Blogs from Port Louis, Mauritius, Africa

October 2000 Dear Overseas Friend(s) Myself and Alice are coming to the end of an idyllic fortnight on the paradise island of Mauritius. Reminiscent of Tobago, this is a place I could retire to. The natives look Indian, sound French and drive old-fashioned British cars (Austin Cambridges, Minis, Morris Oxfords) on the left side of the road. Hindu temples rub shoulders with churches, wayside shrines to the Virgin Mary and mosques. Last Thursday, Diwali was celebrated big time with banks and shops all shut. Newspapers are in French. Films are dubbed in French. The official language is English, but everyone speaks creole. Although part of the OAU (Organisation of African Unity), Mauritius is definitely not Africa! Buses here are a throwback to England circa 1960. The beaches are gorgeous - white sand beside a ridiculously blue ... read more

When we tell people that we are going to Mauritius, their first reaction is: where? When we explain that it is an island off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean, they want to know how long it takes to fly there. Our answer is, we don't know. But we do know that it takes 8/9 days by sea from Fremantle in Western Australia to Port Louis, the capital. Leaving Fremantle, the seas are mild and the winds are strong but as we head out to sea the waves get higher and the chop gets shorter and the ship begins to bounce around. Sylvia and I are not affected (we got our extreme sea-legs crossing the Atlantic) but a lot of passengers choose to stay in their cabins for the two days before the sea ... read more

Today we've booked a tour to the Mauritian capital of Port Louis, and our guide turns out to be the same Ibrahim who drove us from the airport to the hotel when we arrived. We drive past the Le Morne Brabant mountain. Ibrahim says it's now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is associated with a very sad and well known local story. During the years when slavery was practised here, the mountain was used as a hideout by runaway slaves. When slavery was eventually abolished, some of the slave masters found out about this, so they climbed the mountain to tell the runaways the good news that they were now free men. The slaves saw them coming and thought that they were about to be recaptured, so some of them threw themselves off the cliffs ... read more

About Mauritius... read more

Just happened to be walking through the Mall with Libby this afternoon and noticed there was a presentation from China – Mongolia happening in the amphitheatre. So we abandoned our WIFI expedition and sat down to watch instead. It went for a couple of hours – singing, dancing and acrobatics. It was an impressive performance and all for free.... read more