Rodrigues Island: A Glimpse of Paradise.

It is no secret that I was blown away by Mauritius; who wouldn’t, with its stunning blue coastlines, charming mountain hideouts, and picturesque sugarcane fields? Yet I constantly found myself craving a younger version of the island, when chunks of its coastline were not cordoned off by resorts, and maps of the island didn’t come laid out with a platter of restaurants and activities. I wanted a Mauritius that could let me be impulsive and discover its treasures serendipitously.

Almost in rebellion against how late I arrived on this island, I impulsively booked flight tickets on my second night there, to Rodrigues, Mauritius’ sleepy sister island in the Indian Ocean. There wasn’t much Google could tell me about the island, but a single article on The Guardian convinced me that this would be “my kinda place”. Besides, flights to Madagascar were too expensive and Le Reunion Island needed a valid Schengen visa, which I didn’t have time to apply for.

After two weeks of exploring the Mauritian wilderness, seeking endless adventures, and pampering myself, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to say goodbye and board that little aircraft to Rodrigues after all; not until we got onto the aircraft, and flew for an hour and a half over the azure blue waters of the Indian Ocean. And not until we started to descend over a turquoise bay, convinced that we were going to land on the water, when the wheels hit the smallest runway I’ve ever seen with a thud, and the pilot jammed the breaks. On one side of the runway lay a range of hills abruptly arising from the ground, and on the other, a gorgeous blue stretch of waters; the airport itself was nothing more than a small shack. I alighted from the aircraft with a broad smile. Something told me I was going to fall head over heals in love with Rodrigues island.

I’m not going to give it to you this time, the whole story that is. Instead, I want you to come with me virtually, in my pictures, and see what I saw and feel what I felt. I’m going to give you my first glimpses of Rodrigues; the first drive from the airport to our refuge with a local family, the first spotting of the quaint French architecture on the island, the first solitary sunset, and the first of its colorful wilderness.

Love at first sight or not, you decide!

Rodrigues island, Rodrigues photos
The road to heaven.
Rodrigue island, Ile de rodrigues
Untouched.
Rodrigues islands, Iles Rodrigues
Mangrove land.
Ile de Rodrigues, Rodrigue island
Wilderness.
Rodrigues photos, Rodrigues island
Solitude.
Rodrigues island, Rodrigue island
An evening to remember.

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Any first impressions of Rodrigues Island? 

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4 days left to enter my ‘Dreaming of Mauritius’ Contest and win a four nights stay for two people at Le Meridien Ile Maurice, Mauritius. Mauritius has the closest international airport to Rodrigues Island!

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12 Comments

  1. sanjay tyagi says:

    simply beautiful

  2. That’s what I like the most about travelling without a pre-planned itinerary. You took a risk and it ended up being a fabulous place (but there are times when the opposite happens). Looks like the perfect place to unwind. 😉

    1. Absolutely; luckily the opposite’s never happened yet. Knowing nothing about a place and going with no expectations means you’ll hardly end up disappointed 🙂

  3. Wow, this looks stunning. I have been wanting to go to Reunion island for a while as Air France flies there regularly. Your travel adventures sound amazing!

    1. It was stunning! This is just the start; going to share in upcoming posts the beyond stunning stuff. Really fell in love with the island. I’ve heard Reunion is really awesome, though as developed in terms of tourism as Mauritius. Tell me how it was when you go!

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