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Free & BrEasy - Mauritius Mosaic



The Indian Ocean passage from the Cocos Islands to Mauritius finally took us 18 days as the wind decreased in strength forcing us to motor. It did allow us to fill the freezer with a very nice Mahi, surely one of the most beautiful fish in the world, and we don’t even need to mention the one that got away taking most of the line at first pull!

We arrived at around 8 am into the busy port of Port Louis. There at the Marina to take our lines were the wonderful Paul and Joel from World ARC who gave us the customary warm handshake of welcome followed, impressively, by three tots of rum and a tray of fresh fruit. It was a bit early for rum but Paul needed the glasses back and it would have been churlish to refuse so glump, down they went! Well once you have started it’s a shame to stop so out came the beers. The morning went by sweetly with crew after crew from the World ARC “family” stopping by and welcoming us. Another example of the family happened a few days later when everyone gathered to welcome in the last two boats which were delayed. American Spirit had broken their forestay early in the passage and Merlin of Poole was on hand to pass tools + beers (mid ocean!) to make emergency repairs. The boats then sailed together in convoy for safety and were given a siren and chocolate cake welcome by the rest of the “family” when they docked in the evening.

The Marina in Port Louis is in front of a five star hotel and a shopping Mall / Restaurant complex. A bit different to the coral island in the Cocos! We quickly adapted to the new surroundings and in particular to the free Wifi. Alejandro made an attempt on the world Skype record with an amazing 8 hour uninterrupted Skype-in. Suddenly we were back in communication with the World.

However, a short walk took us in to the real Mauritius. Just like walking from the centre of Paris in to Bombay, a hundred yards from the Marina found the streets thronged with people shouting at the crowds to buy the goods displayed on the pavement. A mosaic of different ethnic groups jostled together to buy or sell, to eat at the hawker stands or simply chat. Delicious Indian and Chinese food was available on the streets at incredibly low prices. We walked through the fruit, meat and crafts’ markets in a daze expecting the soundtrack and dancing of a bolliwood movie to suddenly start to show it was really a movie set!

Roger managed to make contact with fridge and sail repairers and after a busy two days some of the jobs on the boat to do list had been ticked off. It was time to see the island so we hired a car. Mauritius has a well developed road net work and were soon speeding down a motorway past Cyber City with banks occupying modern high rise buildings, proclaiming the success of the local financial industry. On we went to the West of the island where idyllic sandy beaches protected by the tranquil coral lagoons, give rise to hotel resort complexes. There is still plenty of the old Mauritius left with people living a stone’s throw from the sea and who seem to spend all day fishing, chatting and gazing at the ocean. We ate next to the beach, as the locals did, with food from a little hut which cooked tasty pancakes with curry filling.

At the south west corner of the island there is rocky peak called Le Morne which is on a small peninsula. This is still a historic reminder of slavery since escaped some slaves threw themselves off the cliffs rather than be recaptured. It is also an area where the rich and famous come to play as there are huge villas on the beach surrounded by high walls and security cameras. We briefly walked down the beach sampling the celebrity life but no one asked us in for tea!

Heading inland we climbed our way towards the Black River Hills and to Chamerel to see the coloured earths. This was basically looking at barren soil but the volcanic action had left different amounts of minerals giving a range of colours from brown and orange to purple. Interesting but in the end a load of barren soil! More impressive was the nearby waterfall. The next day we returned to this area and walked up the Piton de La Petite Rivierre Noire which after a little bit of upward abseiling, offered 360 degree views over the island. We continued around the south and parts of the east coast where much of the sugar cane is grown on an industrial scale. All because the world has a sweet tooth! The overall impression is that of a beautiful island which has stunning beaches and mountain scenery and is teeming with people that live in houses that are all half finished!

We completed the day by going to an out of town hyper-market and provisioning the boat. Mauritius is certainly very Asian in character with very affluent areas existing side by side with much poorer towns. Although the British have occupied the island since 1810 till independence in 1968, its character is still French both in place names and language. Many people speak Creole as well as French. With a population deriving from people from India, Africa, China and Europe it’s certainly a place for a mosaic experience! Tomorrow the fleet goes on a bus tour but those events, like in any good series of stories, must form the exciting cliff hanger to next week’s blog. What will our three adventurers find in the Botanical Gardens? Will they avoid being crushed in the gigantic rollers of the sugar factory? All this and very little else, next week.


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