Fri 12th Oct - This time heading south on the A3 via Bambous to the wonderfully named 'Flic en Flac'. After a nice walk along the beach, went for a swim in the ocean. Decided to find somewhere to go diving, so headed south to check out the options. The coast road passed some very opulent resorts such as La Pirogue, Sugar beach, the Hilton, Sofitel Imperial and finally The Sands. All have security entrances to keep out the riffraff. Decided to gatecrash the Hilton to see what was on offer. My lucky day as I was in time to get on a dive that was leaving from La Pirogue in under an hours time with only 1 space left. Got them to call ahead so that I didn't have any security issues. Superb resort with manicured staff as well as manicured lawns and beautiful gardens. The staff were excellent so I made the most of it.
The dive was really nice and great value at 32 euros including the kit hire for an hour's dive. Went to an area called the Aquarium. Many species of fish including some spectacular moray eels, emporer, scorpion fish and many more.
Having quenched my thirst for diving, had a bite to eat at Katy's indian fast food stall on the beach (I am in Mauritius after all!), then headed off to 'Casela Bird Park'. Whilst most of the birds are in cages, there are some superb species here, and there is an open area too where one can sit and watch the birds doing unmentionable things to each other. Some nice italian ones too! For a full list of birds send a stamped addressed envelope!
Onwards and southwards again, via the Grande Rivière Noir, to the Chamarel 7 coloured earths and the Chamarel cascades. Both within a couple of kilometres of each other in the same park. First the cascades/waterfall. Compared to some I have seen, not very exciting but nice all the same. The 7 coloured earths was more interesting. Due to the hot & humid climate the basalt has decomposed into clay to form a range of colours varying due to the breakdown of the minerals leaving iron sesquioxydes (red and brown colours) and aluminium sesquioxydes (blue and purple colours). The main problem was sharing the experience with so many other coach loads of tourists. Spoiled the ambience a bit.
It's getting late now and thoughts of not getting back north in time started to surface, so headed back. Got lost for a while as road signs are next to useless and non-existent when you get off the main roads. The internal lights weren't working in the car which made map reading a bit tricky. Got back to the villa late, so missed dinner. Shot out rapidly to the supermarket as it was to close in 20mins. Like to cook when I get the chance and got full run of the kitchen at the villa. Ended up cooking myself a really nice malaysian style dinner washed down with some nice wine. Impressive bit of ready steady cook!
Sat 13th Oct - Today is an important day in the asian calendar called 'Eid-ul-Fitr' or simply 'Eid' (pronounced eed), which marks the end of Ramadan. Literally translated, it means 'Celebration of the breaking of fasting'. As so many of the people of Mauritius are of asian desent, most shops are closed and there are lots of family gatherings going on. The women don their Churidar (chemise and trousers) and the men their Kurta (long robe and trousers). I do like the way they dress as it is great to see them together in groups...like a rainbow!
Decided to keep the car on for another day and go east. Set off on the A7 towards belle Mare.amongst many places, this road goes through 'Alma'. My mum's called Alma, so had to photograph the sign that says 'Welcome to Alma'. Nice one. Hello mum - missing you a lot and love you to bits - hope you're ok?
A majority of this country seems to be covered in sugar plantations. As a result there is a regular sweet aroma from the many sugar factories. When they aren't growing sugar cane, they grow pineapple, banana, mango, papaya, coconut and so much other stuff. Buying freshly made fruit juice at the roadside is the norm and so cheap too.
The Belle Mare area is very exclusive with some stunning resorts such as 'Le St Geran' run by the one & only hotel group, and the superb 'Le Coco Beach'. This area is where golf fanatics come to die of pleasure from overdosing on the manicured golf courses and attended on by the manicured servants, whilst sipping cocktails overlooking the postcard perfect beaches and seas. If I had the money, would spend a night just for the hell of it - but, to be honest, sad git that I am, I want to save that occasion for when i'm with someone special, not by myself! It's one of those entries in my list of places to return to one day, when I have someone to spoil.
The weather isn't that great today with a strong sea breeze and current to go with it. Stopped a few times for a paddle and to collect shells. Given up taking sea shots now as there is another superb view around every bend! Carried on south on the B59 coast road all the way to Mahébourg. Mahébourg isn't particularly interesting although it has a nice frontage. There is an odd statue of a buddah type character with an inane smile that amused me. Easy to please these days! A very pretty pier with a viewout to the île de Hangard and the nature reserve of île Aux Aigrettes. Back north along the A10 through Rose Belle, Curepipe and Rose Hill, all places that sound better than they look unfortunately. Stop for provisions at a supermarket on the way to get some provisions. Tonights meal cost the princely sum of 89 rupees!
Another long day but had to make use of the car whilst I had it. Tommorow is sunday, so will rest. This travelling lark is tiring so need a break every now and then.
Sun 14th Oct - As it's sunday, an actual day of rest. First in ages - it's amazing how tiring travelling gets - So much to do, so little time!
Managed to get onto skype and talk to folks back home. Learnt that one of my oldest aunties had passed away, which was sad news. Skype is the best thing that has happened to the net in years, especially for travellers.
The local beach had a band playing with some dancers. Bad timing though as I only heard about it at 14:50 and they stopped at 15:00. Ah well, such is life! A few chinese people arrived yesterday. One of them kept coming upto me to ask for things with gestures. It was like playing charades as she couldn't speak any english and I definitely cannot speak chinese.....funny how I can play charades with a chinese accent though...velly rubbery jubbery!
Have to contend with yet another change to my india plans. I have got to the point of realisation that planning travel is a waste of time. There isn't much of what I planned in the UK that hasn't changed in some respect. From now on the most I should attempt to plan is maybe 1 month in advance, unless there is a time constraint on a closing date for a specific tour I want to do. Generally flights in Asia are easy to sort locally and in many cases cheaper than doing it from the UK. Planning also makes it inflexible. The opposite side of the coin is that I do like to be with people, and that means being on group tours generally, and the popular ones book up quick. So, catch 22 really.
Mon 15th Oct - Important day today as going to get my Indian visa this afternoon. With the hassles I have had, I must admit to being nervous.
More research in the morning, trying to keep up to date on what the travel companies are upto. The world is growing and more exotic tours are being offered and with competition growing, the prices are reasonable. In most cases I think there is little merit in going independent from a price point of view. The main reason for independence is that you only have yourself to sort out, and if you want to change your mind you can. The downside is being alone.
Bus into town after lunch - I love the way you think the bus is going past your stop, oh no, they use their breaks to maximum effect, hurtling along at breakneck speed and then grinding to a halt in what seems zero time. It's like being on a funfare ride!
Checked arrangements for collection at the embassy then went walkabout in town. Decided to visit the 'Blue Penny' museum. Back in 1847 the governor decided to produce the first real postage stamps after the usual handwritten ones. Two denominations were manufactured by an engraver - the 1 penny red and the 2 penny blue. Two particular stamps left the country on love letters that ended up becoming famous in the philately world. They have changed hands many times ans travelled through many countries. Hiroyuki Kanai paid 680GBP for the red in 1893 and 8500GBP for the blue. In 1986 the red went for $850,000 and the blue for $750,000. They were later sold for an undisclosed sum! Not bad for a stamp eh! There are 4 unused blue stamps in existence and the queen has one of them. That's her pension sorted then!
A funny thing....the original printing plates only printed 9 stamps per plate and deteriorated with use, such that older stamps look different than the early ones. They later employed a new engraver to make new plates....he was an engraver by day and an actor by night, with no rel artistic ability. Now, the originals had a picture of queen victoria on them, the later ones were so bad they were nicknamed the dogs head stamps. What's even more funny is that they had spelling mistakes and went into circulation like that! This of course has made them very collectible. The same museum also houses a collection of early marinr maps and navigation instruments which were interesting.
Off to the embassy and....wheyhey....got my visa through. Now considering that my previous attempts at getting my indian visa met with problems, and they all wanted triplicate photos, copies of flight tickets, hotel booking forms, proof of financial status etc and then they would only give my a 3mth visa and take 10days or more to do it....here, they wanted none of that stuff and gave me a 6mth visa when I now only needed a 3mth one. Was excited so went for a beer on the water front and treated myself to a curry. The relief!!
Bus back to the digs and farewells to some folks as I will be leaving tomorrow. These people have been absolutely lovely to be with - I will definitely stay in touch. Another sad parting :-(
