CITYAM.COM26 MONDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2019LIFE&STYLE

TRAVEL

Walking into Rodrigues’Reserve François Leguatis one of those wild mo-ments that will staywith you forever. As you

enter a deep, green valley, you’regreeted by dozens of giant tortoises,which amble amiably towards you,ponderously dragging their massivebulk across the grass in the hopeyou’ll toss them a lime. They are vastcreatures, and the sheer number ofthem – 1,200, evenly split betweenAldabra giant tortoises and smallerradiated tortoises – is hard to takein: you can almost hear JohnWilliams’ Jurassic Park theme play-ing in the background.Reserve François Leguat is a spec-tacular ecology project, a huge un-dertaking aimed at restoring andprotecting the islands indigenousplants and wildlife, including110,000 endemic and native plants.The tortoises are sadly not native tothe island – the Domed Rodriguesgiant tortoise was wiped out by hu-mans some time around 1800. TheAldabra giant tortoises are the clos-est surviving species, and have beenshipped over from the Seychelles.Each tortoise is painted with a num-ber so the rangers can keep track ofthem, with the monstrously sizedtortoise #1 having been rescuedfrom a public park.Every so often you hear a crash asa massive, gold-hued Rodrigues fly-ing fox flaps out of a tree, leaving atrail of leaves and branches in itswake. Snaking underneath the parkare spectacular limestone caves,which you can explore with a guide,who will point out the denselypacked, millennia-old stalagmitesand stalactites, with the most im-pressive sections lit up. Reserve François Leguat is just oneof the surprising things about thisthoroughly surprising island. Ro-drigues (pronounced “rod-reegs”) is

the little sister to Mauritius – mosttrips here will be tacked on to a tripto the larger island – which liesaround 370 miles to the west. Butwhile Mauritius has 1.265 millionpeople and an international reputa-tion as a high-end, sun-and-sandalsdestination, Rodrigues is home tounder 40,000 and almost nobodyhas heard of it. And while touringMauritius will almost certainly in-volve navigating traffic jams, a drivearound Rodrigues is more likely tobe interrupted by obstinate goats re-fusing to get out of the road. It’s a rugged island, the rocky,windswept scenery, full of bowed,squat trees, more reminiscent of theFaroes or the Falklands than your typ-ical tropical paradise, although thetemperature is a solid 24-29 degreesyear-round. It’s also incredibly windy,making it a big destination for kitesurfers, who you can see zippingacross the ocean at break-neck speed.Rodrigues is a largely agricultural is-land, and while tourism is a big partof the economy, it doesn’t feel touristy,and when I was there during one ofthe island’s quieter periods, bumping

into fellow travellers was rare.An unusual reef formation sur-rounding the island means Ro-drigues is surrounded by a vastlagoon twice as big as the island it-self. This lagoon contains 18 islets, in-cluding bird-watching haven CocoIsland, home to an astonishing num-ber of birds. Or so I’m told: the un-usually high winds that whippedacross the island all week meant itwas too dangerous to go out. Another way to traverse the is-land – one that’s not quite so suscep-tible to high winds – is on the backof a 4x4. Clattering down rockypaths, being propelled a foot intothe air with every bounce, is a hugeamount of fun, and somethingpretty much every guide on the is-land will be happy to arrange foryou. It’s also a great way to see moreof that wonderfully harsh terrain.From the higher outcrops, you reallyget the sense that you’re lost in themiddle of the ocean, standing onthe last piece of Africa before eastAsia unspools further east.Another must-see is the The GrandMontagne Nature Reserve, which is

home to an astonishing selection ofendemic species of plants and ani-mals. My guide through the reservewas a hardened twitcher deter-mined to show me one of the tworare birds that like to hang out here,mimicking their tune in the hopeone would arrive (and one duly did).I was more interested, however, inthe gigantic orb web spiders thathas set up shop in the trees. Withthe leg-span of a dinner plate andvivid red-on-black markings, thesetruly are the stuff of nightmares.I stayed in the island’s most luxu-rious resort, Tekoma, a collection ofneat little villas hunkering down ona hillside overlooking the ocean (tobe fair, almost everything on Ro-drigues overlooks the ocean). Therooms are well presented, makingliberal use of driftwood and comingwith all the paradise island touchesyou’d expect, including an outdoorshower/bath and picture windows soyou can gaze out to sea from thecomfort of your four-poster bed. The resort – which is expanding toalmost double its capacity – has thelook and feel of an eco village, and

RODRIGUES: THE INDIAN OCEAN’S

HIDDEN PARADISE

you could happily while away after-noons just wandering from yourvilla to the beach a few metres away.From there you can walk for miles,past herds of free-roaming cattle,discovering tucked away beachesand interesting rock pools filledwith bright purple anemone.There’s something about the land-scape here that makes you want todo stuff rather than just hang out onthe beach (although that’s obviouslyan option, too). One afternoon Imade the reasonably challenginghike from Tekoma up to Gravierbeach, taking in the island’s se-cluded coves, including the stun-ning Trou d’argent Beach (an areathat’s inaccessible by car), which hasa natural wave machine formed by anarrow gully carved out of the rocks.At the end of every day, I’d returnto Tekoma and hole up in the restau-rant, ploughing through Phoenixbeer and occasionally mixing thingsup with a spiced rum. The food is ex-cellent, too, heavily skewed towardsfish and seafood, naturally, and ex-cellently prepared. Watching the sun set from the van-tage point of the restaurant, theblues of the ocean getting darkeruntil everything fades to inky blackis ridiculously romantic. But not ina cheesy, footprints-in-the-sand, pic-ture postcard kind of way. That’s notRodrigues’ style. It’s romantic inthat wistful, almost melancholyway, where you feel like you’restanding at the end of the world, amillion miles from civilisation. It’sblissful.

NEED TO KNOW £ For more information and to bookaccommodation at Tekoma, go to tekoma-hotel.com, call +230 483 49 70, oremail reservations@trimetys-hotels.com£ There are two flights a day with AirMauritius from Mauritius to Rodrigues.

From top: The vivid blue Indian Ocean; one of the giant tortoises;A room at Tekoma; An aerial shot of the Tekoma resort

Steve Dinneen finds a wonderfulisland retreat teeming with life.

And best of all? None of your mateswill have a clue where it is.