Blue Bay, Grand Port District, MauritiusI had arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 9:30 this morning
to take us to the airport with a stop at the François Leguat Reserve, which has
as its goal to recreate the conditions on Rodrigues before humans arrived.
Leguat was a Huguenot (French Protestant) who fled France after the Edict of
Nante (which had allowed Protestants to practice their beliefs freely and
legally) was revoked in 1689. He along with a group of nine other Huguenot men
landed on Rodrigues in 1691 to start a colony.
There were no women in the
party, and the men grew unhappy with their situation, so two years later they
built a boat and sailed to Mauritius, most of them made their way back to
Europe, and Leguat spent the rest of his life in England. He wrote a book about
his adventures in the Indian Ocean. He mentioned several species of birds that
are not extinct, one related to the dodo, and several species of tortoises that
were also hunted to extinction. Sailors in search of meat could easily catch
the lumbering reptiles, which could go without food and water for as long as 40
days.
It is estimated that when humans first made landfall on
Rodrigues it had the highest density of tortoises (land turtles) anywhere on
earth. Within 100 years there were none left, around 300,000 were taken for
food by passing mariners.
The center has brought in three kinds of tortoises. Aldabra (the
big ones) and radiated tortoises (named for ray-like markings on the shells)
were brought from Mauritius. The
endangered ploughshare tortoise has recently been introduced from Madagascar.
They have a growth under their chin that resembles a plowshare. They are all
reproducing well. There are over 3000 tortoises in the reserve now which is
also replanting indigenous trees, which were heavily cut for fuel and lumber
over the years.
At 10:30 a guide took us out to show us the smaller
tortoises, behind fences for protection. Then we entered an area where we could
see the giant aldabras. These can actually climb stairs, but they won’t try to
come back down, they instinctively fear rolling on their backs which can be
fatal since it puts weight on their lungs and eventually suffocates them. One
was trying to climb the stairs we were descending. Marjolaine had to do some
gymnastics to get around the big guy.
They enjoy having their necks scratched and will stretch out
into a picturesque pose when treated this way. It’s quite fun. I’ve had the
chance to interact with aldabras on Mauritius and Madagascar, but it’s been a
while so we both had fun interacting with them. Their just reptiles, so not
very smart at all, one can’t form a relationship with a reptile the way one can
with a mammal, though they’re not, they look wise, thoughtful, and noble.
There was a goat among the tortoises. She had wondered in
among them when young and took a liking to them. Her owner came and took her
home, but she escaped and came back to her friends. So the center paid the
owner and now she lives full time among the turtles. When we saw here she was
lying surrounded by a big group, which didn’t mind her presence at all. The
guide says she sometimes stands on one rather flat-shelled aldabra so she can
get at tender leaves higher up on trees.
After a very interesting visit, we had lunch in the little
restaurant. I had goat curry; Marjolaine a vegetable curry, both tasty. Then we
went back to the taxi-van for the short drive to the airport. The driver had
asked earlier what I did for a living. On the drive to the airport, he wanted
to talk about God, and how without Him, life has no meaning. It was a brief but
thoughtful discussion.
The flight back to Mauritius went smoothly and on time. THere were some fascinating cloud formations on the flight back. Bright white on deep blue is a striking contrast.
On
arrival I picked up a car and we drove back to the same hotel as before, which
I had reserved again. The Internet works well there, and it’s good place for
Marjolaine’s daily swim. The water is clear and very warm, two key elements for
her.
We stopped at a supermarket on the way to the hotel, and
bought some food for dinner. I had my sandwich saved from the flight box they
gave us, Marjolaine bought a salad. We relaxed in the afternoon and I got
caught up on some more preparation for the ILP. We’ll be buying plane tickets
up to the very last moment.
Tomorrow will be our last day in Mauritius.
Margaret V
2023-04-21
Hello Mr. and Mrs Meeker, So pleased that Mrs. Meeker is feeling better. Glad you enjoyed your side trip to see the tortoises. It's great they are being reintroduced to that area. Continued prayers for the rest of your trip.
mary
2023-04-21
How fun to see the goat and tortoise photos. It's encouraging to see successful efforts to rebuild the tortoise population and replant the indigenous trees. How positive! Glad you had such a fun break!
Tess Washington
2023-04-22
What a fun & pleasant day! An interesting note about a reptile and a mammal animal. Are tortoises considered a sea creature, created on the 5th day? Thank you for the photos, your travel blog came out more alive with it! As the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words!"