The Secret Islands Of Africa

ESL falls off the map to explore the unbelievably wild and breathtakingly gorgeous islands of the African continent.

- Jo Kromberg

Rodrigues Island, Mauritius

As we descend through the light clouds, Rodrigues reveals itself—a floating green planet, with its surrounding coral reef tenderly hugging it like its own atmosphere, in shades of lucid blue like a blond child’s eyes.

Rodrigues is an autonomous outer island of Mauritius, richly imbued with tropical flora and marvellous beaches— both milky white and volcanic black.

It lies about 560km east of Mauritius and is mountainous with verdant valleys plunging to the 300 km2 lagoon on towards its 80km coastline.

A diver’s paradise, while here, I spotted giant tortoises brought back from the brink of extinction. The expedition was followed by a boat visit to Ile aux Cocos, an island bird sanctuary home to about an astonishing 45,000 birds. As the white and grey clouds played on the water, the iridescent surface of the sea changed colour between molten mercury and the sheerest of tourmaline.

From my private terrace at the lovely four-star Mourouk Ebony Hotel, with its Creole-style bungalows, I had an uninterrupted view of the ocean. Rates at the hotel start at about US$145 per night.

I spent my last morning absorbing the sights, sounds, colours and aromas of the weekly Saturday market. Rodrigues is truly the art de vivre.

Getting there: There are daily flights to Rodrigues with Air Mauritius.

Mumbo Island, Malawi

There is no place like Mumbo, an uninhabited tropical island floating on the vast waters of the Lake Malawi National Park Marine Reserve in Malawi. Only one kilometre long, it has been globally awarded for being eco-friendly in every respect. The lake is 600km long, 80km wide and over 700m deep, and resembles a crystal clear, sleepy ocean.