Advertisement
Published: January 23rd 2018
Edit Blog Post
There are two ways of looking at every situation. On one hand, we're about to spend the night in an ageing Boeing 777; the plane has a technical fault; and it’s going to be raining when we get to our destination. On the other hand, Air France fixed the plane; we have extra space - three seats for the two of us; and it's 27c when we land.
OK, it is a bit overcast and sprinkling with rain but by the time we have driven to the west coast, the weather has brightened and the rain stopped. Our hotel is on the beach and the Indian Ocean is just steps away. It is beautiful.
Mauritius has many lovely beaches. White coral sands with a reef to break the ocean surf. All the beaches have public access, even when there is a adjacent posh resort. We walk for hours along the palm edged white sands, picking up coral shards and shells; paddling and swimming in the warm, clear water.
The island's interior initially seems to be one giant sugar cane plantation. But then we discover pineapples and mangos, beans and grapefruit. Our local village is Pamplemousse, French for grapefruit.
Mauritius was a French colony and then a British one before independence in 1968. Today most people speak English, French and Creole.
When slavery was abolished, the British brought in indentured Indians to work on the sugar plantations. In the capital, Port Louis, we visit the Ghat where these workers were landed until 1920. The workers were poorly treated, being tied to a plantation owner for many years and having little freedom. Indenture was better than slavery but only just. More than 70% of Mauritians can trace their roots to these workers: more than half the population are Hindus of Indian extraction.
Parts of the island's interior are mountainous. Proper rocky mountains pointing up out of the plain like so many broken teeth. Amongst the mountains are deep river gorges, lush rain forests and sacred lakes. At Ebony Forest, a local charity is restoring the native rain forest, clearing away non-native species and planting ebony trees along with other tree and palm seedlings. Walking through the forest we spot chattering birds, brightly coloured geckos and fruit bats. Fruit bats fly during both day and night in Mauritius as they have no predators.
The walking is fascinating but
tough. Any trekking at 30c is tough and, periodically, it rains without warning. God turns on the tap full blast and the heavens open. It then stops, just as suddenly, and we are back at 30c again, sweating.
Then, on Monday we become aware of Cyclone Berguitta. Strolling across the Indian Ocean at just 10 km/hour, Berguitta is a strengthening, category 4, tropical cyclone and looks as if it will pass very close to us, along Mauritius's west coast. It looks likely that Wednesday afternoon and Thursday are going to be tricky but it all depends on the cyclone's final track and how strong it becomes.
Monday and Tuesday are fine days, the calm before the storm? And on Wednesday nothing seems to have changed. The sea is no rougher, the wind no stronger though a bit gusty. But Berguitta has changed track and intensity. It is now category 5, the highest intensity, and predicted to pass directly over us on Thursday morning.
The government has put the island on the highest cyclone alert, level three. This is rare and invalidates everyone's car insurance! The airport and sea ports are closed; all schools and most businesses are
closed; even the buses have stopped running. It is all a bit surreal – tourists still lay on their sun loungers, trapped in paradise?
We go to bed having made a few preparations. We are on the ground floor and flooding is likely so we move everything off the floor. Power is likely to fail, so our candle and matches are at the bedside. Phones are fully charged; passports, tickets and money are in our rucksacks; clothes and shoes are ready, easy to grab.
But the night passes peacefully. Berguitta, now moving faster and weakening back to category 4, changed track during the night. The cyclone eye passes just 10 km offshore, but to the east of the island. On our west coast, it is very, very windy and the sea is very rough but there is no flooding and little damage. Throughout the day, wind and waves batter the beach. Even when the cyclone eye is more than 100 km south, the winds, the waves and heavy rain showers continue.
The next day we resume our wandering around the island, visiting azure blue bays and coral white beaches; walking through the forests; trying to understand the
history and the culture. In Pamplemousse, we visit the wonderful botanical gardens. The huge garden is full of exotic plants, many new to us. The garden is rightly proud of its lotus flowers and water lilies: white, pink and, most impressive, the giant Amazonian water lilies, with leaves more than a metre across.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.356s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 35; qc: 152; dbt: 0.2903s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.4mb