In the 1960s, a man named Brendon Grimshaw bought an abandoned island and turned into a real-life Robinson Crusoe. He bought Moyenne Island in the Indian Ocean.
It was abandoned in the early 20th century and was wildly overgrown, but Brendon had big plans for it. He transformed it from a struggling island to a thriving tropical paradise.
Brendon Grimshaw was born in 1925 in Yorkshire, England. He pursued a career in journalism, and by the time he was 23 years old, he was Britain’s youngest chief reporter. Eventually, he found a job as an editor in Nairobi, Kenya. He worked in Africa until the 1960s.
In 1962, when he was 37 years old, he decided to take a trip to the Seychelles, a series of islands located off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. He was awestruck by the natural beauty and became determined to own land there.
On the second-to-last day of his vacation, a man informed Brendon of an island for sale. It was priced at £8,000 pounds, which is roughly $10,000. It would cost about $300,000 today. Together, they traveled to Moyenne Island. It hadn’t been occupied since 1915.
The surface was covered with weeds. There were only four trees, and rats ruled the island. Brendon bought the island and began working with René Antoine Lafortune, the son of a local fisherman, to restore Moyenne.
They cleared out the thick undergrowth, created trails, and planted native trees/plants. Today, Moyenne is home to over 16,000 trees.
After a while, birds began returning to the island. Now, there are over 2,000 birds living there. Brendon and René also brought over giant tortoises. Giant tortoises were native to the region, but had mostly died off.
Brendon painted their shells with identification numbers and set up a breeding program for them. Soon, about 100 tortoises were living on Moyenne.
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In 1972, Brendon moved to the island permanently. He refused to let Moyenne become another resort or tourist destination. He turned down many offers to buy the island and worked with Seychelles’ Ministry of Environment to make Moyenne Island a national park in 2009.
It is the world’s smallest national park.
In 1981, Brendon invited his 88-year-old father to live with him on the island. His father died five years later and was buried on the island.
René passed away in 2007, leaving Brendon alone on the island. He died on July 3, 2012, at the age of 86 and was buried next to his father.
Before his death, Brendon stated that he wanted Moyenne Island to remain a sanctuary and for developers to keep their hands off it. He set up a permanent trust to protect the island.
Thanks to his tremendous efforts, people today can visit Moyenne Island on organized tours. No more than 50 visitors are allowed on the island at once.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
