Mauritius is a tiny island near Madagascar and the Seychelles Islands in the India Ocean. Generally on a map it is a dot. The day we docked, I explored Port Louis, the capital city, with some of my friends. There were a lot of craft markets and street vendors selling all sorts of things from shoes to pepto bismol-like juice.
That afternoon, my friends and I headed to the villa we rented in Flic en Flac. It was about a thirty minute drive away to a much smaller beach community. Now after some confusion over villa booking, we ended up booking this villa like two days before we got there. And so did about fifty other SAS students. At first I was kind of disappointed that we were going to be with so many SASers, but it ended up being a lot of fun. I got to know some people who I usually don’t hang out with, so it was cool. There were five of us in my villa, which wasn’t too bad although, yes, we did have cockroaches. Haha- it was two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room with a plastic table and chairs, and two bathrooms. Whatever- can’t complain! At meal times, everyone headed out from the own villas to Sandy’s house. She and her family were the owners of the villas and provided us with breakfast and dinner each day. Sandy is a cook and gave us free cookbooks (in French) too. So if you can read French let me know! At meals, they had long tables pushed together so that we were all sitting at one huge table. It ended up being a lot of fun!
The second day, my friends and I went on a trip through school called Blue Escape. We basically sailed around a bay on a catamaran alllll day long just snorkeling and laying in the sun. It was SO beautiful and relaxing. And just when we thought it couldn’t get any better… they brought out chocolate brownies. Hahhaa but seriously, it was a perfect day just lounging around and relaxing.
I spent the entire day on the beach the third day. (I said this was spring break of SAS, didn’t I?) Sandy made us delicious lo mein which thinking about now makes me hungry… That night we walked down to the bar where they were having an “MV Explorer Only” night. It was absolutely FILLED with SASers and ended up being a pretty ridiculous night.
The last day, my friends and I packed up and returned to Port Louis where we looked around at the markets and had an AMAZING meal on the waterfront before heading back to the ship.
Although I left with scrapes, bruises, and about two million bug bites, I had a really good time in Mauritius. One thing I was surprised at was the overall Indian presence. Although we haven’t been there yet, I’m guessing Mauritius will be a lot more like India than Africa. While we were there, a Hindu festival was about to take place. On the streets you would always see people making the pilgrimage and carrying altar like floats. They were beautifully decorated. Off to India I go!
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