Reunion & Mauritius

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Reunion

After 3 days at sea, we arrived at the Island of Reunion on Monday the 21st of April. It is a French Protectorate and it did not take us long to realize it! We all got loaded on our buses for the various tours and the Taxis decided to call a surprise strike and blocked the exit from the port with cabs so none of the buses could leave. The Cabbies wanted access to the Port and claimed the buses were taking away all their business. After a couple of hours of negotiation, they finally opened the gates. Needless to say, everyone started the day with a bitter memory. We took a tour to St. Denis, which is the largest city on the Island. The mountains are pretty dramatic and rise straight up to over 10000 feet and are the highest point in the Indian Ocean. The town itself was not very impressive and since the local currency is Euros, everything was super expensive. Fortunately because of our early morning delay, most 0f the shops were closed for lunch so we were not even tempted! Only notable bit of info is that Roland Garros was born here and the stadium where the French Open is played is named for him. He was the first aviator to fly across the Med to Africa from France and was killed in WW1.

Mauritius

What a difference a couple of hundred miles can make! At one time French and then British and now Independent and much more alive than it's cousin to the South. The population is 60% Indian, who speak French Creole and the currency is the Rupee. We did not have an excursion but were able to rent a car and driver with another couple and it turned out to be a very pleasant experience. Our first stop was Pamplemousses (Pineapple), a beautiful spice garden that was established a couple of hundred years ago. After touring the gardens for about 45 minutes, we headed North to the beach for my first swim in the Indian Ocean! Where as Reunion had black volcanic rock beaches, Mauritius had beautiful white sand. After a good swim and some shelling we headed back towards Port Louis, where the ship is docked. Did a little shopping and toured a beautiful Hindu Temple 0n the way back to the ship. Only real claim to fame here is that this was the only place the Dodo Bird ever lived and the last one died a couple of hundred years ago.

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