Beachcomber Magazine 02

bythebeaterswhoplaywiththenets onthewater’ssurfaceandhitthehulls. Thereisshouting,themenholdontight tothenetsdespitethefrenziedleaping ofthefishuntilthenetsarefoldedover. Thisisallrepeated,alternatinglongand shortperiods,waitingandliftingthe nets.Oneofthepiroguestakesthemullet cargoesbacktotheshoreastheyare caught. Meanwhile,sincedawn,thewomenfrom theneighbouringvillages–Pistache, PointeauDiable,Soupir…–waitpatien- tlyplayingbingoundertheleavesofthe Indianbeechtrees.Whendaybreaks, thesunbecomesbrighterandshortens theshadows.Witheacharrival,they hurrytothehutwherethefishissold. Underawavingbannerproclaimingnoula mer, nou tresor, nou lavenir, anou protez li ( Our sea, our treasure, our future, let’s protect it) ,apodiumproudlybearsthe Sega-drumgroupswhosebeatmatches that ofyourheart.Thiseveninginthe huts everyonewillsharethesamesup- perof mulletsoupandfishcurry.SURVIVE “ Rodriguans are fisherman in the morning, then farmers and breeders in the afternoon. the men at the nets, the women fishing for octopus, ”says Mouk,oneofthe“kings”oftheisland inhiscapacityofbusdriver–which foralongtimeweretheonlymeansof transportonRodrigues.“ most of them own a little acre of sweet corn andbeans and a few animals – cows, goats, pigs or chickens… Rodriguans have to be versatile to survive. ” AtRivièreBanane,inthenortheast,a (rare)freshwaterspringmakespossible theisland’sbiggestorchard.Coconut palms,bananatrees,flowers,tomatoes, cucumbersandlettuce–anorganic GardenofEden,“freeofpesticides”, Chantalhastenstoadd.Forgenera- tions,somesixtyfarmersworktheir acresrelentlessly.Theyalsomake honey,withtheverysingularflavour oftheflowersofpiquant loulou ,the extremelythornyacaciaLoup.Chantal andherhusbandharvesttheshootsin theorchard.Atnighttheywilldeliver theircargototheweeklymarketinthe capital,PortMathurin.“ROdRIGuANs ARe fIsheRMAN IN the MORNING, theN fARMeRs ANd BReedeRs IN the AfteRNOON.” « Le ROdRiGuais est PêcheuR Le matin, éLeveuR et aGRicuLteuR L’aPRès-midi. »  Women wait to buy their batch of mullet freshly unloaded on the shores in Anse La Baie. Les femmes patientent pour acheter leur lot de mulets fraîchement débarqués sur la grève de Anse La Baie.