Silhouette Island Traditional Geocache
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Silhouette Island lies 20 km northwest of Mahé in the Seychelles. It is the third largest granitic island in the Seychelles. It has an area of 20 km² and has a population of about 100, mostly workers on the island. The main settlement is La Passe, where there is a hotel.
Silhouette Island is situated within a Marine National Park and is dedicated to environmental protection. It is one of the richest biodiversity hot-spots in the western Indian Ocean with many endemic and threatened plant and animal species. The island has a large area of primeval forest and supports the last known roosts of the Seychelles sheath-tailed bat Coleura seychellensis. The island is an Important Bird Area and is considered by the Alliance for Zero Extinction to be an important site for the survival of Critically Endangered species. Conservation of the island is managed by the Island Conservation Society.
From the mid 19th century until 1960, the island was owned by the Dauban family, who were originally from France but had settled in Mauritius in 1830. The Dauban family were responsible for developing extensive plantations on Silhouette. There is a Mausoleum built in the style of La Madaleine in Paris Église de la Madeleine, where a number of the family members are buried including Auguste Dauban, whose business ventures were so extensive he earned the nickname, the "Rothschild of the Indian Ocean". The Dauban era came to an end when Henri Dauban sold the island to a French group. Following the purchase of the island by Seychelles Government in 1983, a small hotel was constructed. This was later replaced by the larger Labriz Resort. The Dauban plantation house has recently been restored and now house a Creole restaurant.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Orapu