Haunted Rodrigues island

In the olden days ghosts used to be prolific on the island of Rodrigues. Being a skeptic, I asked the older generation why is it that there aren't as many ghost sightings in modern times. The answer is, "people don't walk around at night as much now due to cars, motorcycles and buses". Here are some classic Rodriguan ghost stories, some told first hand others told second hand.



THE FLOATING GHOST: The young man was walking home from Grand Baie to L'Anse Aux Anglais one night after visiting his girlfriend. It was very late and he was alone (or so he thought). As he approached Caverne Provert he felt a presence behind him. Turning around he saw a man following him. Nothing really strange about that, apart from the fact that the man was floating off the ground. A cold chill ran down his spine and he stopped walking, the ghostly apparition also stopped. He continued walking and the apparition started following him again, floating off the ground. Every time he stopped the apparition would also stop. Terrified, the young man knocked on the door of a relative. An elderly lady answered the door. The young man asked if he could sleep at her house because a ghost was following him and there was no way he was going to make it to his house in L'Anse Aux Anglais. She agreed that he could stay overnight even though she thought, "what a strange story". A strange story indeed until she looked out of her window and spotted the ghostly apparition floating under her tamarind tree!

THE GHOST TEACHER: The young servant girl had only recently started working at this home in Creve Coeur. She had just finished washing some clothes and walked off to place them to dry on some shrubs (no dryers or clothes lines in those days). She happened to glance at the house next door and saw something strange. The lady next door, was sitting outside her home and appeared to be teaching some children. Only problem was, there were no children except she behaved in as if there was! Thinking the lady next door had gone crazy she reported it to her employee. "Have you gone mad, the lady in the house next door died overnight and is lying in state in her home", stated her employee. The employee took the servant girl to the home next door and there, lying in state, was the lady she just saw minutes ago that appeared to be teaching "invisible" children. The servant girl got the shock of her life when the employee stated that the lady that died was a school teacher!

PERE GANDY AND THE JEEP: Pere Gandy was a famous Catholic priest who ministered on Rodrigues Island years ago. The Reine de Rodrigues Virgin Mary statue was erected by Pere Gandy in the mid 1950s. He also has a road named in his honour in Port Mathurin. He was, and still is, a respected historical figure. He told the following strange story of what happened to him one night on the island. Pere Gandy was walking home one night on the island when he saw a jeep's headlights approaching in the distance. The jeep stopped and the driver offered to drive Pere Gandy home. Pere Gandy got in, said "merci" (thankyou in English) and the jeep drove off. Without warning, a few miles further down the road, Pere Gandy found himself standing on the road without ever getting out of the car. The car and driver had mysteriously disappeared! This story sounds strangely like the vanishing hitchhiker ghost story except in this instance it's the car and driver that disappears not the hitchhiker. Not sure what to make of this spooky story when one considers it was told by a priest.

THE ROAD FROM PORT MATHURIN TO L'ANSE AUX ANGLAIS: This is (maybe I should say "was") probably the most haunted road on the Island so the story goes. One spot in particular makes the hairs of people stand up. This spot is located just after the big sattelite dish and before L'Anse Aux Anglais cemetery (the spot where those black boulders lie on the beach). Apparently heaps of people have seen ghosts in this spot. My dad told me that every time he would walk past this spot the hairs on the back of his neck would stand up and he would feel this chill go down his spine. He didn't see any ghosts at this spot but there was always this "weirdness" associated with this spot. Another spot of hauntings is located near a huge tamarind tree in L'Anse Aux Anglais. Not sure if the tree is still there but I'll try and explain the exact location. Heading towards L'Anse Aux Anglais, just after passing the cemetery and just before crossing the bridge the tree is located to the right. There have been numerous sightings of ghosts at this location. A relative told me a strange story related to this tree. One night he was heading home after a day of fishing. When he reached the tree he could see the lights of his house in the distance. Now the "weirdness" starts. Every time he would head towards the light he would not get closer to this house and he always ended up standing next to the tree. I failed to ask him how he eventually got home.

Voodoo / Ancient African religions on Rodrigues island.

Currently Catholicism is the most practised religion on the island of Rodrigues. There are also a very small number of Anglicans, Muslims, Buddhists and 7th day Adventists. Voodoo / ancient African religions used to be prevalent on the Island but have since died out. The early African slaves bought their religion with them to the island and some continued to practise voodoo until the mid 1900s. Apparently all Rodriguans who practised the "black magic" part of voodoo all died horrible deaths by fire. There aren't any published documents stating voodoo used to be practised in Rodrigues but I'll share some anecdotes from some of the older inhabitants. As a skeptic I find some of these stories very hard to believe but these are eyewitness accounts from trusted people. Hallucinations? Too much drinking? You be the judge!

MINISTRE PRINCE: This creepy story was told by my Grandmother. On a moonlit night, early 1930s in L'Anse Aux Anglais, my Grandmother and her sister were sent on an errand by their father. They were walking home, using their usual path, next to the river (I don't think the river currently flows). In the distance they noticed two people dressed all in while swinging from the branch of a tree. Being nighttime they couldn't easily make out these two individuals so they decided to approach the tree. The closer they got to the tree the stranger these two appeared. As they got closer they could make out two men all dressed in white dangling / swinging on the branch of this tree. All of a sudden the hairs on the back of their necks stood up and a chill went down their spine. These two men were extremely skinny and at least 15 foot tall! The two young sisters screamed and ran home to tell their strange story to their father. Instead of getting scalded by their father he told them that these creatures were called "Ministre Prince". These "Ministre Prince" , summoned by the voodoo priests, were indeed giants and had been seen by other people in Rodrigues.

HUMAN ANIMALS: Apparently one can turn into any animal using secret voodoo rituals. Rodriguan Voodoo practitioners were able to do this so the story goes. I have heard numerous first hand stories about voodoo practitioners turning themselves into animals, here are a couple. Most of the anecdotes about humans turning themselves into animals relates to dogs. My Grandad was sitting on the beach at L'Anse Aux Anglais at night to enjoy the cool night air. Suddenly he felt somebody breathing on the back his neck. Turning around he saw a huge werewolf like dog. Apparently this animal was bigger than any dog he had ever seen. Obviously he ran like hell to his house which was nearby. On another occasion a man heard a commotion outside his house in the dead of night. He went out to investigate and came across a huge werewolf like dog. He grabbed a stick and started striking the dog. One blow landed on the dog's front leg and it ran off yelping in pain. The next day a voodoo practitioner, which people had suspected could turn herself into an animal, was spotted at the hospital with a broken arm.
The last story is actually quite hilarious. A man was walking home after visiting his girlfriend at night. He spotted a turkey walking on the path. As nobody was around he picked up the turkey, tucked it under his arm and continued on home. After a bit of walking the turkey looked at him and said, "mete mwa anba, monn arrive kot moi" (English translation "Put me down, I've arrived at my place"). He got the fright of his life, dropped the turkey and ran like hell. Pretty LoL story that is supposedly "true".

TI ALBERT: I'm not really that familiar with Ti Albert but my cousin told me a strange story when I was on holidays in Rodrigues which sounds like Ti Albert. At the time he just told me the story without mentioning Ti Albert. He reckons that people would get woken up in the middle of the night by the very loud sound of large stones raining down on their corrugated iron roof. On further investigation they would only find little pebbles on the roof and in their yard. Supposedly Ti Albert could make little pebbles sound like huge rocks. On other occasions there would be no evidence left anywhere of anything at all having rained down on the roof.