Our roots

It all started when…

Against all odds and advice from the locals, we believed we could rewild calcarenite land and create a secluded place for travelers to get away and rediscover everyday essentials in Rodrigues. In 2014, we started planting hundreds of endemic shrubs and trees that once grew here to recreate the lost floral links.

Koraya Lodge is the story of the transformation of a plot of hard calcarenite land entirely over-run with introduced plants, into what is about to turn into a natural lowland savannah of this area. Believe us, it take time to grow endemic trees in Petite Butte!

Our logo is a traditional shield with a set of customized icons that are part of the daily decor - the lagoon, an octopus, and the leaves of the endemic shrub, Myoporum mauritianum.

The Myoporum can reach 2 m high, has many branches and a rather rounded shape. In Rodrigues, this species is observed only on calcarenite. It grows almost always at 5-100 m from the sea.

The octopus, locally called ourite is used in a wide range of everyday household meals. It is sun-dried, grilled, put in salads, in curries and stews. This mollusc is the object of traditional fishing in the lagoon, on foot, a prerogative of fisherwomen - the piqueuses d’ourite.

A few meters from Koraya Lodge and acting as a protective belt for Rodrigues Island, the lagoon has the distinction of having a surface twice that of land.