The home of the dodo bird: the beautiful island of Mauritius- 2/27/09

Yes, there is an island called Mauritius. And the first thing I want you to do is look up Mauritius on a map (just Google Image it) so you know where it is. Hint: it is off the coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. There. Now you can’t say you have not heard of Mauritius. You can proudly say you know where it is :)

So, we arrived in Mauritius today around sunrise. I woke up early and got to the top deck to see us pull in and get pictures of the sunrise. The island was gorgeous. I saw a very green island covered with mountains and vegetation. It looked like a scene out of a movie, when they show those uninhabited islands that are picture-perfect: white sand beaches, lush vegetation, and green volcanic mountains. We waited patiently for our diplomatic briefing, which was ok.

An interesting fact about Mauritius: 80% of the population is of Indian descent, so Achal and I were going to feel very much at home ;)

Once that was done, we headed back to our rooms and waited for the ship to be cleared. We had read the Lonely Planet guide and done some research, and we had decided to head to a waterfall called Tamarind Falls. It was supposed to be an awkward hike, but well worth it. We would just have to wait and see. Our waterfall group was: Achal, Ruth, Rory, Audrey, and me, of course. Interesting story with Rory was that he was scheduled to go on a catamaran trip around the island. After waking up, he couldn’t find his ticket, and after several minutes of searching, he realized he had not even signed up for the trip. He felt like an idiot, but he was happy because he wanted to come with us to the waterfall, so it all worked out.

The ship was finally cleared, but we had to wait for all the SAS trips to depart first, which was lame. We only had one day on the island, and we waited for 45 minutes for all the SAS trips to get off the ship. Finally, we heard everyone could leave, and we ran to the gangway only to find a huge mob of students. Luckily, we were waiting in Ruth’s room on the 2nd deck where the gangway was located so we were near the “front” of the mob of students. We soon were off the ship and it was very warm and humid. We looked for the exit and saw a bunch of students walking toward the water. So, we followed them and found a group of “water taxis.” Basically, it was a small boat that would take us from the port to the mainland for $2 each. They could fit about 30 people on each boat, so I realized that these drivers were making a LOT of money from us. It took about 5 minutes to get to the mainland of Port Louis, where a huge shopping plaza was located. We got off the boat and asked a cop where the bus station was (buses are WAY cheaper than taxis in Mauritius). He directed us in one direction, and as we walked into the shopping area we were swamped with taxi drivers. We got a price of $70 for the whole day, which still sounded ridiculous to me (I knew the bus would be cheaper). We headed to an ATM, got some Mauritian rupees, and headed toward the bus station.

After taking 5 minutes to cross the main highway, which was a lot of fun, we got to the Victoria Bus Station, and looked for the bus to Henrietta. We found the bus waiting and got on. The bus departed in 15 minutes, and when the TC (ticket collector) came by, we asked for a ticket to Henrietta. It cost 26 rupees (which is less than $1)!! So, instead of $70, we spent $4 for 5 people. The bus ride was fun…there was no A/C but the fresh air from the windows felt very nice. We talked to a local guy on the bus, and asked him about the waterfalls, and what else we should do. He said the waterfalls were beautiful, and we should go to the Flic en Flac beach afterwards. After about an hour, we got off the bus in Henrietta, and it was indeed a small village. There was a guide waiting near the bus to take us to the falls. The trail is very hard to find, and a guide was highly recommended in the travel book. We walked to a viewpoint and saw the waterfalls. There were 7 falls, and the scene was absolutely gorgeous. There was a vast, green valley and along the side of one of the mountains, we could see the 7 falls. It was a pretty awe-inspiring scene. But, this was just a viewpoint, and we wanted to hike to the falls. The guide, who only spoke French, wanted to be paid for the hike, and we used a piece of paper to negotiate the fee. We agreed to pay him 100 rupees ($3), and began the hike.

The first part of the hike was easy, but after a few minutes, it started descending down the side of the hill. I started to see why the book called the hike awkward as the trail split in many places, and we would have gotten lost without our guide. We started to hear the sound of running water, and saw a small river. Once we crossed it, the hike became even more difficult and descended steeply downhill. I put my camera away in my backpack, and had to get down and crawl at a few places. After about 10 minutes, we reached a clearing and saw the first fall. The scene was beautiful. There was a river, with clear, cool water and it flowed off the edge of a 100 foot cliff into a lake below. We heard SAS students in the lake below, and we continued our hike. Now the hike got more steep and I had to use the branches around us as support to get down. After about 10 minutes, we saw the waterfall. The trail went around the back of the fall, and then the last portion of the trail was covered by bushes/shrubs, and it was wet from the mist from the fall. We finally reached the bottom and saw a bunch of SAS students swimming in the lake. I looked over to the rocks by the fall, and saw a small ledge from which a guy jumped into the water. It was a natural jumping point.

We changed into our swimwear, and we climbed up the rock to the ledge. Rory jumped first, and then Achal. Next, it was my turn. I stepped up to the edge and looked down. It was about a 30 foot jump, and it looked a lot more intimidating from up here. One of the locals next to me told me not to worry because the water was very deep. I took a deep breath and jumped…I fell, and fell, and plunged into the cool water. It felt sooo good. I surfaced and swam outward so the next person could jump. I swam around in the water for a while, it was very refreshing. Then, I got out of the water and took out my camera. I took some pictures of the other people in my group jumping off the ledge, and then we all got back in the water. We were short on time, so we had to head out. We dried off and changed, and took a group picture with the waterfall. Then, we started our hike back to the top and it was much more difficult than the hike down. I definitely felt out of shape, and I think my diet on the ship has affected my physical fitness.

We finally got to the top, and our guide called a taxi for us. Near the waiting point for the taxi, there was a small Hindu temple dedicated to Hanuman (monkey-God), and Kali (goddess). I said a quick prayer (I haven’t been to a temple in a while), and the taxi arrived. We got in, and headed to Flic-en-Flac beach, a fairly short taxi ride. We got to Flic-En-Flac and we were starving. We found an Indian restaurant, and I was soo excited to eat some good Indian food. BUT...it was closed :( So, we walked to another one, and it was closed too. We found out the restaurants were all closed from 2-5, except for a few. We found a Chinese restaurant that was open and I ordered some fried rice. It was GOOOD! They had some very spicy chutney (sauce) and I laced my rice with it. By the end of the meal, my mouth was on fire, and it felt GREAT. :)

After our meal, we headed to the beach, and the beach was picture-perfect. White, fine sand…clear blue water…palm trees. We changed again, and I went in the water…it was WARM and it felt AMAZING. The only problem was that there was some dead coral at the bottom and it hurt a lot to step on it. The waves were very small, and we spent about 30 minutes just chilling in the water. We took some group photos and I got some funny pics of everyone else too. Funny story…

Rory was drinking the local Phoenix beer, and he was in the water, and he said that he didn’t care if he lost his sunglasses as long as he had his beer. SO…later, he picked up Ruth and threw her into the water. When both of them surfaced, his sunglasses were, you guessed it, gone! But he still had his beer. We could not stop laughing as he frantically searched for his sunglasses but could not find them. That is what you call ironic.

We boarded the Port Louis bus, and headed back to the port. Rory asked if he could bring a beer bottle onto the bus, and the driver didn’t care. So, on our ride back, he was drinking a beer on a public bus. It was pretty hilarious, not going to lie.

We got back to Port Louis, and realized we had quite a while before on-ship time, so we went shopping. We walked around the local market, and it was interesting but eventful. The only thing I bought was a pirated DVD of Wall-E (yea, Rel, I could not resist after seeing it on the shelf) for less than $1. We left the market area and headed towards the mall, where we found almost all the shops closed. I bought a few postcards, and we headed into the only shop open. I found a flag of Mauritius, and I bought a T shirt with a map of Mauritius on it (so, when I wear it at home, people will understand that Mauritius does exist and where it is located).

We were all very hungry and we still had a little time left, so we headed to a restaurant in the area. It was SWAMPED with SAS students getting really drunk, and I was in no mood to interact with wasted SAS students, so I went to McDonald’s with Audrey and Ruth to get some quick food. They had a veggie burger (why don’t they have that in the US?) and it was pretty good. By the time I finished my food, it was about 1900, and we had an hour to get back on the ship, so we headed toward the water taxis. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a big line yet, so we climbed on to the taxi and departed for the ship. On the ride back, I looked back and waved good bye to Port Louis. There was a beautiful sunset with the ship in the background, so I took several pictures.

We got to the port, got off the taxi (which was interesting, cuz there were SO many wasted students trying to climb a ladder to get out of the water taxi), and got in line for the ship. The entire line was filled with SAS students who were extremely inebriated, and it was ridiculous. I just shook my head as one of the girls in front of me was trying to finish all the beer in her can, since we can’t take it on the ship, and then she threw her can on the ground. So irresponsible. One of the LLC’s told her to pick up her can and throw it away…he didn’t look so thrilled by her drinking in line. After about 20 minutes, we were back on the ship, and I was exhausted.

The opening ceremonies of the Olympics were later that night, but I was too tired. I was supposed to take part in our sea’s chant, but I decided to just watch the happenings from the comfort of my room while working on my paper, and talking to other students who were not wasted, about Mauritius. The ceremonies looked crazy, and everyone seemed to have a blast (keep in mind that 99% of them were VERY drunk). Our chant was definitely more uncoordinated than it had been in practice…whatever. The night was pretty much over after that, and I outlined my paper and went to bed.

Oh, and if you were wondering why I called Mauritius the home of the dodo, Mauritius is the only known location in the world where the dodo bird lived, so the dodo bird was everywhere here (on towels, on keychains, on posters, etc…). So now you know.