Blogs from Mauritius, Africa - page 10

We have now set off on world adventure take 2! There was quite a large change from our planned itinerary due to Harry breaking his leg a week before we were due to travel. Therefore instead of going to South Africa we spent a month staying with parents in Worcester and Hereford before coming straight out to Australia the day after Harry had his cast removed. We booked a new flight via Mauritius and so arranged an overnight stay there in order to break up the journey and explore a bit of the island. We had a fun day in Mauritius although it was very hot and humid which made it very difficult to get around. Harry wasn't helped by the fact that his leg was still pretty swollen but he was able to get around ... read more

We stand in a queu in front of the customers, all Europeans, specially from France, but also from Spain and Italy. We do not see any Dutch between all those white faces. That is strange, because Dutch are always everywhere. Are they not interested in this Island called after Maurits van Nassau, in the beautiful beaches and landscapes here, the mediterranean atmosphere, the delicious French food mixed with a Creole kitchen or even the rarest stamp in the world, the blue Mauritius? It is the Dodo which makes the Dutch so modest and ashamed. We killed this bird 400 years ago. And the problem is all world knows it. It is the best known extinction of an animal ever. And those cruel Dutchmen killed that beautiful, poor, harmless bird, which was not aware of any danger, ... read more

One attraction of the new job was the possibility of undertaking training in Mauritius, a two hour flight from Seychelles, and so it came to be. Myself and my jobshare partner were shipped off to learn the procurement and purchasing packages for the FCO and meet our fellow colleagues of the BHC in Mauritius. Mauritius is surprisingly, I think, home to a million people and has a reputation for being more built up than our fair islands. Indeed, the capital Port Louis was an hour’s drive from the airport, somewhat novel for this islander. it's bigger than it looks! Arriving at our hotel and I was disappointed that I only managed 2.5 rolls across the bed (not yet equalling the other one’s record of 3.5 at the Grosvenor in Chester) but still more than enough space ... read more

Right in the middle of the Indian Ocean there is a beautiful volcanic island called Mauritius. Some of these places we are calling upon are so remote you wonder how people ever got there in the first place. And once there, what do they do? This was the home of the dodo bird until it became extinct in the 1600s. For centuries Mauritius was used as a provisioning stop for ships traveling around the Cape of Good Hope. We took a bus trip across the lush island past mile after mile of sugar cane fields and beautiful rock formations caused by lava flows. We then took a ferry across to Ile-aux-Cerf, the island of deer. We did some beachcombing and swimming. This is an unusual island in that it is strictly reserved for recreational usage. There ... read more

GANGA TALAO. LAKE OF THE GANGES Long before arrival at the lake the huge bronze coloured statue gives away its location. Arriving here early in the morning before the predicted buses of tour groups definitely paid off. The calm and serenity at this extinct volcanic crater was mesmorising. It is a sacred site for Hindus who come to place offerings in the lake which some believe to be linked to the Ganges by an underground stream. Surprisingly, in the lake itself there was little evidence that people come here regularly to make offerings of fruits and flowers and pray. I say 'surprisingly' as in other places we have seen the messy aftermath of such rituals. (After Prayer Debris- i.e.wilted flowers, dead leaves being swept along in the wind and old fruit bobbing up and down ... read more