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A businessman from Praslin, Seychelles' second most populated island, is combining landscaping and agriculture together with the Seychellois history and traditions at a private living museum. Seeing the need to preserve Seychelles' cultural assets and givSeychelles' Praslin Museum offers a living experience of Seychellois history and life
A businessman from Praslin, Seychelles' second most populated island, is combining landscaping and agriculture together with the Seychellois history and traditions at a private living museum. Seeing the need to preserve Seychelles' cultural assets and give tourists something extra when visiting Praslin, Steve Esther, a trained agriculturalist, decided to set up a Praslin Museum at Cote D'Or. Setting up of the Praslin Museum «I did a lot of landscaping work at various tourism establishments namely Constance Lemuria Praslin Seychelles, the grass work on its golf course as well as the tree planting around it, at Dekenia Villa, Dhevatara Beach Hotel and Paradise Sun Hotel Seychelles,» Esther told SNA. So when he decided to start his business, he thought of combining all of them and that was in 2007. «I did not want to have a museum where tourists could just come and view exhibits, go around in a building, and then leave. I wanted to make a difference by not making it a boring experience for the visitors. This is a living museum and in here there is no time or space for boredom,» Esther added. Steve Esther, a trained agriculturalist, decided to set up a Praslin Museum at Cote D'Or. (Mandy Bertin) Photo License: All Rights Reserved Touring the Praslin Museum The first attraction is a tortoise enclosure and visitors can feed them while Esther provides information on them. 'Konmbi' one of the tortoises weighing 348kg and aged 165 years is the oldest one found on the island. Esther said, «I have made the park quite spacious because tourists do not like to see animals in tight enclosures, and for the tortoises to be able to move around.» Fruit bats can also be seen in a fenced, neat and well-kept area next to the tortoises and can easily leave and enter the area when they want. Medicinal plants An interesting part of the Seychellois tradition is the use of medicinal plants and it is something Esther has made sure to include in his museum. «We have a variety of medicinal plants found in Seychelles here at the Museum, which we show to our clients and explain their medicinal values and benefits,» he said. Beekeeping is another element of the Praslin Museum and the fresh honey is sold to visitors of the museum. While touring the museum tourists can learn how to dehusk a coconut in different ways and even how to grate coconuts. Esther and his daughter Hilka provide their clients with all they need to know about the different parts of a coconut tree and their uses. Visitors are also shown how coconut oil is made and what are its health benefits. Going further in the Museum one can smell the lemongrass and get the chance to enjoy a cup of lemongrass tea. There is a variety of medicinal plants at the Museum. (Mandy Bertin) Photo License: All Rights Reserved «Lemongrass tea is enjoyed around the world. So we decided to have a plantation and a machine that makes teabags so that we can produce our own lemongrass tea here. We currently have five brands of lemongrass tea,» Esther explained. «There are four teabag brands – Anse Lazio, which is a fusion of passion fruit and lemongrass, Source d'Argent, a mixture of lemongrass and vanilla, the Vallee de Mai, which is lemongrass and cinnamon, and Anse Georgette, which is lemongrass on its own.» Esther shared. The Praslin Museum also produces two coffee brands – organic cinnamon coffee and organic vanilla coffee. Esther also sells cinnamon bark and powder, which are must-haves in the kitchen. Aside from lemongrass, Esther has passion fruit and aloe vera plantations on his land. The passion fruit is used to make fresh juice for his clients while the aloe vera is used to make gel and the visitors can even buy the fresh leaves as well. Other experiences at the Museum The Seychellois traditional ways of cooking, the utensils, and the architectural design of the outdoor kitchen are showcased at the Museum. Esther said, «We offer learning experience on how to prepare traditional food of Seychelles. There is a programme called 'do it yourself,' which we offer our clients.» Also on exhibit are old photos of Seychelles and musical instruments and Esther shows his clients how to play them. One has a part made in the shape of a coco de mer. Esther with a musical instrument with a part in the shape of the coco de mer. (Mandy Bertin) Photo License: All Rights Reserved For a modest fee, a visitor can explore the museum for about an hour, and get a coconut, a glass of fresh juice, and a platter of fruits served in a half-cut coco de mer. An interesting aspect is that if visitors want to come back, they can do so and the entrance will be free of charge. «Praslin Museum welcomes visitors from all over the world and even caters to eco-tourism groups. We even have programmes for hotels and destination management companies,» Esther said. He added that the Museum «gets positive feedback from all our clients because we do our work with love. It is important to know how to touch a client's heart and to give them value for their money.» The Praslin Museum also caters to children accompanying their parents and they get to learn how to play Seychellois traditional games. Read more
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