This article appeared in the Jan 29/30th 2011 edition of the Travel 2011, Weekend Argus.

RODRIGUES: MAURITIUS’ DISTANT RELATIVE

“What? Where’s that?” That was the standard response to my telling people that I was planning a recent trip to the little island. “Rodrigues.” I had to repeat, “it’s a small island about six hundred kilometres north east of Mauritius, right out in the middle of the Indian Ocean”. The island is a dependency of Mauritius and was named after a Portuguese mariner Diogo Rodrigues in 1528 discovered when the Portuguese caravels were blown off-course in a cyclone but there is speculation that Arab sailors in their sturdy trianglar sailed dhows had already located the island in the 12^th century. The Dutch and French then occupied the island respectively but both found existence extremely difficult on the exposed infertile topography of the ancient volcano. Over the centuries the French did their best to develop the island and regularly brought in slaves from India and Africa to develop agriculture but with limited success. However there was an abundance of tortoises, turtles, birds and seafood , which sustained human habitation. In 1809 the British took possession of the island, promptly abolished slavery but did nothing else, leaving the freed Frenchified mix of slaves to eke out an existence on their own terms. In 1968 Rodrigues was joined with Mauritius when that island won independence from Britain and has since remained a somewhat distant and semi-autonomous region of Mauritius.

Although the island is part of Mauritius, it is apart from Mauritius in many ways. Much smaller, Rodrigues is about a twentieth of the size and with a population of around only 40 000, compared to the 1, 3 million on the host island. The obvious difference is the lack of large-scale development. Most of the population still exists on a subsistence level growing a few vegetables, tending to small herds of goats and scrawny cows and, of course, living off the sea. The “capital” Port Mathurin is a village with just five short roads set out in a grid pattern where locals from all over the island come to sell their produce at a colourful vibrant market. Port Mathurin boasts the island’s one and only petrol station and the only jetty and small wharf to moor some boats. The normal means of transport for most residents on the island is by means of a rickety public bus or, if one is wealthy enough to own one, an equally dilapidated old scooter of which there are a couple of thousand buzzing around the tiny 17km long by 8km wide island. The lingua franca of the population is Rodriguan Creole but French is widely spoken and to a far lesser extent English (the “official” language), but enough for English-speakers to get by without any hassles. Rodriguans are typical islanders, laid back and convivial, their faces break easily into smiles and their demeanour is soft and approachable. They have little to offer but demand less, their subsistent way of life for them is perfect and unlike some other xenophobic island nations they welcome and converse with visitors readily. Entertainment is what Rodriguans live for and on Sundays and on balmy nights under starry skies the place comes alive with revelry. Music and dancing are important to Rodriguans, not just traditional forms like the Segá but modern music and dance too. When hearing I was a South African the common response was “Ah, Waka waka!” The recent World Cup has endeared the Rodriguans to us South Africans through an African song and the gyrating moves of a Columbian diva, a language all the islanders are familiar with. The food that complements the revelry is equally good. I was not expecting much from an island where everything is grown on a basic subsistence level that is without the benefit of imported foodstuffs but thanks to the deep Indian influence the variety of vegetables and spices like tamarind, garlic, chilli, mango and pineapples are grown, which coupled with a bountiful sea harvest have ensured that Rodriguan Creole cuisine is consummately ambrosial.

The island is surprisingly mountainous; the island’s forested highest peak rises almost four hundred metres above the expansive turquoise coral barrier reef that circles the island. From the peak valleys radiate down to the sea in deep grooves like the spokes of a lopsided wheel. Some of the valleys are densely vegetated, others on the windward side of the island are barren, black volcanic cliffs plunge to brown sparsely grassed plains. Only a handful of hotels exist on the island, nothing large and garish, there are no casinos, no sprawling pseudo-colonial style monstrosities like those on Mauritius. This is a destination for those folk that want to get away from it all; it is not an island for the mercurial hordes on package group tours but rather a place for the adventurer, the true traveller, looking for a place set apart from it all. Its not just the far-flung position that gets the adventurer all a-buzz. The newly installed wind turbines that provide the island with electricity are testament that the wind blows hard here and the placid sweep of the lagoon within the barrier reef makes for ideal for kite and windsurfing. On occasions when the wind drops scuba diving in the indigo depths on the reefs beyond the barrier reef reveals some of the finest diving in the Indian Ocean. Unlike Mauritius where the coral reefs have over the years been systematically reduced to a smidgen of their former glory, here in Rodrigues the coral beds are healthy and vast. Huge plate corals the size of coffee tables are interspersed with forests of staghorn and the occasional dome of brain coral. The coral reef is unique in that it is self-seeding, as the island receives no zooplankton from elsewhere. This has led to a highly adaptive ecosystem that thanks to its geographical isolation boasts a handful of endemic creatures – two species of coral, a damselfish, a variety of a ghost pipefish and a number of crustaceans, making for one of the planets most unique dive destinations.

On land visitors can explore the karst caves on the west of the island, or hire a scooter to visit the market at Port Mathurin where an ancient cannon and the Virgin Mary protectively stand guard over the inhabitants from a nearby hilltop. There are also innumerable hikes along rocky, windswept shores that shelter protected white sandy beaches and turquoise lagoons ideal for swimming, snorkelling and kayaking. Higher up in the valleys the occasional natural forest hides more Rodriguan endemics such as the Rodrigues Warbler, Frody and Fruit Bat. There once were many more endemic species, but the arrival of man in the sixteenth century has wiped many of them out of existence. Rodrigues had its very own Dodo, a close relative of the doomed Mauritian bird called a Solitaire, also flightless and praised for its flavour by the early French settlers but by 1730 thanks to the voracious appetite of the humans it had become extinct. The Solitaire was not the only victim; a dozen other birds disappeared as well as the domed and saddle-backed Rodrigues Giant Tortoises and two species of gecko. If it weren’t for the winds making the seas beyond the barrier reef all but inaccessible to the local fishermen the marine life would also suffer. As it is the lagoons inside the reef are almost devoid of substantial marine life and many Rodriguans who have hitherto relied on the ocean for survival are now turning to cottage industry and tourism in order to make ends meet. The cottage industry comes primarily in the form of hand woven hats and baskets spun from the thorny leaves of a tree called a Vacoas that is found in abundance on the island.

Tourism is on the increase as more people are becoming aware of this island of delights. Marketed as “Mauritius 50 years ago”, all those who are tired of the hype of Mauritius are beginning to discover Rodrigues, much to the chagrin of Mauritians and residents of Reunion, the other island of the Mascarenes, who have been secretly coveting Rodrigues as their own private holiday escape. The burgeoning tourist industry is a double-edged sword because while it alleviates the exploitation of natural resources Rodriguans are fast seeing their traditional way of life diminishes and soon, too soon, Rodrigues will start to resemble her bigger ugly sister. At the moment Rodrigues is still timeless and remotely idyllic so real travellers can still enjoy her authenticity. If you are the sort that wants the glitz and glamour of a Mauritian-style island holiday this is not the place for you, at least not yet.

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