Rodrigues is a tiny and isolated island in the Indian ocean, 650 km east of Mauritius. A tropical jewel of 108 km2, surrounded by a lagoon of 300 km2… It makes you dream? Well, this is only the beginning!
WHY IS RODRIGUES MAGICAL?
Because it is one of the few places in the world where all sense of time is suspended. All those who visited Rodrigues will tell you: a tasty slowness reigns on the island. It is as if you had hit the pause button on. A delighted pause. A parenthesis cut off from the world. Another dimension. Rodrigues is also rightly nicknamed “the island without stress”. I spent a little more than two years on this still unknown paradise. Two years where the words “anxiety”, “insecurity” and “agitation” disappeared from my vocabulary.
Satellite view of Rodrigues island © Google Maps 2015
Satellite view of Rodrigues island © DigitalGlobe 2012
HOW CAN RODRIGUES BE TIMELESS?
Lost in the Indian ocean, far from everything, 650 km from the nearest island, Rodrigues is probably located on a cross-dimensional rift. But more seriously, the time seems suspended because the island is absolutly quiet. With less than 40,000 inhabitants, the island does not even have a redlight. It gives you an idea of the traffic.
In addition, Rodrigues is so remote from the rest of the world that it has been spared from mass tourism and excessive development. The inhabitants have preserved nature but also the authenticity, the peacefulness and the“old-world” look of their island. Visitors from the nearby islands often say that Rodrigues looks like Mauritius or La Reunion 50 years ago.
Finally, the Rodriguan people are the incarnation of serenity and peace. They are cool, really. If you go there, you would surely find it hard to relax and let go… but once you’d have adopted the Rodrigues rhythm, you would find it very difficult to return to city life. Believe me!
Shark, my Rodriguan dog, offers you a small preview of local landscape:
Obviously, paradise does not exist on Earth. Rodrigues also has its less positive aspects. Nevertheless, it is close to the idea that I have of Eden. In short, I fell deeply in love with this island and I‘ll always bear it in my heart.
During a hike on the East coast of Rodrigues
FIND OUT MORE:
- You‘ve already been to Rodrigues? Share your experience with me!
- Are you planning to go over there? I’ll be happy to share my tips!
- For the others, put Rodrigues on your wish list!
Photos & contents @ The Tropical Dog 2015-2017.
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I have always wondered about this place. When I was about 10 years old my parents bought me a globe. I used to play with it all the time and spin it and stop it and look at the location my finger stopped the globe spinning at. One time it stopped near Madagascar. I tried to learn as much as I could about Madagascar from our Encyclopedia Britannica. But then I noticed nearby a teeny tiny island named Rodrigues Island. And I thought, “Hey I have an island!” My last name was Rodriguez. I never found out much about it. But I still remember the island and where it was on the globe. That thing has long since been gone. But not my found memories and fantasies about Rodrigues Island. Maybe someday I will visit.