We spent our first two nights in a hotel in Mahebourg with a seafront view. Coral reef protected the bay with its
shallow turquoise waters and some hills dominated the landscape to the north. We didn't do much in those 2 days- we were in
waiting mode. We did try out Blue Bay with its calm waters - perfect for swimming.
Laure's father, stepmother and two young brothers (Tomas, Agnes, Nils and Nemo) arrived on 20th January. They were
having a stopover in Mauritius on the way back to La Reunion after spending the winter in France. We met them at the airport
and were all driven to Grande Riviere Noire where Tomas and Agnes had rented a house with a swimming pool. The house was clean
and spacious; Laure, Nils, Nemo and myselftook straight to the pool for a bit of rough and tumble. Before I knoew it I was
a shark chasing to innocent little bathers, next I was a T- Rex chasing to herbivores with names I can't remember
then I became the herbivore being attacked by two T - Rex!!!
The games continued inbetween meals and visits over the next week. We visited many beaches in the north, the botanical
gardens and sugar mill museum (the production of sugar surprised me in its complexity, I would never have believed it!) near
Pamplemousses, the capital Port Louis, Trou aux Cerfs (Deer hole)- an extinct volcanic crater that now has various species
of flora growing over it.
Tamarin and Flic-en-Flac beaches were the closest to us so we caught a couple of cloud fringed sunsets from there.
Tomas also drove us along the southwest coast where on different days we visited Chamarel Coloured Earth (a patch of land
with soils of seven colours!) and Vanille Crocodile Park with plenty of reptiles, amphibians and insects to engross us all.
Here we were lucky enough to see the birth of a baby crocodile from its egg (the cafe had crocodile kebabs and sandwiches
so I wonder where this one ended up!). Nils was more than happy in a place like this. At ten years old he has a knowledge
of biology that already supercedes mine and Laure's put together!
It was great to watch Nemo's swimming confidence grow throughout the week thanks to the pool. He loved the imaginative
games Nils came up with and threw himself into them (literally and metaphorically!).
We ate lots of seafood throughout our time in Mauritius and with the Lisnics we had tuna, swordfish, octopus amongst
other types of fish. A big treat for Laure and I were the various cheeses: cheddar, Roquefort, Camenbert and goat's cheese
accompanied by red wines from all over the world (South Africa, Chile, Calafornia and France of course) and we always kept
some Phonenix beers on ice.
Grande Riviere Noire was the closest thing we had to home since our week's stay in Kathmandu. After an interesting visit
to the casela Bird park on the Lisnics' last day in Mauritius, Laure and I began to turn our minds towards where we'd
be staying for our last five days (we were leaving after them).
