An island only for birds – Ile aux Cocos, Indian Ocean

Far away from the well known travel destinations, you will find Rodriques island. This small island is located about 500 kilometers north- east of Mauritius, which is the main island. When you look at a map of the Indian Ocean islands, you get a feeling how remote this tiny island is. Rodriques is a tropical island with gorgeous beaches. The stunning mountanouis landscape invites activities like hiking. The size of Rodrigues is 12 km.x 6 km.

Rodrigues is surrounded by even smaller islands. Especially to the south and west of the main island. The most popular to pay a visit is Ile aux Cocos, There are organized day trips to the island. We desided to take one day to do the boat trip to the island. It is a flat, small, 1 km. Long island that functions as a nature reserve and as a bird santury. No humans are allowed to live here and the only way to visit is a guided tour.

We were picked up in the morning. There were several small boats taking up to 8 people each. The boat trip took about one hour. Because of low water level, the boat had to slow down a couple of times. When we approached the island, we started to feel surrounded by birds in air. Ile aux Cocos is populated with noodies and lesser noodies. You don't have to be an interested bird watcher to enjoy the island. The island is beautiful. You will get the feeling of being on a deserted island with a gorgeous beach and crystal water.

There are birds everywhere! We were here at the time when they have young chicks. The guide said that it is estimated that there are 45.000 birds on the island. Because the chicks a on the ground, we had to be carefull not to step on them. Some of them was sitting alone while the parrents were in the air. The only place we could walk freely was on the beach. The chicks would be sitting underneath vegetation and trees.

After the tour and a walk on the beach, it was time for lunch, time to keep on walking along the beach or go for a swim. On the way back there it had become a bit more windy, but we were back in the hotel to have time to relax before dinner. This had been a great day excursion.