Rodriguez 2
JJMoon Diary
Barry and Margaret Wilmshurst
Thu 4 Oct 2012 18:26
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Like many before us we have really enjoyed our few
days here. It is a quiet but civilized place and a little different from
anywhere else we have visited. The closest comparison I suppose would be
with a French West Indian Island. One off-beat note is that the official
language is English but nearly everybody speaks French most of the time and many
seem to have little English. We shifted off the quay at 0600 Tuesday but did not have to leave the
harbour; we joined a group of other boats crowded into the north-west
corner. Whilst we were preparing to cast off the previous evening the Port
Captain came round to advise us to stay where we were overnight and only leave
once we could see the whites of the supply ship’s captain’s eyes as he came down
the channel – otherwise we should have to move twice. (Perhaps he didn’t
put it quite like that). We stayed out at anchor for 24 hours then joined
the rush to get back on to the quay as the monster left.
 The supply ship cometh
Yesterday we walked in the rain to the bus station, took an hour’s ride
across the island and 45 minutes walk to see the “giant” tortoises. We had
an early lunch in delightful surroundings, walked for an hour and a half across
country, through the limestone cave replete with stalactites and stalagmites and
into the tortoise canyon. We have seen bigger tortoises but never so many,
nor been encouraged to touch them. They are very strange creatures.
We couldn’t help wondering how it was that they have evolved the way they
have. Did you know that if you stroke a tortoise on his or her huge shell
they will wriggle, slowly rise on to tip-toes and stretch their necks in the
hope of being tickled under the chin? We loved the tortoises. We
then walked and scrambled for half and hour over the short cut to the airport
where we took the bus back to Port Mathurin at “school out” time. One of
us thought it was a fairly long day – in fact I haven’t felt so weak and stiff
since I ran twenty-six miles through the streets of London all those years
ago. But it was a good day and we were very pleased to have taken the
opportunity to have a look at the island and its people from the bus. Our
guide at the tortoise reserve was an enthusiastic local girl and I found it
rather poignant to think that most people in the great wide world had not even
heard of her beautiful island and its 38,000 inhabitants.
Tortoise reserve* Now we think we shall leave tomorrow, Friday, and sail west to Mauritius. It should take two to three days. We must check in at Port Louis and then, as the small marina there has been block-booked by World ARC rally, we will make our way to Grand Baie in the north-west corner of the island. * Photographs one and three reproduced by kind permission of
Jim. |
