Port Louis: 7.03.2000
We landed here at 3.00 pm, the timing here and Oman/Dubai being the same. It's 4 hours flying time from Jo'burg. We obtained visa on arrival and booked the best hotel in Port Louis, which is the capital, for one day right at the airport itself.
Port Louis is "right across" the island from the airport, but our taxi crossed over in 50 mins flat. The hotel is on the waterfront, with a backyard restaurant that has tables scattered all around the water's edge. the waterfront is lined by shops and various restaurants, including Indian and Chinese.
We had decided to spend 2-3 days at this hotel first because the business district was all at Port Louis, after which we could think of shifting to a beach-side hotel. We were trying to find out where the auto shops are. Nobody in the hotel knew, but the town is so small that we decided we could walk around and find them! We took a map and walked around for 2 hours and covered a third of the town practically. There is a casino bang opposite our hotel, so we tried our luck at the slot machines. I lost 200 Mauritian rupees ($8) and Manihar won 200!............
We liked the town immensely. Mauritius is a French town and like other French Dominion cities I have seen, viz. Libreville and Abidjan, the place was clean and smart, the people very friendly, the pace quite laid back and the streets much much safer than Jo'burg. We were walking around in deserted streets and did not feel half as nervous as we had felt in the Carlton Centre in Jo'burg in the midst of a crowd of blacks.
There are a lot of people of Indian origin here. The driver who drove us to the hotel spoke a bit of Hindi. For snack while walking around, we had a couple of masala dosas with sambar and coconut chutney, no less authentic than Awal in Muscat!
Port Louis: 8.03.2000
This was working day here for us, meeting prospective customers. One of them took us for lunch to the best Indian restaurant in town, called the "Curry Poule", meaning curry leaves! Food was excellent (There is another joint called "Kela Patta").
Here offices and shops close at 4.00 pm. What a place man! We walked around a bit after lunch. The shops are fairly well spread-out and all major brands are here. Among Indian companies, Maruti and Tata have outlets, and we saw Bank of Baroda, LIC and New India Assurance buildings. The economy of Mauritius stands on sugar cane, tourism and textiles. They make a lot of clothing for big brands and Mauritius-made clothing is quite cheap. We paid a visit to the general bazaar which, apart from vegetables and fish, has a lot of clothing and tourist souvenirs in general. We bought a few odds and ends.
We landed here at 3.00 pm, the timing here and Oman/Dubai being the same. It's 4 hours flying time from Jo'burg. We obtained visa on arrival and booked the best hotel in Port Louis, which is the capital, for one day right at the airport itself.
Port Louis is "right across" the island from the airport, but our taxi crossed over in 50 mins flat. The hotel is on the waterfront, with a backyard restaurant that has tables scattered all around the water's edge. the waterfront is lined by shops and various restaurants, including Indian and Chinese.
We had decided to spend 2-3 days at this hotel first because the business district was all at Port Louis, after which we could think of shifting to a beach-side hotel. We were trying to find out where the auto shops are. Nobody in the hotel knew, but the town is so small that we decided we could walk around and find them! We took a map and walked around for 2 hours and covered a third of the town practically. There is a casino bang opposite our hotel, so we tried our luck at the slot machines. I lost 200 Mauritian rupees ($8) and Manihar won 200!............
We liked the town immensely. Mauritius is a French town and like other French Dominion cities I have seen, viz. Libreville and Abidjan, the place was clean and smart, the people very friendly, the pace quite laid back and the streets much much safer than Jo'burg. We were walking around in deserted streets and did not feel half as nervous as we had felt in the Carlton Centre in Jo'burg in the midst of a crowd of blacks.
There are a lot of people of Indian origin here. The driver who drove us to the hotel spoke a bit of Hindi. For snack while walking around, we had a couple of masala dosas with sambar and coconut chutney, no less authentic than Awal in Muscat!
Port Louis: 8.03.2000
This was working day here for us, meeting prospective customers. One of them took us for lunch to the best Indian restaurant in town, called the "Curry Poule", meaning curry leaves! Food was excellent (There is another joint called "Kela Patta").
Here offices and shops close at 4.00 pm. What a place man! We walked around a bit after lunch. The shops are fairly well spread-out and all major brands are here. Among Indian companies, Maruti and Tata have outlets, and we saw Bank of Baroda, LIC and New India Assurance buildings. The economy of Mauritius stands on sugar cane, tourism and textiles. They make a lot of clothing for big brands and Mauritius-made clothing is quite cheap. We paid a visit to the general bazaar which, apart from vegetables and fish, has a lot of clothing and tourist souvenirs in general. We bought a few odds and ends.
More than half the Mauritians here are of Indian origin. They are mostly Muslims. There are some Pakistani Muslims here as well. But the current generation (most of them are here for 3 generations) do not know which part of India they are from, and they speak very little Hindi. At home, it is usually French or Creole, the local language (Creole is a mixture of French and Bhojpuri!). However, Hindi movies are very popular here and the ratings of Shah Rukh and Aishwariya are especially high! Currently, in a movie complex next to the hotel, 'Pukar', 'Badal', 'Kaho na Pyar Hai' etc are running. Must be subtitled in French.
Apart from Indians, a lot of Chinese folk live here, who have also been around for 3 generations. There is a proper Chinatown as well.
We had walked around a lot today and I had a chilled beer sitting on the waterfront -- superb! They have cruise for tourists (maybe 2 hours) from the port and I saw the cruise boat come in. In the evening we spent some time at the casino again. There must be at least 50 slot machines in the place, with a BMW prize for the jackpot. Plus there are other gaming tables on the top floor.
Port Louis: 9.03.2000
Today was another working day. Our Chinese client again took us out for lunch. Although we may not do much business with him, he seems to be quite sold on to us. Manihar is very good at building relationships within a short span of time. This client had taken up golf about a year ago and is quite hooked to the game. Gets up at 5.00 am on a working day to put in a round of golf. He wanted to take us to his club for dinner but could not fit it in ultimately.
We had dinner at 'Tandoori Express' today, again on the waterfront. Atal Behari Vajpayee is arriving here on the 12th, to celebrate Mauritian independence day on the 15th. The Indian delegation (around 60-70 people) had already arrived and was having a party-cum-dinner at an adjoining restaurant. Free Mauritius trip for them.
Tomorrow we shall check out of this hotel and shift to some beach-side hotel near the airport. Still looking for a suitable one. Luckily for us, the weather has been sunny till now -- otherwise Dec-Apr is supposedly hurricane season here.
During this trip, the availability of e-mail facilities at the hotel and close by had helped greatly in communicating with home. It's a far cheaper mode and sending a quick mail at the end of the day is easy.
During this trip, the availability of e-mail facilities at the hotel and close by had helped greatly in communicating with home. It's a far cheaper mode and sending a quick mail at the end of the day is easy.
Blue Bay: 10.03.2000
Today we shifted from Hotel Labourdonnais in Port Louis on the west coast to Hotel Le Criox du Sud on the east coast. The objective was to shift to a beach hotel not too far from the airport as we had to catch a 9.00 am flight on the 12th.
On the way, while crossing the island, we stopped at a lake called the Gran Bassin (also called 'Ganga Talaab'). It is supposed to be the crater of an extinct volcano. There are 3-4 temples here, the main one being Shiva's. The lake is in the middle of nowhere, but is a very major venue during Shivratri. This time, it was on the 4th Feb. Even Indians from other neighbouring African countries land up in order to undertake this journey to the lake temple. A number of them do so on foot and it is a goodish trek. This time, the purohit said, there were 4500-5000 visitors!
We reached Le Croix du Sud (which means The Southern Cross), around 4.30 pm. The bay on which this hotel is located is called the Blue Bay. The hotel as such was very exotic, with rooms like cottages, in some cases with a room on top (a bit like our stay at the Mahabs resort). Right behind the back porch of the room, there's a bit of lawn and then a private beach. The public beaches in the north-west corner of the island stretch for long distances.
The sea is beautiful in Mauritius.
It's transparent aquamarine in colour, with the shades changing as it stretches to the horizon. The water is as clear as in an aquarium. Moreover, in most beaches here, the water is quite shallow (waist deep) for quite some distance into the sea -- so it's very safe to swim in. The beach sand is very white and coarse (like muesli!). Apart from general bathing, this hotel has free facilities for water-surfing, surf-sailing and scuba-diving, but today it was too late to try any of it. Manihar had a dip in the sea. Then we went for a walk on the road for 4-5 km to generate some appetite...........
By the time we were ready to turn back, it was already evening and darkness had fallen. But there was enough light in the sky to illuminate the small lagoons by the road with little boats bobbing up and down. Clouds had gathered and there was a stiff wind blowing. Between the village we had walked to and our hotel, there were only some passing cars for company. It was a great scene, as if from Wuthering Heights, dark and brooding, especially on top of the beer I had downed while walking!
We had an early dinner. The tariff of this hotel is 'half-board', that is including breakfast and one meal (usually dinner). We had found out before arriving that the hotel arranges a 'catamaran cruise' to a very beautiful island (L'Ile aux Cerfs) for a charge of around 1300 Mauritian rupees. Manihar could organise a reasonable rate from the hotel so that it became affordable for us. We booked ourselves for tomorrow's cruise, starting at 9.30 am.
At this hotel, I think we two were one of the very few 'non-goras' around. Apart from holiday-makers, there were a lot of transit passengers constantly flowing through. Anyway, dinner was a pukka European affair, with a starter of egg-plant with mince meat, followed by the main course of fish-and-rice. There was a dessert of pudding, mix-fruit salad, and cream-topped cherries.
Blue Bay: 11.03.2000
It was a beautiful and thoroughly enjoyable day!
We boarded the catamaran at 9.30 am from a small jetty on the beach. The catamaran is actually two long floats fitted with a platform on which a cabin is mounted. It's fitted with sails but also has outboard motors. It's a very stable craft and ideal for tourist trips in peaceful waters...........
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There were around 20-25 people on board. They were mostly elderly, vacationing gora couples, a Malayasian couple and a dark lady travelling with a gora. There were also three young girls who contributed to lowering the average age considerably!
It is a fact that most Europeans, or even Americans for that matter, find enough savings available to spend on travel only after they are 50 years of age. We had with us an old French lady from Nice who was 60, but bubbling with life. She sort of declared us to be her guardians for the trip, "in case she got lost".
The Guest Relations Officer had warned us that some sun-screen lotion protection may be needed. But we found that the hotel shop charges almost 600 Mauritian rupees for it and we propmtly decided to suffer from sun-burns instead. All the goras in the catamaran were applying it liberally.Of course, their objective is to get tanned, so clothing is as little as possible, whereas we kept our T-shirts on to avoid further blackness!
One thing is true of most goras in water spots -- whatever their size or shape, they will wear a swimsuit, to hell with everybody else. To be fair, they also try to maintain their bodies as far as possible, but even when impossible -- no problem, man!..........
There were around 20-25 people on board. They were mostly elderly, vacationing gora couples, a Malayasian couple and a dark lady travelling with a gora. There were also three young girls who contributed to lowering the average age considerably!
It is a fact that most Europeans, or even Americans for that matter, find enough savings available to spend on travel only after they are 50 years of age. We had with us an old French lady from Nice who was 60, but bubbling with life. She sort of declared us to be her guardians for the trip, "in case she got lost".
The Guest Relations Officer had warned us that some sun-screen lotion protection may be needed. But we found that the hotel shop charges almost 600 Mauritian rupees for it and we propmtly decided to suffer from sun-burns instead. All the goras in the catamaran were applying it liberally.Of course, their objective is to get tanned, so clothing is as little as possible, whereas we kept our T-shirts on to avoid further blackness!
One thing is true of most goras in water spots -- whatever their size or shape, they will wear a swimsuit, to hell with everybody else. To be fair, they also try to maintain their bodies as far as possible, but even when impossible -- no problem, man!..........
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It was a sunny day, and the greenish-blue water was sparkling for miles around. A few speed-boats went by sometimes on a cruise, raising a thick white wake -- otherwise the twin white trails of the catamaran were the only whites in the sea. The waves close to the shore (our boat was hugging the coastline) were hardly breaking and it was only deep into the distant sea that we could see breakers in a long white line. There was a stiff breeze blowing and after chugging out for half-an-hour or so, the skipper put up the mainsail and cut the engines. Then it was only the slap of waves on the hull and an occasional wind-flutter from the sail-top. (Do view the album through link at bottom of post)
Drinks were being handed around and a couple of beers had made me more appreciative of my surroundings. One of the crew-members brought out a guitar and sang some popular numbers (like "Blowing in the wind") and people became a bit more animated. The Malayasian was especially into it and was clapping away to the beat.
After around an hour or so, we came to a narrow canal flowing in between the heavily-wooded coast. Here the catamaran stopped and we disembarked into a small motorboat that navigated further through jutting rocks and went almost to the foot of a thick waterfall! The view was excellent -- I hope the photos convey at least part of the grandeur of the scenes. They can never reproduce the fine mist of spray hanging in the air...........
Drinks were being handed around and a couple of beers had made me more appreciative of my surroundings. One of the crew-members brought out a guitar and sang some popular numbers (like "Blowing in the wind") and people became a bit more animated. The Malayasian was especially into it and was clapping away to the beat.
After around an hour or so, we came to a narrow canal flowing in between the heavily-wooded coast. Here the catamaran stopped and we disembarked into a small motorboat that navigated further through jutting rocks and went almost to the foot of a thick waterfall! The view was excellent -- I hope the photos convey at least part of the grandeur of the scenes. They can never reproduce the fine mist of spray hanging in the air...........
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By the time we came back to the catamaran, lunch was ready and the smell of fish being barbecued reached us. We had a pleasant lunch of fish, pulao, potatos, salad and pudding, washed down with white wine (all food and drink was part of the cruise charges).
We reached the island, L'Ile aux Cerfs, by 12.45 and were told to return to the same jetty by 2.15. While cruising in, we had already seen people water-skiing, parasailing and pedal-boating. Even as far as a couple of hundred yards from the shore, the water was only waist-deep. Still, some places had been marked off-limits because of strong currents.
The island was not very big. As soon as we got down, we took a walk on the beach around the island to find a good spot. We went around a quarter of the island in about 15 mins. The beaches were very nice, pearly white, bounded by green casuarina trees on one side and a wonderful stretch of aquamarine on the other. Today being Saturday, the inflow of people was quite high. We walked a little to find a less crowded beach...........
We reached the island, L'Ile aux Cerfs, by 12.45 and were told to return to the same jetty by 2.15. While cruising in, we had already seen people water-skiing, parasailing and pedal-boating. Even as far as a couple of hundred yards from the shore, the water was only waist-deep. Still, some places had been marked off-limits because of strong currents.
The island was not very big. As soon as we got down, we took a walk on the beach around the island to find a good spot. We went around a quarter of the island in about 15 mins. The beaches were very nice, pearly white, bounded by green casuarina trees on one side and a wonderful stretch of aquamarine on the other. Today being Saturday, the inflow of people was quite high. We walked a little to find a less crowded beach...........
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All the water-sports here cost a lot, so we simply borrowed a couple of snorkeling masks from the catamaran and tried snorkeling at shallow depths. It's a bit difficult to master the technique of breathing through a tube held in your mouth. I kept opening my lips and swallowing water! Anyway, it was good fun. Since I couldn't wear my glasses while snorkeling, and since there were a lot of things (including topless beauties) to be seen on the beach and in the water, I stopped my futile efforts and put on my power-shades again!..........
Time passed very fast on the island and soon it was time to go back. We boarded the catamaran again at 2.30 pm and were back by 4.30 pm. Same routine (except the waterfall) on the way back, with the Malayasian whooping at rhythmic points in the song. We became quite friendly (he had travelled widely in Europe) and declared Indians and Chines to be "good friends". Japan and Korea were "no, not okay". There was some excellent rum-punch served on the way back. A memorable trip.
The catamaran had carried people staying in other hotels also. Our old French friend took our leave, after giving me her address in Nice (because we were "nice people"). Manihar wanted to try wind-surfing from the hotel facilities, but they said they give the boards only to experts. On this coast, the wind is very strong. On the west coast, however, the central mountain breaks this south sea wind and there is relative calm.
We took another walk in the evening and had our dinner. We leave Muritius tomorrow morning for Jo'burg, spend around 6 hours in town (mainly collecting some stuff from Hotel Sandton) and catch the overnight flight to Dubai. I'll catch a connecting flight to Muscat, hoping to reach home by 9.30 am on the 13th.
So here ends my account of my travels in South Africa and Mauritius.
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