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Rodriguez Island is surely one of the last paradises
on earth. Its inhabitants are well off, friendly and happy. Tourism
has not left its usual traces yet, and visitors are welcome.
My hope is that the pictures shown here may inspire those of
you willing to spend some time in a place without TV, no mobile
telephone - connection and absolutely no predictability of schedules.
The landscape and the recreational value of Rodriguez is top-
but dont expect a malacological revelation - the endemics of
Mauritius and La Reunion seemingly have not found their way to
Rodriguez, and some families of Mollusca are entirely missing.
Cowries are scarce, too, except may be for moneta, annulus
and caputserpentis. The only thing I noticed was an exceptional
richness in fancy Epitoniidae on the beaches, and a red-blotched
Haliotis-type I have not yet been able to identify. Yes, and
those juvenile-looking annulus of course, which may turn
out to be something really exciting and new.
My hope is also that the unique environment we found at Rodriguez
will remain in the good state it still is, despite the effects
of civilization one may notice, shown here by the fate of the
large landsnail T. articulata which will most certainly
become totally extinct within the coming decade.
For those interested, a small selection of various molluscs
from Rodriguez are available upon request (we have collected
them on the beaches, no living shells were taken). We also have
a small set of subfossil though intact Tropidophora articulata
from a site where the species must have thrived a few centuries
ago, before man entered the island...
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Mauritius, the southwest at Mt. Brabant. Here
the rich people have their hotels...at $ 300 a night
the stormy south of Mauritius
