Royal honeymooners' 'erotic' Seychelles souvenir (BBC) {coco de mer}

[eppur_se_muova]

By Tim Ecott
Seychelles

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The Vallee de Mai is probably the most visited tourist spot in the Seychelles.

People flock here to see the coco-de-mer, partly because it is the biggest seed in the world - a true botanical curiosity - and partly because it is, well, best described as a rude shape.

Aphrodisiac

On the tree, the coconut is a giant green orb, but inside, with the outer husk removed, it closely resembles a female human bottom.
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He shows me giant white slugs crawling along the smooth stems of the leaves, fat brown coco-de-mer snails that sit on the tree trunks, and high up in the palm crowns, he spots several bright green geckos that feed off the tree's nectar and flowers.
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Several of these creatures, including a breed of fruit fly that lives on the rotting husks of the coco-de-mer, are found nowhere else in the world but here in the Vallee de Mai.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/9538059.stm