Calypso's Journal: Touring the Island

After some of the worst weather imaginable, we finally managed to experience a couple of decent days which allowed us to get out there to hike some of the gorgeous trails here in Rodrigues.

Our first venture out was with Sandy and Jack from Zorana. We took a local bus to the east coast where there are some beautiful beaches and stunning scenery. I'd had a brand new pair of Keens put away since Australia so dragged these out for the occasion only to have the sole of the right show fall off within the first 15 minutes of walking! The guys managed to do a Heath Robinson trick by tying it on with a piece of string which fortunately withstood the test of hiking that distance.

We walked for approximately four hours along the beaches, over the rocky terrain and through some forests, stopping for a picnic lunch along the way. We all felt so good getting our land legs back in operation again after so many months confined to the boat. The is a very popular spot for kite surfing. We had just missed an international competition but there were still quite a few out there catching the 20+knots of wind.

A few days later we tried another trail but abandoned it after only half an hour as it was down steep hills and was so wet and slippery that it wasn't a pleasure. We subsequently took a bus to another area to follow a trail over the hills down to the coastline and along the waterfront. We were meant to be in pursuit of orange or yellow markers leading the way but I think the chap responsible for this task had gone to sleep several times along the route (or maybe just had a warped sense of humour) as we sometimes walked several miles before we found the next marker and even that was by sheer luck. The weather was a bit miff with flurries of rain but overall, very nice.

Next was a trip to see the giant tortoises at the south end of the island. This time it was just Zorana and myself as Paul felt he needed to stay behind to work on one of those inevitable jobs on the boat. Again, we took a local bus but had to walk for three quarters of an hour to the reserve. As I hadn't fully recovered from the previous two hikes, my legs were really beginning to feel it now.

In the late 1600s, there were apparently hundreds of thousands of giant tortoises to be found on Rodrigues, but within a century, mankind managed to decimate the lot leaving none at all. The Francois Leguat Reserve here has created a safe haven and introduced two species primarily from Madagascar. There are now over 3500 of these wonderful prehistoric creatures, most born on the island since 2008. We saw giant tortoises during our visit to the Galapagos but I have to admit, this was so much better. The entire breeding programme is so well done and the tortoises have a magical lush green and protected canyon where they can freely roam. I was most impressed. (Note: photos of the tortoises are in a separate blog installment.)

This small island has been one of the most environmentally devastated ecosystems in the world so, in addition to reestablishing the tortoise population, there has been a programme of mass planting of threatened and vulnerable flora and clearing out of the introduced varieties. So many species of plants and birds became extinct primarily due to mankind's destructive nature to the point that the fruitbat is the sole indigenous mammal remaining on the island. It's good to see the effort now being placed on trying to right the wrong.

Our fan belt dilemma has been resolved; we ordered two to be flown in from Mauritius. They could only find one there at the time but that should see us safely there until we can search for another to keep as a spare. Paul and another one of the cruisers helping him, managed to replace and adjust the brackets aligning the alternator which was obviously the culprit for shredding all the belts in the first place. We still have issues but nothing too untoward or dangerous.

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