Islands of the Indian Ocean

We loved our ten days in Mauritius which was packed with outings and diving trips. I hadn’t realised that Mauritius was such a popular tourist destination until I saw the glow of coastal lights from the many hotels as we approached the north channel. We were berthed against the wall in the Caudan Basin which was a popular place for evening walks and lovers assignations. Sitting in the cockpit made us tourist attractions as locals and tourists were keen to take a selfie or just a photo of us having a cup of tea or a beer! The waterfront development housed both local and recognisable named shops plus lots of cafes and restaurants, stalls, smart hotels and even a casino. On our last night we enjoyed drinks and a finger buffet at the beautiful Arts centre nearby. The evening was completed by local dancers and musicians who entertained us and then led a workshop in their local dance steps, which was great fun. It was also diwali and the markets were packed full of Indian sweets and food stalls!

Mauritius was uninhabited before the Dutch discovered it in 1598 and named it after Prince Maurice. They also ate all the Dodos, mainly because there wasn't anything else to eat. The French who took over called it Isle de Maurice, and when the British ended up in power they changed the name to Mauritius. Sugar, spice and slaves were all introduced along the way, as always commerce being a driving force in taming a wild and inhospitable terrain. The result is a very eclectic community of religions and cultures jostling along together and Port Louis is a mish mash of unrelated architectural styles and buildings from the ultra modern to old colonial building and sheds .

Our first day out was to the south of the island and we managed to combine sightseeing with a visit to the airport to drop off Karl and collect Scott. All good timing but a very full day, we left at 0830 and returned at 1830, so tired that we ate our supper and all went to bed early.

Our driver took us to visit a large Tamil temple first, followed by Adelaide Fort or the Citadel which stood above Port Louis but was never used in anger. Built by the French and finished off by the British it’s walls were carved from the volcanic basalt rock but looked like breeze blocks. After a visit to a strange terraced arena type place used for the visits of the Pope we headed out of town to a miniature ship shop!

We were amazed at the modern buildings and development of business parks and finance headquarters which were extensive. Eventually we got into the rural areas and nature parks and visited waterfalls and the seven coloured earth. Best of all was the colossus statues of Shiva and Durga which were so unexpected and massive we were stunned.

The following day we all went diving, Scott was undertaking his PADI open water diving certificate and we accompanied him on his first 3 dives which were very nice, especially the breakfast buffet at the hotel it was based at. Our next day out was organised by the World Cruising Club and we spent a couple of hours at the famous Pamplemousses Botanic Gardens. Established by the French in 1736, the intendent Pierre Poivre introduced a flowers, fruit and vegetables from around the world to catalogue them and try to find new foods and medicines for the growing population of France. Pierre Poivre was the Peter Piper who picked a peck of pickled peppers, if you ever wondered where that name came from! The gardens were glorious and the history fascinating, even more so when we moved on to the Sugar Museum where we spent three hours exploring history, engineering and culture. Our visit there finished with a sugar tasting, followed by a rum tasting, and we couldn’t resist buying a bottle of the “Lazy Dodo” rum. After that we were taken to visit a beautiful Chateuax Labbordonaise, with its cool verandas and gorgeous decorations and furniture, it was like something from "Gone with the Wind".

We enjoyed a few social events with the fleet, pub meals, breakfast at the smart hotel and musical evenings with sing alongs accompanied by Scott on guitar and Richard on harmonica, but after a week alongside we were keen to have one night at anchor and went south, ahead of the fleet to spend a night at anchor in Tamarin Bay. Here we celebrated Scott’s 23rd birthday with sparkling wine, a delicious curry and games. We were able to snorkel and swim and were thrilled when a pod of dolphins swam fairly close.

We then set off for Ile de las Reunion 130 miles to the west and had an uneventful passage, apart from seeing whales blowing and a nice starlit sky with a few shooting stars as a final birthday treat. We arrived in Ile de la Reunion early morning the following day and as the sun rose we were greeted by a truly astounding landscape of soaring volcanic cliffs and deep ravines as well as a new road which runs parallel to the coast on platforms over the sea supported by enormous pillars! Quite something to see, and sail alongside, though one tour guide told us about the astronomical cost and the political shenanigans behind it. Reunion is a department in France, and is completely French, the currency is euros and we were able to use our European phone SIM cards. Lunch is a always respected in France especially Sunday lunch at the beach which was very busy.

We visited the live volcano which was very impressive and we walked into the caldera to see one of the recent cinder cones before we visited a small Gite for lunch.

Our host here also made his own flavoured rums and was very generous with shots of a range of flavours before we even had lunch!

Another trip was to a spectacular Caldera called Cirque de Salaze, where the runaway slaves, (Maroons) would head to.

The runaways could hide and survive here eating the rampant vine vegetable called “Chou Chou” or Christophene. Their solitude was disrupted when thermal spring was discovered and a spa was established in the village called Hellbourg which we visited. The baths are all ruined now due to a cyclone causing disruption the the watercourses but it was fascinating to see the ruins and also the remains of old creole houses being left to disappear into the jungle. We had another marvellous lunch at Villa Martha, where we sat in a colourful flower filled courtyard, and enjoyed watching the world go by.

After two weeks of being tourists we are setting off to South Africa 1300 nm away on 2nd November. Our preparations have been completed, laundry and provisioning done. We have been to lots of parties including a Halloween event at a local bar which was great fun, plus numerous gatherings and socials with the fleet. Our passage takes us south of Madagascar and we arrive at the appropriately named Richards’s Bay, in 8-9 days. We have been watching the weather and the currents which are complex around this area of ocean and we are all hoping for a smooth passage to complete our crossing of the Indian Ocean.