Mare Aux Cochons – The Wet Land Adventure

Mare aux Cochons is a remarkable morass, once an agricultural area, this protected wetland is the intersection whereby several trails cross paths. It is the very heart of Morne Seychellois National Park.

The hikes begins at Le Niol. After several hundred yards of uphill climbing, alternating between dense vegetation and forest glades, the first vista of the west coast and neighbouring islands emerges.

Following the directions through different species of vegetation initially imported for agricultural purposes, namely nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon the trail leads to a cross section to other trails, however our destination takes us to the left where lies

the ruins of an abandoned distillery dating back to the 1960s and 1970s. Moving upwards to the Belize plateau, a short sheltered break is recommended before taking on the next part of the journey. An unexpected eye catcher is the Old Bridge built by Capuchin monks, which appears after another few meters of walking.
The different endemic species of trees comes into view as we move closer to the valley with the likes of Bois Rouge (Dillenia ferruginea).

Once at the pond several endemic animals and other interesting species may be spotted such as the ‘Seychelles Frog’ (Sooglossus sechellensis) or the Seychelles Wolf Snake (Lycognathophis seychellensis) and if you look close enough, you might even spot a cute little ‘Seychelles Tiger Chameleon’ Archaius tigris camouflaged among the leaves.