Arriving in Mauritius

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We arrived in a very sunny and friendly place with the husband (Clarel) of the manager (Fattima) of our hostel Le Capitaine waiting at the arrival area outside the airport. We not only received a transfer, but a tour of half the island! Clarel, whose other job is in insurance, seems to make it a hobby to help visitors enjoy their time in Mauritius. He says it is just typical Mauritian hospitality.

After dumping our stuff at the best-value hostel in Maurtius, we caught a ride to the nearby local beach. After taking a dip at a lovely little lagoon with no tourists, we set out to go grocery shopping. They have little stores here and there but also monster stores called "Jumbo" that have everything. We thought it was close by as we set off to walk, but was later offered a ride from a local when we were out wandering by the sugarcane fields.

Once there, we realised we only had 1000 rupees (£15) and no bank card to withdraw more. We spent our budget almost perfectly for various food items for the next days. The selection was very wide between Indian and French/European foods. We were very pleased with ourselves until we realised that we didn't have enough for a taxi. We had miscalculated thinking that Jumbo was closer by. We haggled the best we could, but we couldn't meet the end price of 135 rupees.

At the bus station we chatted with some bus drivers that were friendly but didn't see a way initially that we could make it without going in a long circle via Port Louis and also spending more than we had! After a lot of hand waving and arguing in some Indian or Tamil dialect between drivers, we were put on a bus that took us to where we wanted for 12 rupees total!

We made it back safe, made dinner, had a couple of Phoenix beers and made plans to buy a car...

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