Island Life: Rodrigues mini-series: Part 1

The blog has been a bit quiet recently, partly because we went on a trip to Rodrigues with some friends. It's an amazing place, and there's too much to say about it to put in just one post, so I decided to make a mini-series. Part 1 will start with a bit of background info...

With a total area of 42 square miles, Rodrigues is an even tinier dot on the map than Mauritius. It's about 350 miles east of here and has a population of 41,000. The inhabitants are Mauritian citizens, but the island has been autonomous since 2002, meaning that they have a regional assembly to write laws and manage their budget.

From what I saw, the two islands are quite different in terms of landscape, population, and industry. The dry, arid land in Rodrigues reminded me a lot of Gozo, off the coast of Malta. Unlike Mauritius, there are animals everywhere; mainly cows and goats. The only place I've seen goats in Mauritius, is by the side of the main road through Tamarin!

There's no sugar cane at all, and the economy is driven by fishing, agriculture, tourism, and handicrafts. Everything that can't be produced on Rodrigues is brought in from Mauritius (more on that later).

The population of Mauritius is mainly of Indian origin, with some Chinese, African, and Europeans, whereas the people of Rodrigues are mainly descended from the African slaves taken there by the French to tend to their livestock during the 18th century. For some reason, when the British took over and abolished slavery, the French cleared out completely - in Mauritius they stayed and kept a lot of prime land for themselves!

I did find two things the islands have in common; their creativity with shop naming, and their buses!