even a bus can turn out to be a quite hard task, because the roads on la Digue were originally designed for bicycles and so two cars going against each other must slide off the road with two wheels in the sand. The lucky people who own a car on La Digue usually have many seats built in so that it can accommodate their whole family. Another method of transport on La Digue is using an ox-cart, but most tourists avoid those because of the unpleasant smell.

Cuisine

Since La Digue is an island inhabited by many different ethnic groups, the cuisine is a specific mix of world cuisines put together. With the abundance of fish all around, the Seychellois people have learned how to make hundreds of recipes out of this simple ingredient. One can have fish curry, fish fillets, raw fish with lemon, grilled fish, steamed fish, cooked fish and so on. The inhabitants of La Digue also make fried octopuses, lobsters with garlic and their biggest speciality - bat curry. An ingredient used to a very large degree is ginger, which is put in many meals. The most popular alcoholic drink on La Digue is palm wine, which most Seychellois people like to make themselves by fermenting the inside of a coconut.

Wildlife

The rare Seychelles paradise flycatcher

As mentioned before, La Digue is the home to the critically endangered paradise flycatcher. However, there are more rare and endangered animals that live on this island and since the Seychelles are quite detached from the rest of Africa, many of the species are endemic to La Digue. There is a significant population of giant tortoises, but these come from the island Aldabra. The subspecies that lived on La Digue is now extinct. From the arthropod group there is, for example, the Seychelles coconut crab which likes to dig holes in the backyards of the Seychellois people. Among others, there are fodys, sunbirds and terns but also fruitbats, sheath-tailed bats and geckos.

The marine wildlife of La Digue should not be overlooked. The reefs as well as lagoons of La Digue offer a large amount of flora and fauna. Green sea turtles live on the very edges of the coral reefs and they sometimes venture closer to the island. There are butterfly fish, eagle rays, murray eels and many other species of fish. Also, divers and snorkellers may be lucky enough to see blacktip reef sharks or even whale sharks, which come mainly in the winter but can be seen all year round.

Sadly, the animals that have traditionally lived on La Digue are threatened by animals that were brought there by the first inhabitants - rats, dogs, cats etc. The rat population was probably the first animal that was brought to the Seychelles. It quickly made many birds go extinct by eating their eggs and threatening their nests. The dog and cat population is not nearly as much of a threat, but it still is something that the original species of Seychelles are not used to. The marine flora and fauna is threatened by the increasing amount of tourists who damage corals and by the amount of boats that pollute the clear waters of La Digue. Also, there is concern that global climate change may be causing the corals to die, but that is not only the issue of La Digue.

Image gallery

• 
  La Digue
• 
  A tropical swamp on La Digue
• 
  The beach of Grande Anse
• 
  Anse Source d'Argent

External links

• La Digue Official Website
• Map of La Digue - Seychelles
• PhotoGlobe La Digue Georeferenced Photos with maps
• Photogallery - Praslin & La Digue
• La Digue Island Guide
• National Bureau of Statistics