When I met the gentle giants of Seychelles

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently met the world’s largest living land animal in Seychelles. His name is Jonathan and he’s a giant Aldabra tortoise, who is now 194 years old!

As I took my direct Indigo flight from Mumbai to Victoria, the capital of Seychelles, I was kicked that I will get to meet the rest of Jonathan’s friends. They were currently living on Curieuse island, a rugged bio-reserve, just 2 kilometres off the coast of Praslin.

The island is home to roughly 500 free-roaming giant tortoises, who are as curious about you as you are about them. And no, that’s not where the name of the island, Curieuse comes from. (It was actually named after a French explorer’s vessel – La Curieuse.)

The moment I landed on the island, I was stunned by how accessible the tortoises are – their long necks peeking out from giant domed shells, as if raising their hands to stop incoming traffic. It worked, because I stopped right in my tracks in sheer awe of its size – every tortoise can weigh well over 250kg. It is impossible not to slow down in the company of an Aldabra giant tortoise. Every deliberate step reminded me that this species has perfected survival by conserving energy rather than rushing through life.

Jason ‘Tarzan’ Gomme, the guide and conservationist on the island, tells me that every tortoise has its own unique personality – just like humans. I was standing near ‘Captain Morgan’, a three-legged tortoise, believed to be 130 years old. It was humbling and mind-boggling to realise that the Captain was around way before World War 1. The tortoises are driven by simple things in life – food, water and most of all shade. As the Captain was making its way to the mangroves, I give it a neck rub – scratching its long-snake like wrinkly neck with my fingers. The Captain closes its eyes, as if enjoying a moment of peace.

Then there was Obama, who was the strong, silent type – almost with a presidential air about him. He would oversee the island’s tortoises, but wouldn’t get too familiar with them – instead he preferred solo dips in the nearby ocean.

I pick up a few flaming red bougainvillea and offer it to a group of tortoises crowding around the island’s kitchen. They elegantly lift it out of my hands and begin chewing on them. I learn that these gentle giants are herbivores – nibbling on native plants, grass, leaves and stems. But then there was one that was particularly aggressive, for a tortoise. He almost bulldozed the others, trying to make his way to the kitchen, looking for a snack. Jason explains that I have met ‘Tyson’, who is named after the heavyweight boxing champion, known for his quick knockouts. I quickly moved away from Tyson’s path and into the kitchen for some barbecued Seychellois snacks. The chefs grilled locally sourced vegetables alongside a can of cold Seybrew Draft beer as I pondered the secret of the longevity of these giants.

My conclusion was that they were the masters of the slow life – nibbling slowly, moving slowly, going for an occasional dip in the ocean, basking for hours under the giant mangrove trees, socialising with their brothers and sisters and just watching the world go by.

In a world obsessed with speed, Curieuse offers a rare audience with creatures that have survived by doing the exact opposite. For a few unforgettable hours, I had entered their timeline rather than expecting them to fit into mine, and that may have been the island's greatest lesson.