A grain of sand

**Lunesoleil** · 19th March 2025 12:44

In 1962, a 37-year-old man from England named Brendon Grimshaw suddenly quit his job and bought a small island in the Seychelles for about $10,000.

The island was called Moyenne, and at the time of his purchase, it had been abandoned for 50 years.

Everyone thought the man was crazy. Brendon eventually moved to the island permanently as its sole resident.

While most people tend to buy islands for the luxury of it, Brendon had a bigger vision. He wanted to restore the island's raw beauty, creating a natural paradise completely untouched by humans and tourism.

For the next 40 years, Brendon lived alone on the island; he managed to plant 16,000 trees by hand, build 5 km of nature trails, and attract approximately 2,000 new birds to the island.

Brendon transformed a barren wasteland into an island of incredible beauty. Moyenne was so beautiful that a Saudi prince offered him $50 million, but he declined.

Since Brendon's death in 2012, the island has been owned by the Moyenne Island Foundation and is now a national park accessible to all thanks to his efforts.