Port Louis, Mauritius

The island has a population of some 1,250,000 people – and is 85 km long and 50 km wide. When we pulled up this morning we could see high peaks in the center of the island – all irregularly shaped and stunningly beautiful. Again we hired a taxi for the day with another couple. We made many stops with beautiful viewpoints of the valleys, waterfalls, sugar plantations, and seashores below. You could tell that the place is very well run – good roads, nice housing, and lots of business everywhere. The main industries are tourism, sugarcane, rum and textiles. Many American clothing labels are manufactured right here. One small town we visited in the center of the island had many shops selling familiar brands at discount prices. We stopped into a factory that made models of ships – we could see how they were intricately hand made. Also visited an old sugar plantation home with it's original furniture. An enormous statue of Shiva sits atop a mountain where hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims visited just a few days ago for a festival. A nearby lake was also a holy sight where many families came to give offerings. Today was a holiday where Hindus splash colorful paints on their faces and bodies. We stopped for lunch in a typical Mauritius family restaurant (just across the street from a fancy place our taxi driver really wanted us to eat at). Our last stop (after a road “made like a serpent”, with 52 hairpin turns) was at Flic en Flac beach – a welcome dip in the warm blue waters.

Port Louis, Mauritius, Day Two

We decided not to take the water taxi, but walk the 2 miles into the center of Port Louis. The city was busy with rush hour traffic and stores were not quite open yet. A new waterfront complex, with palm trees, and plazas, had some great craft shops and high end souvenir stands. Not really much appealing to buy, but fun to browse around. We wandered into the market areas – mostly clothes, kitchen utensils, cosmetic items and shoes for everyday use. The central park had huge banyan trees and comforting shade from the daytime hot sun. Back at the ship, there was much going on, since half the passengers were leaving the ship, and new passengers were arriving. It was sad to say goodbye, and anxious to see who would arrive. We'll definitely miss our new friends Mike & Cathy from Salisbury, England. We sure enjoyed some great times together since we all boarded a month ago in Hong Kong.