Just imagine running eight marathons in a row! Completely crazy! And yet this is the feat the “diagonale des fous” finishers accomplish. When they are presented with the medal and the T-shirt emblazoned “I survived”, they have climbed 9000m which is equivalent to 25 Eiffel Towers.
From start to finish competitors climb 5 peaks culminating at about 2000m (the highest point being 2411m high). They skirt the volcano, touch the sky on crest paths overlooking deep ravines, the cirque of Cilaos, they walk through Mafate and wade ankle deep in mud in Kerveguen forest. The Grand Raid has become a myth: out of the initial 2500 or so, about 70% make it to the finish. The winner completes the race in about 23 hours while the last finisher is allowed 64!
Rodrigues is, along with Reunion and Mauritius, the third and smallest island of the Mascarene Archipelago. Politically it is a dependency of Mauritius, which is about 600 km to the south west, and many of the island's visitors are Mauritian.
It has two 'claims to fame' - it is the part of Africa closest to Australia, and it is the furthest place where the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa was heard.
Map of Rodrigues
When we visited we made the most of direct flights between Reunion and Rodrigues (these were not to last however).
coming in to land
The island covers 108 km2 and is 18km long by 8 km wide.
coming in to land
We stayed in the Pointe Venus hotel, which is quite close to Port Mathurin, the capital.
view from our hotel balcony
Port Mathurin has a population of about 6 000 people; the whole island has about 40 000 inhabitants.
Port Mathurin
Ethnically Rodriguans have a mix of African and Malagasy blood, and are mainly Catholics, but there are some Muslims too.
St Gabriel cathedral, Port Mathurin
mosque
harbour
sea-view cemetery
We visited Ile aux Cocos which is a small island and renowned bird sanctuary.
Ile aux Cocos
Ile aux Cocos
Ile aux Cocos
Ile aux Cocos
baby bird hatching
The island's highest point is only 355m.
Rodrigues seen from Ile aux Cocos
mangrove
Rodrigues is quite dry and windswept, although the tropical location obviously keeps the climate hot and sunny too.
There are several beautiful and deserted beaches on Rodrigues:
weather station
Rodrigues' lagoon is very large, covering 300 km2.
part of Rodrigues lagoon
One of the main products fished on Rodrigues is octopus.
octopus drying in the sun
Underneath a coral plateau is an enormous cave 600 metres long called Caverne Patate.
stalacmites
cave exit
We didn't get to scuba-dive whilst there, but we would love to return to do so (see here).
leaving Rodrigues
Suggested reading:
The Prospector by JM Le Clézio (2008 Nobel Prize Winner for Literature). Alexis L'Estang becomes obsessed with finding the treasure of the legendary Unknown Corsair on the island of Mauritius. The child recalls the sea around the island of Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean. The author situated the plot of this book in the village of Anse aux Anglais.
If you read French or Spanish, JM Le Clézio also wrote the novel Voyage à Rodrigues ("Trip to Rodrigues"; translated into Spanish as Viaje a Rodrigues but not yet translated into English).
This was my second trip to the Maldives, which is one of my favourite places in the world. Whereas last time (2004) I had to travel via Seychelles, this time the Seychelles>Maldives flight no longer exists, so I had to travel via Mauritius and Dubai.
The Maldives consists of almost 1200 coral islands spread over 750 km in length, and when you land in the Maldives it's on a special airport island known as Hulhule, which is next to the capital island, Malé.
speed boat with Malé in the background
Your resort will come and pick you up from the airport, and depending on the distance from Hulhule, will organise a boat or seaplane transfer.
As I was travelling with a friend who writes guide books we were actually staying in six different hotels over a two-week period (well, actually five resorts and one boat!).
a seaplane airport
Our first stop was overnight at Embudu Village, a 124-room resort in the northern part of South Male Atoll, not far from Malé.
The resort is in North Malé atoll and can be reached by speedboat from Malé/the airport.
The island the resort is on, Medhufinolhu, was extensively redesigned for the current resort.
It has its own spa, as do nearly all Maldivian resorts
you really have to fight for space in the pool
The fourth place we stayed at was the Soneva Gili - also very luxurious but in a very different, more decontracted style. On my previous 2004 trip I'd stayed at its sister resort, Soneva Fushi which is more land-based; in contrast Soneva Gili has only water bungalows.
inside our water bungalow
each villa has its own private access into the water
Soneva resorts have "No News, No Shoes" policy whereby you are encouraged to kick off your shoes and disconnect from distractions like TV news.
Everybody has their own bike to get around the island on!
Soneva Gili opened in 2001 and is on Lankanfushi Island, in North Malé Atoll.
The smallest bungalow ('villa suites') are 210 m2! There are also a number of 'Crusoe residences', which are stand-alone entities for total privacy. Their have their own rowing boat/boat shuttle to the main island.
some of the secluded Crusoe residences
Even on a cloudy day the colour of the water is amazing.
As each resort was better than the last, I was starting to wonder if our penultimate stay, on board the Four Seasons Explorer, could live up to its predecessors.
Four Seasons Explorer
It wasn't going to be easy downsizing from a 200m2 villa to a 20m2 (shared) stateroom!
our stateroom, Four Seasons Explorer
However the excellent food, service, and programme of activities on-board meant we were scarcely in the cabin apart from sleeping and changing clothes.
lobster
The FS Explorer is a 39 metre long vessel with 10 staterooms and one suite. It has its own dive dhoni, the Azekara, and a programme of activities for divers and non-divers. (A dhoni is a type of Maldivian boat).
Azekara dive dhoni
As well as diving and snorkelling we were also able to visit a local island called Dhangethi, in Alif Dhaal atoll (aka South Ari Atoll). It measures 925 x 350 metres and has a population of 1000.
In the Maldives it is only possible to visit tourist villages/islands during the day - as a foreigner you're not allowed to stay on them overnight.
On the island we saw two types of traditional Maldivian seats, as you can see in the photos above and below.
but not yet translated into English).
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