Mauritius

Mauritius is a tiny island, just 790 square miles in area, situated in the Southern Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. After six days at sea, we were all desperate to put our feet onto land.  About 350 of us had signed up for a day’s tour of the island!  Hence, we had to face VERY long queues of people checking in for one of the ten coaches that were to be ‘home’ for the day.  (Oh, the joys of cruising – NOT!)

Borealis berthed in Port Luis, the island’s capital on the Northwest shore.  Heading south, through the many miles of sugar plantations, we enjoyed good views of the western Coast, before heading inland, and upwards into the mountainous area to the Black River Gorges National Park.  A 100-metre waterfall made a good photo stop – it would be even more spectacular in the rainy winter season. 

The ’Earth of Seven Colours’ intrigued us – this is a geological wonderment of basalt rocks which, over millions of years have, through chemical alterations, formed iron and aluminium oxides which produce the colourful shades. 

The population of 1.3 million comprises 52% Hindus and 33% Christians.  English, French, Creole, and Chinese are spoken.  The government provides free healthcare and free education.  However, there are NO benefits paid out. People are expected to work – our guide stated, “if you choose to have four children, then you choose to support and pay for them!”.  Pensions are very small, and the family is expected to care for elderly relatives in their homes as necessary.  Family values and a hard-working ethic are the norm.

Still in the mountains, we visited a Sacred Hindu area, which included two enormous (33 metre high) statues of Lord Shiva and Lord Durga.  Shiva is the spiritual God of Hinduism.  Half a million pilgrims flock to this site every year to celebrate the Great Night of Lord Shiva – roads, walkways and huge car parks have been built to accommodate this most sacred of festivals. 

We wondered what the monkeys must make of it all!  No doubt they are well fed . . .Long tailed monkeys, deer and wild boar make up the few wild animals found on Mauritius.

The Hindu Temple is on the edge of a sacred lake – several smaller, respected, and revered statues of various Hindu Gods stand in the water – the waters are holy and treated by local worshippers rather like the waters of the Ganges.  Thousands of fish frequent the waters, and we were amused to watch a group of scruffy, local cats sitting on the water’s edge waiting for their moment to pounce on a fish as it came just too close to the edge to resist!

Having enjoyed a buffet lunch in a mountainside restaurant, we stopped again to take in spectacular views, on a misty afternoon.  A pair of Paille-en-Queue (which translates to Straw Tails) relished the afternoon thermals in the mountain air.  These birds have tails that are half their length making them very strong fliers.  Hence they have become the emblem on Air Mauritius planes (sorry no photos of them  . . .too quick for me)

Our last photo call was above a volcanic crater left from the original eruption which formed the island.  Millions of years of prolific green growth make the crater almost impossible to see.  Our efforts were not helped by a torrential rain shower which sent us running back to the bus for shelter. 

I should mention our bus driver who thought he was Lewis Hamilton and drove like a lunatic for the entire trip!  The roads are good but very narrow with hairpin bends up and down the mountain.  Torrents of rain did little to diminish his determination to break all speed limits.  Those of us sitting in window seats held our breath as we skirted the very edges of the road – deep ditches just waiting to gobble us up!  Imagine the hilarity from all corners of the bus, as the rain began pouring in through the air conditioning ducts as we hurtled back down the mountain!  One couple put an umbrella up, which sent the water onto the passengers in front and behind!  Having already been caught in the rain, many of us looked as if we’d been through the shower – the added deluge from a leaking bus had us all in hysterics!  Did the bus driver slow down?  NO!  He just grinned in the mirror and sped on . . . . . .Borealis was such a welcome site.  Much needed cups of tea and dry clothes afforded us the pleasure of watching the sun set as we set sail for our next port – Durban in South Africa.