The Coco de Mer is the fruit of Eden, the Seychelles
By: Lia Contesso
Submitted: 2011-07-18 09:49:39 | Word Count: 548
The paradisiacal islands of the Indian Ocean, and particularly the Seychelles archipelago have been the subject of many legends: pirate ships submerged by the wrath of storms, hidden treasures that lay undiscovered under the sea, foxes that during the nights wear wings and fly on the only light of the moon and so many more. One of them though, gives these islands and air of mystery and emotion difficult to resist: Eden.
Lots of people consider this place close to Madagascar is the actual Eden Garden or Paradise on Earth, the place where God created all living creatures and where Adam and Eve lived before their punishment. In this place Eve would have succumbed to the temptation of tasting an apple from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and condemned all the human race to an existence of hardships and work and woman in particular to suffering during birth.
It's exactly there, in the Seychelles, that people locate the sacred paradise. The first to claim this was the British general Charles Gordon whose emotion in front of the spectacular beauty of the place and whose fascination with the mystery of the Coco de Mer (Sea Coconut) convinced him that the longed for heaven on Earth had been finally found.
The Sea Coconut can only be found in the Seychelles archipelago, and it is considered the real forbidden fruit the snake offered to Eve. This fruit has, indeed, some special qualities that relate to the myth of the first man and woman. Its shape is similar to the legs, belly and buttocks of a woman, and the seed on the inside is called but the native population "the heart". The Sea Coconut is said to be, in addition, one of the most powerful and sought-after aphrodisiacs in the world, and it sells in markets at incredibly high prices. So prominent has the fame of this fruit become that the government has had to establish a dedicated legislation and severe fines to those attempting to get the product illegally.
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The reproduction process of the palm tree that produces the Sea Coconut was unknown for many years. Before the source was located (the islands of Praslin and Curieuse are the only ones among the 115 that possess this rare tree) the natives thought the coconuts came from forests underwater since the weight of the coconut when it falls from the palm (it can weigh up to 42kg) submerges the coconut and the fruit does not float until the coconut opens under the sea.
The local legend has however a different version of the story which says that on stormy nights the male palms uproot to join the female palms in an act of love. No one has, of course, ever witnessed such a phenomenon since observers conveniently die on the spot whenever this event takes place.
Eden or not, the Seychelles Islands are a real garden of delights worth paying a visit. Many have visited it and have decided to stay and make of these islands their own heaven on Earth.
