He was 46 years old when everything changed in his life. The British Brendon Grimshaw was a veteran journalist with a career made in Africa when he realized where he wanted to spend the rest of his days. It all happened on a visit to the Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean in 1972. Upon reaching the Moyenne, a deserted island and in the wild, he realized that it was the right place, or where the coconuts fell to the ground because the vegetation was too dense.
"The moment I put my feet here knew that the island was the right place for me," said Simon Reeve, a BBC journalist quoted by the Daily Mail.
The task of making Moyenne at home was not easy and made the British single for a lack of choice. The island, which Brendon bought for 8000 pounds (now almost 10 thousand euros), had nothing.Not only were the basic conditions of life that were missing on the island. The British (and his helper) was also responsible for bringing birds to the island and also turtles.
Today 120 giant tortoises living there whom Brendon assigned numbers that are painted on the shells. Brendon before the company of the turtles did not live all alone. In 1981 Brendon's father accepted his invitation to go live with him."To my surprise he moved to Seaford in Sussex County to be with me when I was 88 years."
Another point is that is uncompromising in maintaining the Moyenne as a semi-wild area: Brendon said to have refused an offer of an Arab prince who gave him a blank check to be the new owner of the island.
"[I felt alone] only once in life - when I was living in a tiny flat in London. I felt miserable there, never here." He quoted, when questioned if he felt alone in the Seychelles.