Mauritius

The change of cruise itinerary meant a visit to Mauritius. This is a tiny island off the East coast of Africa (Madagascar). At about 50 kms wide and 60 kms long it is not a large island but does accommodate a population of about 1.2M. It is an interesting mix given the last ‘protectors’ were British, driving on the left (incidentally this has been the case with all shore locations so far on this trip) and English road signs. However, none of this has impacted the main language which stubbornly has remained French!

We partcipated in a small bus Cunard tour. Our first stop was to the North of the island at Notre-Dame Auxiliatrice de Cap Malheureux. It has a simple but attractive standalone bell tower.

The location can only be described as idyllic. Beautiful beaches, shady trees, gently rocking boats and industry that melds with its surroundings. A warm day suggests standing in the sea is a good idea to keep cool while filleting fish. It also ensures any waste product returns to its origins. 

The beautiful location belies a bloody history. Just offshore is Coin de Mire Island. This is where, back in 1810, the British launched an attack on French held Mauritius to support its desire to control trade between Europe/the Cape and India/the Far East.

That said whatever the viewpoint it is still hard to get past this being a mesmerically beautiful location. Let’s hope it survives increasing sea levels.

Our second stop was a sugar mill. Although machinery was initially imported, any repairs had to be on site. Broken castings had to be rebuilt using a mould, sand impression and casting processes. Local resources needed to be skilled in manufacturing as well as operations because waiting for a shipment from England was not a viable option.

The machinery to crush the sugar cane was huge.

There were three similar bays to ensure as much of the sugar was extracted as possible. (Helen helps to give this some scale.)

The museum was huge and the half hour we were allocated was not nearly enough. The result is that we missed our free rum sample!

We then moved onto the 37-hectare Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam botanical gardens. The colonial house melds well into the gardens.

What was noticeable as soon as we walked into the gardens was the wonderful bird song. That said spotting the birds amongst all the foliage was quite a challenge. This Red Fody at least made visibility a little easier with its wonderful red colour.

The range of trees and other plants is huge so I will focus on just two. This Tall Pot palm tree is unusual as it flowers once in about 40 years and then dies. This one is now due to be felled and replaced.

However, the real draw card were the giant water lilies which originate from the Amazon basin in Brazil. The leaves can grow up to 3 metres and the vertical rims are very unusual.

The leaves have spines on their underside as a defensive mechanism against predators.

As for the flowers they are short lived. Initially white they turn violet on day two and then on day three sink to develop into a seed capsule with some 500 seeds. Most of the blooming takes place at night!

On the way out these lotus flowers popped up just above their leaves and almost demanded to be photographed. 

Mauritius in short is a beautiful island where our short trip to the NW corner was very enjoyable although I do feel we have barely scratched the surface.