Blogs from Port Louis, Mauritius, Africa

PORT LOUIS, MAURITIUS - 14th April Mauritius lies in the Indian Ocean, due east of Madagascar, it is just north of the Tropic of Cancer. Port Louis is on the north west coast and main port. The beautiful island boasts moonscaped mountains that dominate the interior with wild gorges and sweeping fields of green sugar cane (for the rum). Mark Twain said in 1896 "Mauritius was created before paradise came into being, and served as an example to the latter". Our tour took us to the south of the island and high into a mountainous region and as we drove it became darker and more gloomy. We had left the port in glorious sunshine. The first stop was the Trou aux Cerfs crater, formed by an extinct volcano. Not much of a crater to look into ... read more

Geo: -20.1605, 57.4977We arrived in port early and after breakfast we caught the shuttle bus to St Gilles-Les-Baines. This was a thirty minute trip from the port and is a seaside resort with the only white beach on the island. Reunion is a volcanic island and other beaches tend to have black sand. From where the bus dropped us off it was a short walk into the small town. We found a bank and withdrew some euros. It did not take long to walk up and down the main street. It was a Sunday so not many shops were open. It was also very hot so we sought shelter at a café, O Ti Marche where they had fans and we tried the local Dodo beer. Their WIFi was excellent so spent some time catching up. ... read more

Photos of Port Louis and Mauritius...... read more

Geo: -20.1605, 57.4977It is always a sad time at the end of a cruise, when we say goodbye to all the people we have befriended and to all the staff who have looked after us so well especially Max the Macedonian sommelier who took particularly good care of us!The ship was docked at Post Louis on the isle of Mauritius. First views were of a luscious green island with volcanic mountains in the background. It is very hot and very humid. After the inevitable delay in finding our taxi driver we were whisked off to the Meridien Hotel in the North West of the island. This is a large resort hotel looking out over the sea. All the main public areas are open sided which means the only cool areas are the air conditioned bedrooms. It ... read more

Departed Rodrigues today – wanted to leave at 7am, but customs don’t open until 9am. We had to go yesterday to advise of departure, and pleaded our case of leaving early enough to arrive into Mauritius in daylight. They took pity on us and said they’d be down at 8am. As did Immigration. So by about 8:30 we had cleared (cocokai got in before us) and we were about to head out, but I noticed Cocokai dropping their anchor in the channel on the way out. And although we had been told we could go, apparently we also had to sign a form for coast guard. So we waited and called them on over after Cocokai. Eventually departed soon after 8:30. 21st September Arrived Mauritius!! Had a good sail over, bit bumpy, but not too bad. ... read more