Modern Robinson and the owner of the island

When the Englishman Brendon Grimshaw (Brendon Grimshaw) was forty, he quit his job and newspaper editor started a new life. 13 thousand dollars, he bought a tiny uninhabited island in the Seychelles and moved there permanently.

By this time the island for 50 years, untouched by human hands. As befits a truly Robinson Brandon found a companion from among the natives. His name was Rene Laforten Friday. Together with Renee Brandon began building his new house. While Rene came to the island only periodically, Brandon lived on it for decades, leaving nowhere. Alone.

For 39 years Grimshaw and Laforten planted with his own hands 16 thousand trees and built a nearly 5 kilometers of trails. In 2007, Rene Laforten died, and Brandon stayed on the island all alone. He was 81. He drew on the island of 2,000 new species of birds and started more than a hundred giant tortoises that elsewhere in the world (including the Seychelles) were on the verge of extinction. Thanks to the efforts Grimshaw at once deserted island is now two-thirds of the fauna of Seychelles. Abandoned piece of land turned into a real paradise.

Several years ago, Prince of Saudi Arabia offered Brendon Grimshaw for the island of 50 million dollars, but Robinson refused. "I do not want the rich island has become a favorite vacation spot. It is better to let it be a national park that you can enjoy every ».
And made sure that in 2008 the island declared a national park really.