By Alexa, age 11
Ever heard of the Seychelles? The answer should be yes, if you read the previous newsletter. The Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 islands. What is an archipelago? It’s simply a group of islands. This archipelago is located east of Africa and north of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.
The cool thing about this archipelago is that the islands are either granitic or coral. The granitic islands are incredibly old – 750 million years old. The Seychelles broke off from India after India broke off from Africa 84-95 million years ago (when the supercontinent Gondwanaland separated). A few million years before that the same thing happened to Madagascar.
The capital of the Seychelles is on a granitic island called Mahé. The capital’s name is Victoria. If you visit Victoria, you can see the natural history museum! There is also really cool snorkeling with incredible biodiversity. You can see lots of fish and coral and sometimes you can even see sea anemones, sting rays, sea turtles, and eels.
If you go on a hike in the Seychelles, you can see lots of biodiversity. There will are many trees including 6 different kinds of palm trees and coconuts on the trails. Sometimes, you can see many millipedes if you’re at the right height approximately 100-150 m above sea level. There will also be lots of skinks and geckos scrambling around to get out of your way and occasionally a giant land tortoise. If you look up you might see lots of different kinds of birds and even some bats.
So if you love science and seeing the biodiversity of different places, the Seychelles just might be your idea of a tropical paradise.
kidsneedenrichment.com 