Around the island
A main road leads from Sir Gaetan Duval Airport at Plaine Corail along the island’s centre to Mont Lubin before branching off into different directions. Visitors are lured to the hilly east mainly for its coastline, the most celebrated on Rodrigues, which has almost all the coastal beauty spots, the best swimming beaches and watersports including kitesurfing, deep-sea fishing and diving. In the centre there are opportunities for ecotourism and adventure among the island’s hills, while the west holds Rodrigues’ premier eco-attraction, François Leguat Giant Tortoise and Cave Reserve. As there’s no coastal road in the west or east, however, note that many journeys involve going back to the centre and out again.
Central Rodrigues
The island’s verdant
centre is dotted with smallholdings producing maize, free-range chickens, honey and the red-hot chillies for which Rodrigues is famed. Views along the ravines radiating to the coast from the central mountain ridge reveal a spectacular seascape a myriad hues of blue, while the summit of
Mount Limon (398m), Rodrigues’ highest peak a fifteen-minute climb from the road, offers 360-degree island panoramas. Attractions in the mountains nearby include Mauritian Wildlife’s newest eco-venture at Grand Montagne, the island’s only botanic garden and the highest zipline in the Indian Ocean.
The east
The wide stretch of white sand at Pointe Coton is generally thought of as the most beautiful beach on the island, while for snorkellers “the aquarium” offshore from the neighbouring fishing village of St François – a channel lined with coral and teeming with fish – is undoubtedly a highlight. There was no road, no phone and no TV at St François when the first guesthouse opened here 25 years ago, and the tiny settlement remains sleepy despite being the east’s tourism hub. The palm-fringed stretch of white sand at Anse Ally, to the north of the village, is also home to the new design hotel Tekoma – an opening that cements the area’s hip reputation. The main reason for St François’ popularity, however, is that it’s within walking distance of the gem in Rodrigues’ crown, Trou d’Argent, “Money Hole”. This wild cove where pirates once landed was recently named among the thirty best-preserved beaches worldwide.
Of the roads winding down through valleys to southeastern coastal settlements, the road to Mourouk has the most magnificent views of the lagoon and islands. The village itself may be small, but as the island’s kitesurfing centre, has a big reputation. Port Sud Est, a tiny village with one-room shops, lies nearby. Another dizzying road snakes down to off-the-beaten-track Graviers, start point for the island’s best-known coastal walk – look out for famous local fisherman Tonio cooking up a beachside fish feast in season.
The west
The west is the driest, flattest part of the island, partly covered by the prairie of Plaine Corail, famous for its limestone caves. There are two worthwhile attractions here just ten minutes’ drive from the airport: Caverne Patate, the longest and best-known cave, and the island’s newest attraction, the François Leguat Giant Tortoise and Cave Reserve, where giant tortoises already look at home.
François Leguat Giant Tortoise and Cave Reserve
Walking among around two hundred giant tortoises in the wild is the key draw at François Leguat Giant Tortoise and Cave Reserve. Brought over from La Vanille Réserve Mascareignes on Mauritius eight years ago, some 1500 Aldabra tortoises have now been reintroduced into the wild in this 20-hectare nature reserve. The tortoises can be stroked and adopted, while a suspended wooden walkway takes you past 186,000 endemics replanted as part of an on-going “re-wilding” project.
Also included in the ticket is a half-hour guided visit to a limestone cave: the only show cave in the Indian Ocean. Strategically placed lights reveal rock formations such as columns, curtains and eccentrics, and small groups are shown the bones of a solitaire, stuck in the cave walls. Elsewhere in the reserve there’s a cage of rare golden-coloured Rodrigues fruit bats (Pteropus rodricensis), the island’s only endemic mammal, saved from extinction by Gerald Durrell, and still critically endangered with around nine thousand pairs – they can be seen flying at dusk island-wide. A small but good museum details the human, natural and geological history of the island, and there’s a café-restaurant on site.