I had an amazing experience on the island of Mauritius. I’m deeply sorry that I only had a day in the country, but really happy that I had a day there at all. Truly, I never thought I would find myself on the island of Mauritius in my entire life.
I, probably like you, assumed Mauritius would be just like the beach episode in Friends, you know, the episode where Monica got her hair braided? I figured it would be…as you read in the above blogs…an island paradise that was touristy, and that’s it.
It really wasn’t. It is a large, full functioning island with people, culture, business, traffic jams, mountains and valleys. Its amazing to step foot in a place you never knew existed and still find that human culture that ties us…even in the middle of the Indian ocean, there’s plenty of stuff that keeps us all on similar pages.
From the ship, pulling in to port in the morning, it certainly looked like the Friends resort. We saw tropical coastlines with flowing hills and mountains behind them. A small skyline of tall office buildings (no skyscrapers) was visible off in the distance by a pristing harbor. The island looked like any other country as far as size goes, but you could tell the coastline was rounding in a much faster pace than, say, Namibia.
I greeted the US Consul (yes, we have an Embassy in the island-nation of Mauritius) on board and we ushered him to the Union where he gave a diplomatic briefing. “I went to the wrong college,”was all he had to say. It’s a great thing to welcome people aboard the Explorer not 15 minutes after we pull into port. It reminds me how lucky we are and how amazing this program is when somebody who has never been aboard steps on. To see their amazement at the 700 students and 300 adults running around excited about being on land after a long stretch at sea reminds me…we’re pretty abnormal as far as college campuses go.
Anyway, after debarking, I hopped in the SAS bus to take us to Adventure Park and Beach. The Adventure Park, or Parque Aventur (they speak French on the island), was way up in the mountains after an hour and a half drive with our crazy insane bus driver. Within 15 minutes of leaving the ship, we were involved in a fender-bender on the highway and then got pulled over by police 5 minutes later. Winding up the mountains in the north of the island with Evil Kenevil behind the wheel was definitely an experience. Let’s just say that seasickness has not given me the worst nausea thus far on the trip.
We made it to the park, put on harnesses and were told we would be crossing rope bridges, and doing other challenge-course-like activities. With my 10-ish years of Camp Tall Timbers Challenge Course training under my belt, I felt I was prepared. I was for everything they threw at us, except the bugs. We got murdered by mosquitos and chigger bugs…causing me to pop a malaria pill as soon as I made it back to the ship. I, of course, was in the top-3 of most bites per square inch, but others had it even worse than me. The park was really cool, and it was definitely a unique experience, climbing, stretching, leaping from platform to platform, riding down the zipline, etc. We had a nice little lunch (chicken curry and rice) before loading the bus to go to the beach.
Flic en Flac (actual name) beach was divine. White sand and water so clear you could see your feet. I bartered with a local for a beach umbrella (tropical sun= skin cancer) and we sat there watching the waves come in and sipping on Phoenix, the national beer of Mauritius. It’s actually really, really good. All the while, we talked to some of the locals who came and spoke with us and just relaxed. It had been a long week since SA. We walked into town and shmyed around, before loading the busses back to Port Louis.
I convinced the bus driver to drop us off in town where we did some last-minute shopping and ate and drank before getting on the ship.After a bit we hailed a water taxi back to the ship.
This was not a Baltimore water taxi. This was a guy with a boat slightly larger than a paddlboat with an engine. We had to hop in from the pier and he took us right down the harbor next to the ship. At that point, he drove us up to the wall of the harbor and there was a little ladder that we had to climb up to get on land. It was hilarious. We climbed it, and walked over to the gangway. I took a last look around, took in Mauritius and then boarded the ship. Waiting for us was a beautiful BBQ and sunset, and the opening ceremonies for the Sea Olympic games…but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. That’s next blog.
Mauritius…you completely surprised me. It’s so amazing to find people, life, culture this far away from home. I never knew your name, and when I did I never imagined what I’d see would be…normal. It’s different in the way that all cultures are different, but you are all stunningly normal, happy, nice, congenial people. You make sure that we know that if only for 12 hours while sailing between South Africa and India. Lia said something interesting to me while we were walking back towards town…“you know, this will, for all intensive purposes be the 1 day of your life you spend in Mauritius.”
I don’t know if that’s true, but it meant a lot to me. Whether or not I make it back to this island is irrelevant. What’s important is that if Mauritius, or this part of the world ever makes news, there will be at least 729 college students who can vouch for its existence. It’s not just a blip on the map. There are people, lives, business here. I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive myself for doubting that in the first place, but I know I won’t do it again.
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