A large number of reefs within the inner granitic islands of the archipelago of Seychelles could be entirely lost, unless concerted action is taken soon to control crown of thorns, warns Dr. Udo Englhardt, the expert on on the management of crown of thorns in a...
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View from mission lodge
Mission Lodge Lookout is a popular hotel with 5 star rating, located at Sans Soucis road, Victoria, Mahe Island, Seychelles in the city of Victoria. Mission Lodge is an easily accessible place with an outstanding view over the beauty of Mahé’s west coast. You can reach Mission Lodge by road close to the highest point. Mission Lodge is a superb lookout with spectacular views of central Mahé and the west coast, and some low-slung stone ruins slowly returning to the forest. The Mission Lodge is surrounded by interesting rain forest. It is located just below the summit of Sans Soucis.
Mission Lodge is a UNESCO world heritage site since 2013. Queen Elizabeth II inaugurated this lodge in 1972 and had tea at the viewing platform. It is only a 6-kilometer drive from the city center of Victoria, Seychelles’ capital. It is an historic site located within Morne Seychellois National Park.
After being abandoned by the previous Russian operator, the Lodge was taken over by the Department of Tourism, through the Seychelles Heritage Foundation. Port Glaud waterfall was also abandoned by the same Russian investor but this site is not easily accessible.
There have been many instances where visitors were robbed and even mugged and cars broken into, resulting in negative publicity for the entire destination. Visitors and travel operators complain of lack of security in the hotel.
You can see some of the ruins between the small parking area and the path to the amazing viewpoint. The mission ruins are the ruins of the Industrial school established in 1875 by the Church Missionary Society for the children of liberated slaves. It was called Venn’s town after Henry Venn (1796-1873). He was an Anglican evangelist who worked for the Church Missionary Society which was founded in 1799 and which established orphan asylums at Pamplemousses in Mauritius and at Freetown in Sierra Leone.
During the eighteenth century thousands of African slaves crossed the Atlantic ocean in chains to become the foundation of the New World economy. Hundreds of them ended up in Seychelles to work as labourers on cotton and coffee plantations. In 1814 Britain took possession of the Seychelles. In 1807 British parliament adopted the Bill of abolition of slave trade, which was applicable to the whole of the British empire. But the lucrative slave trade continued in Seychelles until the Emancipation act of 1833.
However, along the East African coast, the slave trade continued unabated. Slaves were brought from the interiors of Africa – most of them were obtained for a few yards of calico cloth! The slaves were taken to the Western side of Lake Nyasa in Malawi and then shipped to Kilwa on the coast of Tanzania where they were taken to the slave market in Zanzibar and sold for around £100 to £120 each to Arab and Persian dealers. Determined to put an end to this illicit and despicable slave trade, British Navy Ships scoured the waters of the Indian Ocean and intercepted Arab dhows and confiscated their cargoes of slaves and brought them to Mahé in Seychelles. On the 14th May of 1861 the first shipment of 252 liberated slaves arrived in Seychelles on HMS Lyra commanded by Capt. Old-field. Continuation of this activity resulted in the arrival of a total of 2,816 liberated African slaves between 1861 and 1874 to the shores of Mahé.
Now Seychelles had to do something to settle these slaves down in Seychelles. Church Missionary Society undertook the task of settling these slaves. In May 1875 the civil commissioner of Seychelles Charles Spencer Salmon (1832-1896) agreed to lease 50 acres of land at Capucin Sans Soucis to the Church Missionary Society. But this needed the approval of the governor of Mauritius, Arthur Purves Phayre (1812-1885) who travelled to Seychelles to draw up the conditions under which he would authorize the assignment of the land. His conditions inter alia stipulated that an annual rent would have to be paid for over a period of ten years and that no child over 16 years of age should be retained against his/her will.
The Industrial Institution at Venn’s Town was officially opened on 20th March of 1876 and was under the supervision of Rev. William Barlett Chancellor, the Swahili-speaking acting civil chaplain. By the end of 1877 there were 55 children, 35 boys and 20 girls living in the settlement. The school teachers were Mr Robert Pickwood who was a former police officer in Victoria and Mr Henry Morris Warry (1858-1927). The main buildings consisted of a large and spacious Mission cottage which was a bungalow with a verandah, two dormitories of 100ft by 25ft, one for the boys and one for the girls, a few outhouses, kitchens, washrooms and a dozen huts for the labourers who were engaged to clear the land. The buildings were constructed of timber and covered with screw pine leaves. Water was obtained from the nearby river by means of bamboo pipes and stored in basins of limestone coral.
In 1885 Warry and his wife left and were succeeded by Mr Edwin Lucock and his wife Martha who took charge of the Institution until 1889. Some boys and girls ran away because of harsh punishment given occasionally. The children woke up early for prayers and breakfast after which they attended lessons which consisted mainly of bible stories and psalm-singing. In the afternoon, they engaged in woodwork and tended the coffee, cocoa and vanilla plantations, the revenue from which went to the upkeep of the mission settlement.
A cemetery further away accommodated the little bodies of those who tragically succumbed to the then incurable infirmities of health such as diphtheria or appendicitis. Edwin and Martha Lucock’s two years old son Sidney died in April 1888 and was buried there.
During its seventeen years of its existence many visitors to Seychelles trudged up the mountain path to the Industrial school at Venn’s Town to discover how the African children were getting along. One of such visitors was the Victorian Lady, painter and globetrotter Marianne North (1830 – 1890). She made many paintings of Venn’s Town, forty-three of her paintings are now in the Natural History Museum in Victoria.
The mission at Venn’s Town closed in 1894, because by then, more schools were being built on Mahé which accommodated the African children, and the slave dealers had ceased their ignoble transactions. Seventy-seven years later, on March 20th 1972 when Queen Elizabeth II came to Seychelles for the inauguration of our International airport, she was driven up here to visit these melancholy ruins and to open the Mission Viewing Lodge which treats the visitors to a breathtaking Panorama of the east coast below.
The Liberty Monument
The Liberty Monument is an historic monument in Victoria, Seychelles, erected in commemoration of the Seychelles’ independence from Britain. The monument was designed and sculpted by Tom Bowers, British-Seychellois artist, and was cast in bronze at the Bronze Age Foundry in Cape Town, South Africa. It depicts a man and a woman holding over their heads the national flag. The sturdy, masculine figure with raised arms and clenched fists, freed from chains, symbolizes triumphant defiance and victory for a truly independent nation.
On the occasion of Seychelles’ 38th anniversary of Independence, on 29 June 2014, President James Michel attended a flag-raising ceremony at the Lavwa Lanasyon monument in Victoria in the morning, together with the Vice-President, Danny Faure, religious leaders and dignitaries. They then walked further down 5th June Avenue, to watch the unveiling of the new national Liberty monument. President Michel unveiled the plaque for the monument, while two youths unveiled the statue from underneath its golden cloth at the same time.
The new monument replaced the Liberation monument which was removed from the 5th June Avenue in April 2014 in the midst of mixed public reaction after Michel announced the gesture as a step towards national unity.
The grand edifice is located in Mont Fleuri on the Mahe island. The statue represents unity, patriotism and hope to be a tribute to those who dedicated their lives to freedom and also to the youth. Liberty Monument is to be listed as a national monument.
The Zonm Lib
The Zonm Lib (Free man) is a powerful symbol of La Liberté for all Seychelles residents who rebelled against colonial oppression and injustice on 5 June 1977. The metal statue used to stand behind the People’s Stadium on 5th of June Avenue and is now in front of the Communication Center (ICCS), near the United Seychelles party building. The Zonm Lib was removed from its original location following a decision by the ruling Parti Lepep. Opposition party members felt that the statue was more of a party emblem than a national monument. This could be one of the reasons for its removal to the party headquarters.
The Liberation Monument was inaugurated in 1978 by the President of the Second Republic, on the occasion of the 1st anniversary of the Coup d’etat which finally put an end to colonialism, oppression and injustice. The President dedicated the monument to the martyrs of the Revolution. In March 1989 marble steps were added to the granite base on which it stands, flanked by the national flag. The Zonm Lib statue depicting a man breaking free of chains, was installed in 1978 to mark the country’s struggle for independence on ‘Liberation Day’ of June 5 1977 which saw the removal from power of the archipelago’s first president, James Mancham, in coup that installed his prime minister, France Albert Rene as head of state. Rene introduced a socialist one-party state, and then a multi-party system in 1992, following which he stood for three elections, winning each presidential poll with a large majority until he stepped down in 2004.
The ‘Zonm Lib’ symbolizes the glory of Seychelles’ Independent nationhood.
Unity Monument
Unity Monument was unveiled in 1987. Unity Monument depicts 4 large white fish. Each fish represents one of the four pillars of the economy in Seychelles: Tourism, Agriculture, Fisheries and Small Businesses. It is located at the roundabout near the National Library in Victoria, at the junction of 5th June Avenue and Liberation Avenue. The monument was intended as a fountain as well.
The Liberation Day
Three people died during the coup of June 5, 1977; Francis Rachel, and Berard Janie and Son Chang-Him. Rachel was part of the coup operation, while the latter two were not and for this reason opposition activists argue it is a symbol of division, rather than unity, in the history of the country, as those who opposed the coup lament their deaths.
Since 1978, every June 5th has been a national holiday, when wreaths and flowers are laid down by dignitaries and the population at ‘Zonm Lib'(Liberation Monument). In the aftermath of multi-party democracy, this monument symbolises the spirit of revolutionary fervour and the will of the people of Seychelles to keep the flag of peace, harmony and freedom flying in the future.
The 1977 Seychelles coup d’état was a virtually bloodless coup that occurred 4–5 June 1977. Some supporters of the Seychelles People’s United Party, who had been training in Tanzania, overthrew President Sir James Mancham of the Seychelles Democratic Party whilst he was attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London, the United Kingdom. Since then 5th June has been celebrated as liberation day.
One of the most iconic historical features of Seychelles, the Victoria clock tower, is 115 years old. It is referred to locally as “Lorloz” in Creole. It was on April 1 in 1903 that the clock tower was installed in the centre of Victoria, the capital of the island nation. It was erected in memory of Queen Victoria, who died in 1901, as well as commemoration of the establishment of Seychelles as a Crown Colony in its own right. Before this, for nearly a century, the Seychelles were governed from a base of power in Mauritius.
On August 13, only four months after it was built, Seychelles was detached from Mauritius and became an independent crown colony. Ernest Bickham Sweet Escott was sworn in as the colony’s first Governor the same year.
Queen Victoria ruled the British Empire from mid-1837 until her death in early 1901, a reign that lasted 63 years and seven months. The capital city, Victoria was named in her memory as well. The clock tower was inaugurated in April 1903, by Ernest Beckham Sweet Escott, who was then the Administrator of Seychelles.
The clock was ordered by Seychelles Governor Ernest Sweet-Escort, from the same company that made the original clock tower in the British capital. The clock tower, which back then cost around $468 (about $12,300 in today’s dollars) was made of cast iron by Gillett & Johnson, a clock maker and bell foundry based in Croydon, England. A part of the money for the purchase was collected from the public, with the balance coming from the government. This clock tower was known as “Little Big Ben” because of its similarity to the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament in London.
The clock tower was an identical copy of one that was built in 1892 to honor Queen Victoria‘s diamond jubilee at the Victoria Station on Vauxhall Bridge Road in London. The clock tower arrived dismantled in nine cases by mail steamer – but not all together. On February 11, 1903, seven cases arrived, the other two having been mistakenly unloaded at Mauritius. Those arrived a month later, The clock tower was erected at the intersect of Francis Rachel Street, State House Avenue, Albert Street and Independence Avenue.
The clock tower, which was originally black, was painted lustrous silver in 1935 during celebrations to commemorate King George V’s Jubilee.
Originally, the clock was expected to chime, but sadly failed to do so. Now the Clock Tower was more than just a sublime structure with Corinthian motifs and Victorian heraldry. People used the clock to know the time of the day. Today, however, the Victoria clock regularly strikes the hour, having had its mechanism completely replaced in 1999 by a modern, quartz master clock by the original manufacturer, Gillett and Johnson. The repair included the replacement of the spring loaded mechanism by an electrical one. The cost of repair was partly funded by public donation. This popular landmark is also called by the name of “mini Big Ben”. Little Ben is a cast iron miniature clock tower, situated at the intersection of Vauxhall Bridge Road and Victoria Street, in Westminster, central London, close to the approach to Victoria station. In design it mimics the famous clock tower colloquially known as Big Ben at the Palace of Westminster, found at the other end of Victoria Street.
Apart from some minor cosmetic changes (namely updating lamps) and maintenance to keep it running, the Victoria Clock Tower has stood silent guard in the middle of this capital city as the world around it has changed. When it was erected in 1903, the city of Victoria was dominated by wooden buildings with corrugated iron roofs and verandas. Now the capital is a vibrant, modern city with multi-story buildings of concrete, glass and steel. Internet cafes and five star hotels line the streets of this humble capital city. All the while, the national landmark has stood the test of time and served as a monument to a monarch who passed away more than a century ago.
Near the clock tower, you can find banks, the post office, the Palace of Justice, and the Pirates Arms snack restaurant on Independence Avenue. Sir Selwyn Clarke Market is only 5 minutes walk from the clock tower.
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