Long before Voyage à Rodrigues existed, the island did. This is its story: a history of Mauritius and Rodrigues carried together, long before anyone set foot on either shore.
An Uninhabited Island Is Discovered
Somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean, underwater volcanic activity built a small island: 108 square kilometers, ringed by a living coral reef, holding a lagoon the colour of pale glass. For more than two million years, Rodrigues stood alone. Its isolation, its particular soil, its exposure to open ocean, let wildlife grow undisturbed. Tortoises. Birds with no memory of predators. A place shaped entirely by nature, with no hand but its own.
That solitude held until the early 11th or 12th century, when Arab explorers found the island but did not stay. Centuries later, a Portuguese explorer, Diego Rodriguez, gave the island the name it still carries today.
Ships blown off course used it as shelter, and took what the island offered: fruit, giant tortoises, and the solitaire, a slow, unafraid bird that vanished not long after, in much the same way as the Mauritian dodo. The tortoises were part of the same landscape. François Leguat, one of the island's first settlers, wrote of walking more than a hundred steps across their shells without once touching the ground.
Settlement and the Colonial Century
In 1691, François Leguat and a small group of French Protestant refugees tried to settle Rodrigues. The attempt failed. Within two years, the group fled on a makeshift raft, bound for Mauritius. Still, their landing marks the beginning of continuous human presence on the island.
The settlers who came after brought enslaved people, who would make up the majority of the island's population throughout the colonial period. Most Rodriguans today trace their ancestry to these men and women and their descendants. Rodriguan food, language, and culture still carry that African and Malagasy inheritance, layered over time with European, Indian, and Chinese influence, the residue of centuries of movement across the Indian Ocean.
In 1810, after brief fighting, the island passed from French to British hands, following Britain's capture of Mauritius that same year. Mauritius's own history, from French to British rule and on to independence in 1968, runs alongside Rodrigues's own. The two islands' fates have stayed knotted together for much of the last three centuries. From that point on, Rodrigues was governed as a dependency of Mauritius, ruled from the mainland, and when Mauritius gained independence, Rodrigues became part of the new republic.
The desire for a greater say in island affairs never faded. In 2001, the Rodrigues Regional Assembly Act gave the island a measure of self-governance, administered by its own regional assembly.
Learn more about the History of Mauritius
An Island Outside of Time
For all its turbulence, Rodrigues today is unhurried, close-knit, and watchful over its own environment. At the François Leguat Nature Reserve, three living relatives of the extinct Rodrigues giant tortoise now roam ground their ancestors once did, part of an effort to return one corner of the island to the world Leguat described.
The waters carry the same care. Marine reserves and sustainable fishing practices now protect what's left of the island's blue economy, including the octopus, a local staple under growing pressure. On land, sustainable agriculture, characterized by agro-ecology and minimal pesticide use, is a habit passed through the generations.
Rodrigues remains an island unlike others in the region: dramatic basalt cliffs, bright lagoons, reefs still full of life, and a rhythm of living that feels older than it should. Its layered culture and long history, carried by generations of Rodriguans, are what hold the island outside of time: a vestige of simpler times.
Learn more about the Limon de Rodrigues
Fragrances have this extraordinary power to move us through incredible and unforgettable journeys to faraway places. Voyage à Rodrigues is more than just a fragrance line; it is an olfactory odyssey inspired by the hidden gem of the Indian Ocean: the Island of Rodrigues. Each scent in the collection is a poetic tribute to the island’s rich biodiversity, capturing the essence of its ecosystem, carefully preserved by local communities. Embrace this journey with Rodrigues Island and its planters, join us in unveiling this treasured long-guarded secret.
