When you stay in Mauritius, it is common to hear that, to visit Rodrigues, 3 or 4 days are enough. The Mascarenes' "La Cendrillon", both wild and welcoming, is often treated as a poor relative by the big island. Tourism policy tends to make the little sister a simple extension of the big one, and some Mauritians themselves do not hide their "disdain" for this part of their country that they consider retrograde. However, Rodrigues has a strong and complete personality, which radically distinguishes it from Mauritius and makes it a tourist destination in its own right. Much more secluded and secret, more authentic and more abrupt, a trip to Rodrigues does not offer the same attractions as a trip to Mauritius: you do not go there to sunbathe, seek the luxury of top-of-the-range hotel services or engage in the frenetic practice of regulated activities. No, Rodrigues is an island that is deserved and can only be approached over time, in the image of its inhabitants, rather reserved at first sight, but with a sincere and endearing kindness...
When you arrive on the island, you are immediately struck by its wild and languid beauty, and the immensity of a lagoon whose turquoise colour contrasts with the green valleys and yellowed grassy areas, victims of drought. Cows graze at the foot of the vacoas trees, goats crawl in the steep hills, the sea, dotted with fishermen's canoes, shines with a thousand reflections.
From the heights of Rodrigues' interior, you can see at a glance the points of view on the waves: blue-green shades of ocean, irregular lace on the coral reef, winding passes facing the open sea, sandbanks and procession of islets... On the coastline, it is a rougher landscape made of sharp rocks, arid expanses swept by the winds, grassy vacuities bordering on solitude: a fierce beauty, in a way, that one guesses exclusive and difficult to fully possess.
In this island, which is still protected from too rapid and poorly adapted development, tourism projects are not geared towards a sprawling settlement, but are carried out with care and with a permanent concern to respect the environment, the inhabitants and the local culture. The existing infrastructure and lack of water are not compatible with an excessively dense tourist influx. Preference is given to green tourism or ecotourism. We discover the secrets of the island on foot or by bike, explore the lagoon in fishermen's canoes, sleep in local people's homes or in hotels that have managed to remain human and with simple comfort.
And you let yourself be caught up in the good-natured atmosphere and those snippets of local life that give the island all its character: the poetic names or conquerors of certain buses (Multi Bonheur, Aigle de la route, Super Copter...), the football stadium covered with water at low tide, the village coquettes in curlers, the cows languishing on postcard beaches, the small popular Sunday ball to the anachronistic rhythm of an accordion from yesteryear... Another world!
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