7 OCTOBER

Chamarel Falls
Glass blowing factory
Hindu god - Shiva

Papyrus trees
7 colours sand
Ships
Sacred lake


MONIQUE:
Early morning for the Strydoms because it is tour day today, or “Mission Callie” which turned out to be a Mission Impossible, as Callie wanted to see everything that the Island had to offer in one tour. Never mind that we only booked the South West Tour! We opted for a private drive tour – which means you have a taxi and a driver all to yourself for the whole day. Our driver is a young college student who had finished his Economics studies.

He tells us that Mauritius is 60km x 47 km and has just over 1,2 million inhabitants. Nearly 50% are Hindu, about 27% Christian and about 11% Islam. He is a Hindu himself and this leads to very interesting conversations later. Our first stop is at the Phoenix Glass Factory. This factory was started by the Phoenix Beer company in order to recycle the used glass many years ago. There is an interesting entrance hall where you can see the hand prints of famous people (and buy copies for charity). We find Percy Montgomery, Ernie Els (with enormous hands!) and Desmond Tutu there. We also watch the glass blowing process – it is truly amazing how they do it. We just feel very sorry for these men having to work in those temperatures!
There are also some interesting displays – one on the history of the Dodo – which is a big symbol here in Mauritius. It is said that the Arab slave traders used to frequent Mauritius, but it was the Portuguese explorers who came here, who killed all the dodos (they ate them!). The dodo character was made famous in Alice in Wonderland, but apparently it was not the ugly creature as many people made it out to be. What we find very humorous is the Dutch name (if translated) for the Dodo – “fat arse”! I am just waiting for my family to start calling me Dodo!

From here we experience the real tourist traps. We are taken to the supposed duty free shops. Most of them are diamond, jewellery, goods imported from India and designer label shops. Initially I could not understand where they get all these designers brands from, but then discovered that many of these brands are manufactured here. Well, we are from SA and use to haggling and saying know, so by the third stop we have left many frustrated shop owners in our wake!

The one shop where the sales people were extremely “talented” is the Ship Building Shop. Your visit here start by a “tour” to show you how they make the ships. Which is truly incredible and amazing to see. Every little detail on the ship is made with the hand. But it is when you enter the shop that the fun really starts, because then the main mission is to get you to buy a ship. So imagine what a great target you are with a 10 year old boy who cannot take his eyes of these incredible pieces! But at a starting price of R 1000 (one on sale) to R 15000, you have to make a run for it when you still can. Note – it takes a miracle to get you out of this one. If you are a mother and pretend not to be interested in ships, they have the answer. Many counters with expensive jewellery! I am saved by a phone call from South Africa. Thank goodness the reception in the shop is not great (or is it!) and I bolt for the door. It turns out that it is another mission to get Callie and Luc out of there!

Our next stop is at Trou Aux Cerfs – a 605m high extinct volcano – around which the town Curepipe is built. The crater is 300 meters wide and 85 meters deep and filled with lush vegetation. You will also find stunning views of the island from here. By this time we are ready for lunch and very thirsty, so we rush over to the mobile shop on the side of the crater – to discover that a coke costs R 30 a bottle! What we also have discovered by this time is that the aircon is not working, so we now know very well what those glass blowing men feels like every day.

By this time Callie is also full speed on “Mission Callie”, no time to stop for food, but at least he gets us water from a little spaza shop next to the road. Our driver warns us that we are entering the countryside now and that we will not find roti stands for a quick Mauritian takeaway – but no stop, lots to see!

Our next stop takes us to an amazing site – it is the 33 meter high statue of the Hindu God, Siva, on the banks of Grand Bassin. It is made from cement and done by the hand. The site of this takes us into an interesting conversation with our tour guide, whom shares a bit about their gods and believes. It turns out that he does not believe in life after death. We then tell him about what we believe, but do not really get the chance to make the message sink in. We find it both challenging and frustrating trying to share with a non believer. The Grand Bassin is a lake that also forms part of an old volcano. It is in the mountain area of Savanne and it is a holy place for the Hindu’s. Once a year the Hindu community undertakes a pilgrimage to the lake (18 hours of walking our tour guide tells us) to honour the Shiva. On the other side of the Lake there is a temple with even more statues of gods. We hear about the story of Shiva who chopped of his son’s head and then replaced it with the head of an elephant. It is interesting to see how many of these gentle people come here to do offerings, but we struggle to find any joy of spiritual fulfilment in their eyes. What we do see is that many of the tourists come out of the temple with the third eye sign painted on their foreheads. Luc also wants to join, but after explaining the true meaning he understands. I opt not to go in the temple, but rather to say a prayer for the sadness and sombreness I experienced here.

Back in the car and by now we are starving, dehydrated and tired – and Callie is still on a mission – the wrong one though! We do a quick stop at the Alessandra Falls. It is here where you can see the pink pigeon. All the two of us saw was the fruit stall and at this stage we could not care about prices! We get fresh pineapple and a bunch of bananas and is slightly more happy. We do not get to see the elusive pink pigeon, but however the natural plantation of papyrus trees make up for it. I have never realised that papyrus comes from a tree! Luc gets his certificate in haggling here. He buys a handmade letter opener (with a dodo on top) for a 100 Rupees. The vendor told him it was 200, but apparently he put up a sad face on told him he only has 100 rupees of his pocket money and the deal was made!

It is now far after lunch and we are still following many taxis and tourist busses from one stop to the next. By now we are getting to know the other groups. There is a big South African group who is by now feeling the same way we are – tired and hot and had enough! At least they are united in their thoughts, in our group Callie is still working on a plan to make a detour to a tea and a sugar plantation!

We stop at the Black River Gorge View Point. This is a national park and is absolutely spectacular. It would have been nice to have skipped all the duty free shops and rather to go for a walk in the park. Our tour guide tells us that he knows a “local” restaurant where we can eat for “cheap”, “local” prices. About MR400 a head. We are shocked – our lunch at the local Blue cafe in Flic en Flac was MR 350 for all the food and drinks! We opt out, planning to rather finish the tour and get home for late lunch at the Blue Cafe.

Charamel Park – with the 7 colours of earth and the falls is the last stop. The falls are beautiful, but it is the landscape with 7 colours of clay earth in one spot that is truly amazing. It looks like a scene out of a science fiction movie. These dunes are red, brown, violet, green, blue, purple and yellow.

Callie’s plan to stop at Sugar Beach Resort is met by a near riot in the back of the car. We do get to see the salt pans of Tamarin. By the time we get to Flic en Flac our cafe is closed to we grab late lunch for the local Spar (plus some more French chocolate!).

We meet Ratan on the beach to get Luc’s dive card – he is now a qualified diver! So proud of him! We are very sad to say goodbye to Ratan, but are already planning to come back for some more diving! He is definitely one of the best instructors/dive masters we have dived with.

Dinner takes us back to Tamarin where we visit old friend Moya (not old in age, but of many years ago). Moya, Carlo and kids have been living in Mauritius for the last 4 years and love it. Moya worked at Absa Trust and helped with Matla A Bana and Carlo also worked for Absa (now Barclays here in Mauritius). They have a stunning place bordered by forest. The kids hit the pool immediately and Callie gets updated on all the latest Absa news – big changes in the week he has been on leave. We share a lot of our Malawi expat stories and turns out that they are just as avid travellers! Luc gets an open invitation to come and visit whenever he wants to – big mistake, if Luc had a choice he would be on the beach for the rest of his life!

We squeeze in a bit a late night packing as Callie has planned yet another early morning and lots of touring for Saturday. We will be going up North tomorrow and have rented a vehicle and driver for the day, so will be doing a bit of sightseeing!