Also called Île De Palme, Praslin Island is the second largest of island in the
Seychelles archipelago in the
Indian Ocean. It is only about 16 square miles (42 sq. km), 2.5 miles wide by 7 miles long. It is largely mountainous, though the Côte d'Or beach and the Mai Valley National Park attract tourism. Population 5,002, about 7% of the population of the Seychelles.
Religious nutjob and British war hero General
Charles Gordon visited the island in
1881. In the Mai Valley, he found the
coco-de-mer palm and its distinctive
genitalia-shaped fruit. Thinking this was the fabled
forbidden fruit, he believed Praslin Island was the location of the
Garden of Eden.