Luckily for us, there are a number of Mauritians on the ship, one in particular, Mayeven, a wine sommelier, with whom we have grown close. He was excited to be coming to Mauritius to be able to see his family originally, now he is ecstatic that he may be able to go home and spend the night with his wife and his children. We are so happy for him too (and the other Mauritians on board). We also quiz him on ideas for what we should do with our new day in Mauritius and he agrees we should go north to see the beaches and towns in that direction. Since we had booked Mauritius Taxi-Tours-Transport for our South island tour on the 2nd, we already had a contact on the island, and emailed them to ask if we could add a North island tour on Sunday. They gave us a great price and we were set. The only challenge now will be to get off the ship – which sounds silly, but in this case, it’s not really.
While Mauritius has let us dock, we all – passengers and crew – must go through a health inspection. The crew will start at 6am, then passengers at 7:00, with the hope we can all be completed and cleared by 9 or a little after. The organization is stunning – we cannot say enough about staff and crew and how they are handling all these extra – and extraordinary – tasks so incredibly seamlessly. We have all the forms we need, instructions on how to fill them out and where to place them in our passports, approximate time our stateroom will be called for the check and sticker numbers tied to the health check so that we are called by number. We are a little nervous – solely because you know how passengers are – everyone needs to go through the check whether you are going off the ship or not, and we’re sure there will be people who don’t think they have to come or are late or, well, just don’t care. We’re also a little nervous someone might be flagged as sick. But, that’s not something we can control.
As it turns out, the checks go screamingly fast. Our group is called almost ½ hour early, and the process is fast and easy. Scan your keycard, get a sticker for your passport, go through the temperature scan, hand in your health questionnaire, hand in your entry form and your passport – and voila! We are done. Now we wait for clearance, which comes a little before 9am. So impressive on everyone’s end – the ship and the Mauritius officials.
So off we go to find our Mauritius taxi driver/guide, Avinash, who is right outside in the parking lot waiting for us. (OK – jumping ahead – we had communication with the taxi manager who booked the tours and he said our driver was Avinash, so that’s who we thought we rode around with all day. Turns out our driver’s name is Seeva! Avinash is the office guy! OMG, that’s so embarrassing and we only found out at the end of the day when he said something. We all laughed about it, but still! I only say this now, because I’m not going to call Seeva by the wrong name throughout the blog – it just seems wrong somehow!) He’s a lovely guy – who reminds me of my sister’s boyfriend, if he were Mauritian – ushering us into a very nice Hyundai SUV to begin our tour. We are sort of at his mercy, because while we looked at all the stops for a North tour, we really didn’t study them all so much, so we’re just going with the flow and exploring where ever he sees fit to take us! Our first stop is the main market in Port Louis. Seeva parks next to the old post office and shows us the way to walk under the main street to access the market. He’ll be waiting for us on our return.
Ok, so, here’s where I have to say it is the first time I’ve really been a little nervous. Why? Who the heck knows! It’s Mauritius and not a particularly dangerous place, but I guess because we didn’t really do any research on this area, we are let loose in the main populous part of the city and we are definitely the only tourists around – I just sort of felt …. Weird maybe is a better word. We walk through the pedestrian tunnel and make our way to the market, heading first to the meat and seafood side, which is almost done for the day. There’s very few items left, but it is still so amazing to walk through all the fresh meat and seafood, out on display, being butchered or cleaned – and the prices! I saw Tuna for 60 MR a ½ Kilo. That can’t be right, it is like $1.50 US per pound! If it’s right, I’m moving here! (PS – it was correct, Seeva tells us once we are back in the car that Tuna is totally cheap here. They have it in abundance and Mauritians don’t normally eat it, they eat the other fish. But they will buy it for Weddings, because their weddings are huge – upward of 1500 people – and how else to feed all those people than with tuna because it is so cheap!)
Done with the protein market, we cross the street to the trinket market, which we quickly leave – we don’t have Mauritian Rupees, and don’t want to pack any more than we have to at this point – and enter the produce market which is still thriving and packed with gorgeous looking fruits and huge veggies. Yum. I’d stay here just to be able to buy all this great food and cook! But, we can’t take it back on the ship (Although Colin, the head chef, probably is shopping here, so we’ll probably see these fruits, veggies and seafood somewhere on the ship soon), so we retrace our steps back to Seeva and carry on.
Our next stop is the Pamplemousses Botanical Garden, created in 1767 by Pierre Poivre, who I believe was a French naturalist and the superintendent of the both Mauritius (Ile de France) and Reunion (Ile de Bourbon) at the time and in honor of Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, considered the Father of the Nation. The gardens cover 37.5 hectares and have thousands of plants and lots of water features that are home to fish and gorgeous water lilies. Seeva shows us the exit gate where he will be waiting, and drives us over to the main entrance where, sigh, one of our tour buses is just letting off. Pooh.
Oh well, we pay our entrance fee and then start wandering down the lovely tree lined paths, in the opposite direction of the tour. It is quite beautiful, but it is also quite hot and humid with rain threatening skies (oh, btw, Seeva has provided us with a big umbrella to use, even though I told him I have one – he said it was too small and we needed the big one – nice touch!). We are melting within minutes, but we can’t go back yet, so we continue our explorations wandering past some old abandoned ruins and a monument of some sort. We make our way to the Giant Nenuphars – these totally cool giant serving tray like lily pads, then sweat our way over to the white Lotus pond before ending up all the way at the end of the garden by the Chateau de Mon Plaisir, built in 1823 which now holds a photographic exhibition in honor of Ramgoolam – whose grave is also located right outside the building. There is also a really nice memorial to Ramgoolam across from his grave, with a beautiful lotus flower sculpture surrounded by vibrantly colored plants and palm trees.
The last place we visit is the Grand Bassin, a large lake with a lovely little gazebo where we sit for a while, trying to cool off (really just wiping off the sweat) and hydrating with our electrolyte drink. Phew. I mean it is beautiful and serene, but ugh, the heat. We watch a couple of water chickens playing around, and a couple of ship’s tours walk by, then pass the rose lotus pond (pretty!), hit the rest rooms, snap some shots of an old sugar mill replica and re-join Seeva in the parking lot.
Onward ho! We continue our drive up to the north on very well maintained roads, all controlled via traffic circles. Seeva gives us a running history and points out interesting things along the way. He’s a great guide. Just enough interesting information to keep you going, but not overdoing it so you tune out. It’s really a fun way to wander around the island.
Next up on the North tour: Domaine de Labourdonnais, a privately owned estate founded in 1774 by Christopher Wiehe which was restored in 2006 and converted into a museum that showcases the 19th century Mauritian lifestyle. Originally a sugar cane plantation, the estate expanded into organically grown fruit and now has a restaurant and rum distillery. The entrance fee is a little pricey, but we’re here, and well, why not? We get a rum tasting with our entry, so that helps take the sting out of the price a bit!
The path that leads to the estate house is lined with these awesome huge trees, that I can’t help stopping by to have a photo, I love their roots and limb structures for some reason! The estate itself is a lovely 2 story creole home, decorated in period pieces, with a center hall and steps off to each side of the house. We start in the dining room, circumventing some tour to just wander through the kitchen, the living area, out on the spacious verandah overlooking the gorgeous gardens in the back. Then we head upstairs to the bedrooms, which is literally half the house running from front to back. Huge! In an anteroom next to the bedroom, there is a video running that details the restoration work necessary to bring this house back to life (and stability – because it was really in disrepair!). It is a very fascinating process and though it is still pretty toasty in here (even with some ceiling fans) we stay for quite some time watching the video. They put in a ton of work and research to make this home authentic again!
After the video, we wander through a little museum that showcases the building and the renovations, then circle the upstairs balcony with wonderful sight lines above the entrance lane and the gardens. You can imagine living here in the 1800s as the owners of the plantation – very Tara-ish, in a Mauritian way!
Now it’s time for rum! Oh, and just in time too – because here comes the first tour group – we’re outta here! The little rum bar at the back of the restaurant is nice and cozy, and we get to try as many rums as we want. Nice! We end up with vanilla, vanilla-coffee and spiced rum -which are all surprisingly good. We also try some mango juice and pineapple juice. The pineapple juice was amazingly good – I’d buy gallons of that if I could! But unfortunately, we can’t – because the gift shop isn’t open, so even if there is some in there, we aren’t getting it! We leave as the first Azamara tour sits down for their rum tasting, congratulating ourselves for being able to find this great private tour for ourselves. It is so much better to just hang out together in our own car (with great a/c btw) and just tour the island.
We’re onto the beach tour now. Off we go, further and further north until we are literally on the north coast, following a small little coast road to Mont Choisy beach, a lovely park-like area with tons of families and people out enjoying their Sunday at the shore. All the beaches have trees planted next the sand, so you can lounge in the shade while watching the activity in the water. This beach also has a ton of food trucks and vendors, so you can plop here in the morning and stay all day if you are so inclined.
Driving around Grand Baie, there are lounges and bars and discos everywhere. Seeva tells us this is the active part of the island and that at night it is very busy with people essentially partying. We can see definitely see that here! And even in the day time, it is much busier here, and sort of crowded with buildings edging close to the street. A very different feel than from Port Louis. We stop next at Pereybere beach, which is more low key than Mont Choisy, not as crowded with water that is more “bay-like” including boats moored in the water just off the beach. The water is gorgeous and the clouds, so puffy, stand out like bas relief art in the distance.
We also visit Cap Malheureux where a beautiful red roofed church is located, and across the water you can get a view of Gunner’s Quoin, a lovely island out in the ocean. This beach is equally laid back, with locals lounging around and a fisherman out on the jetty nearest the beach selling his wares. As a matter of fact, as we are standing there, a guy walks past us with a couple of bags of fish he’s purchased.
Earlier, when we were chatting, we told Seeva about our Reunion Island experience (Actually it was then that we searched on Reunion island and found that the protestors were violent today when the Sun Princess arrived, throwing bottles and rocks, and setting trash bins on fire. The police had to use tear gas to stop it and arrest everyone. There is one picture we found, where I swear it is the same guy who was blocking us yesterday!) but also about the Hindu temple we visited. Well, Seeva is not going to let us get away with just visiting a temple in Reunion – he detours out a little way and takes us to his temple – Sri Draubadi Ammen Temple – for a visit! And what a temple – it is virtually new and absolutely gorgeous in all its colorful glory. Blues, purples, yellows – all help vibrantly depict the important deities all through the complex. We’re particularly taken with the Ganesh tower, where there is a brightly painted Ganesh atop an elephant head with a huge trunk extended out from the pillar. We’ve never seen anything like that – its excellent.
As we are leaving, Seeva points to a rectangular pit looking area next to the tower icons, and asks if we know what it is. We don’t, and it turns out it is the fire pit. He says every year during their major holiday, people fast and then walk across burning coals. He says it’s a very cleansing thing to do. Just the way he says it, begs the question: have you done it Seeva? They answer is yes. He said it was very hard, but very worth doing. Wow, that’s pretty amazing – we know the practice, but I don’t know that we’ve ever met anyone personally who has done it. Cool.
Our last stop of the day is at Anse La Raie Beach. Not to get out, but just to drive by and take a look. It is here, when the tsunami hit Reunion that the water receded out past the last reefs and stayed away for hours before gently coming back into the shore. There were emergency announcements all over the island about a possible tsunami here, and to stay away from the coast. Of course, that only meant that Seeva wanted to see what would happen so he and some buddies came up here and sat and watched the water. Pretty brave (or stupid), but it obviously all worked out just fine and it would have been an amazing thing to see.
We’re pretty much at the tip of the island with nowhere left to go – I don’t even think you can drive to the east from here – and regardless, it is our last stop so Seeva points us back toward Port Louis and off we go through the myriad of traffic circles and well paved roads to reach the port within about an hour or so. It’s a short day tour, but a lovely one – and we can’t imagine what else we could have done besides stop for lunch – but because it is Sunday, we don’t think many places are open so its better to be back on the ship anyway.
As we make plans for tomorrow, we are pleased to find out Seeva will be our guide tomorrow too. We thank him, say our goodbyes and arrange to see him in the morning at 8:30 for our Southern tour.
Back aboard, we eat a late lunch, hang out, play trivia, hit the gym then go to the local Mauritian dancing show which is a fabulous 30 minutes of traditional Sega dancing with 7 women in bright white dancing dresses, 5 men on those cool round see through drums and one male singer. The dancing and the music are wonderful and entertaining and we love every minute of it! Especially the youngest dancer who is at the back, with long straight black hair and won’t smile to save her soul. You can just hear her thinking “why in the world am I here dancing for these tourists!” She’s beautiful and dances well, be its almost hard not to crack up watching her facial expressions. Bless her heart!
Andiamo 