Monday 16th April
Mauritius an oyster shaped volcanic island in the Indian Ocean 900km due east of Madagascar. The island of Mauritius is renowned for having been the only known home of the dodo. First sighted by Europeans around 1600, on Mauritius, the dodo became extinct less then eighty years later. Various attempts by European nations to set up permanent settlements soon failed, until the French occupation in the 1700 ’s which led to the island having a French feel, even the subsequent British occupation has not changed this feel nor the French place names
Port Louis is the vibrant capital city of Mauritius located on the west coast of the island, and although it is nestled alongside a pretty marina it is not representative of the rest of the island. Outside of Port Louis are moonscape mountains, wild gorges, cascading waterfalls, sweeping, volcanic craters, lush tea plantations, colonial houses, exquisite temples, fields of sugar cane and fruit, turquoise waters, palm fringed beaches and nature reserves.
This morning berthed in Port Louis, Mauritius. Another berth in a commercial dock, this one just across the harbour from the town.
Cloudy over the inland hills but sunny along the coast, temperature and humidity very pleasant and much more comfortable.
After waiting for the tours to leave and the ship to quieten down took the shuttle bus into town. Travelled along busy roads to get to the drop off which took about 25 minutes, ended up about 200 yards from the ship just across the harbour. Most of the town along the way looked pretty scruffy and didn’t see anything which looked worth visiting. One interesting thing was that there seemed to be thousands of buses, mostly parked, I don’t think we have ever been anywhere where there have been more buses.
Wandered through the shops just by the drop off, interesting new buildings built adjacent to some older buildings built of black volcanic stones.
Shopping area decorated with umbrellas, not sure why, I think they are used here more for shade then rain!
Little museum here which contains a couple of the most expensive stamps in the world, the Mauritius Penny Blue, worth about 23 million dollars each!
Enjoyed a coffee in a nice little cafe and then bought a few souvenirs before rejoining the shuttle to get back to the ship. Sky getting more and more threatening, time to get back before the rain! Along the way went past another Hindu Temple cleverly located right behind a big advertising hoarding.
Heavy rain this afternoon, we saw it coming so returned to the ship to dodge it. So time to relax and enjoy the ship.
Dinner in the main restaurant and a late sailaway as not too far to our next port.
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