The smaller, warmer version of Iceland. A volcanic stretch of land with few roads and three gas stations. Random cows, goats and spiders. Not many tourists, not many big restaurants – just raw nature and smiles. Meet Rodrigues!
Officially part of Mauritius, this small island lies 1.5h away from its big sister. Even though the size of the plane slightly worried me at first sight (so tiny!), and a typhoon was at sight, the flight all went perfectly fine, and we even got a small refreshment on board (Air Mauritius flight, about 200eur/person for a return ticket). We had planned to stay there for three days (18 to 21 Dec), and that was more than enough to get a glimpse of the island. Although I must admit that the relaxed atmosphere was pretty contagious – if the first day I was nervously going around in search of a sign of tidiness, by the third day I was already appreciating the little boutiques, the chaotic supermarkets and the ubiquitous scooters.
Upon arrival, we found the owner of our guesthouse (Rodrigues Coco Villa) ready to drive us to our home for the next three days. Even if the island is very small, it was probably a good idea to arrange a taxi transfer. Car rentals are not very common on the island, buses stop running between 5 and 6pm, and dragging our luggage on a rented scooter at night did not seem the brightest thing to do. The Coco Villa had everything we needed for a few, relaxed days. We were welcomed by a freshly made mango juice and gentle smiles.
The next day, after a copious and delicious breakfast, scooter tour! The owner of the scooter rental (Patriko Tours, ~20eur/day) delivered our scooter directly at the guesthouse, allowing us to easily start our adventure. After a small test ride against a trash bin and some cursing against the helmet lock xD, we were ready to explore the island at the skyrocketing average speed of 30 kmh. After all, we had nothing else planned for the day 🙂 In addition to being very romantic, thanks to our 2-wheeled companion we were able to have a look at the full island at length, while enjoying stunning landscapes and a light breeze. We stopped a few times on the road (sudden rains, banana breaks, helmets flying away or simply for admiring the landscape) and mistook the driving side and a few turns, but all in all is was a wonderful experience which I would definitely recommend. The traffic is incomparable to European standards, and when we did cross any car on our way, all drivers were extremely relaxed. We did almost the whole coastal road, passing by Port Mathurin, La Fouche, Petite Butte and Port Sud-est, where we deviated towards Mont Lubin and down again to our guesthouse. Between Petite Butte and Port Sud-est the road was less well paved than the rest of the island, and the coastline did not seem very swimming-friendly. We also tried to stop at the Francois Leguat Tortoise Parc, but unfortunately we arrived too late for the last afternoon tour (although their opening hours are from 9am to 5pm, the turtle park can be visited ONLY with the guided tours!). We still enjoyed a refreshing jus de limon at the café of the reserve, and we were lucky enough to have a close encounter with a turtle passing by!:D
Once back, we had an early dinner (a delicious fish curry) at our guesthouse, and then ready for a good night’s sleep. It was early for my standards, but the island seems to still live following the rhythm of the sun, so we decided to embrace it:-)
Day 2 – the long walk! On the second day, we decided to return the scooter and get around using the public transports. Those rickety buses were too cute to be left ignored:D We left our guesthouse at around 9.30am on foot – “we walk along the coast until St Francois and then down to Graviers, and then we will take a but back for the return”, they said. We were definitely over-optimistic. By 11am we had just gone past Grand Baie (those hilly roads definitely deceived us xD) and the sun was so strong that we had to quickly re-brief. We saw one of those wonderful buses lazily parked on a turn, whose driver did not seem to have any intention to leave any time soon. And again, we embraced it – waiting under a rusty bus shed, sweating like a pig but with a gentle breeze on your face, suddenly seemed like the most relaxing activity ever. And eventually the bus left, joyfully riding up and down those hilly roads and picking up passengers at apparently random spots. With loud, chilled music in the background, of course. It was so much fun! We jumped off in Mont Lubin, Tom cut his hair and the hairdresser (James coiffure) became the local star of the day. We had a ridiculously cheap and tasty lunch at the tiny bakery just opposite the hairdresser’s, and then waited for a bus to St Francois. And waited. And waited a bit more. And eventually took a bus to Grande Montagne, and ended up walking down Graviers:D It was a pretty long walk, but we enjoyed so much seeing the island from this perspective! We saw gigantic spiders everywhere, that we would have probably never seen by sitting on a bus or a scooter, luscious gardens, pineapples growing wild as well as never-seen plants and flowers. Oh, and also a dog and a few docile goats. Once in Graviers we were tired and sweaty, but nothing that a good jus de citron and a beer cannot fix! Afterwards, we followed the hiking path between Graviers and St Francois. Quite easy overall, although there were a few stretches that required some good legwork. This hike is definitely recommended – the landscapes are gorgeous, there are a few stunning sandy beaches on the way (deserted! We did not take full advantage of those, although Tom did bathe in the one just before St Francois) and the peace is unbeatable. We also enjoyed the sudden rain, that made the light turn dramatic, the wind howl and the waves crash strong. Humbling.
Once in St Francois, we realized that our guidebook was plain wrong – no more buses run on the island after 5pm. Yay. Thankfully, we met our guesthouse owner on the way, who brought us back to the main road and advised us not to hesitate to “faire le stop” (hitchhike). And even more thankfully, we ran across the most gentle Hindi couple on Earth, who saw us walking in despair, did a U turn and drove us back to our guesthouse just out of pure kindness (we managed to find Garisha in Mauritius a few days after, to thank her once more for such gentle act:-) ).
What a day!!! Just the time for a shower and a chicken curry at the guesthouse (too tired to find a restaurant!), and we were off for a very good night’s sleep 🙂
On our third and last day, we visited Port Mathurin. We walked there from the guesthouse (this time it was just a 20-mins, easy walk:-) ), explored the main market (probably most stuff was overpriced for tourists), supermarkets and shops (we loved the works and initiative by Care-Co!). We also randomly discovered the exhibit of a local painter, Christophe Meunier, and I really fell in love with his colorful art. A dish of mines frites later, eaten under the bus shed at Port Mathurin, we jump on our last bus adventure – it really was, the bus 234 seemed to go completely in the wrong direction…until it suddenly stopped, made a U turn (lol) and dropped us exactly in front of our guesthouse. Only in Rodrigues, I guess 😀
Such a special, short break from reality it was! Thank you, Rodrigues! <3