Mauritius and La Reunion

Mauritius, Port Louis 3/2/23

This island off the coast of Africa was such a gem. We took a tour with HAL, and our tour guide Clarel was lovely.

First stop made us a bit worried because it was a dormant volcano, and while the views were pretty, it wasn’t worth the $100 we’d spent for the tour in my opinion. It was funny because Clarel told us we had 20 minutes at this stop, and everyone started walking off aimlessly, so he had to call us all back because we were going the opposite direction of the site… ah. Tourists. Gotta love ‘em.

I was quickly reassured when our next stop was a Hindu temple. This is the first time I’ve visited a Hindu temple, and it was lovely. There were a lot of people there praying and worshiping. They brought incense and fruit for the fish in the sacred lake, and coins to share with the statues.

Shauna and I took our shoes off, went inside, and were welcomed with a blessing of red paint on our forehead. I’ve tried doing some research to see what the symbol means exactly, but didn’t have much luck. Would appreciate some wisdom if anyone knows!

Our next stop was the Black River Gorges. The Gorge was astounding, and reminded me a lot of the blue mountains outside of Sydney.

We also saw wild monkeys!!!!

“Wild monkeys are lady Gaga. They see, they want, it’s theirs” -Ian our cruise and travel director.

I have a mild fear of monkeys, specifically large ones. Luckily, these ones were small, and too focused on the bread they were eating to care about all the tourists taking pictures of them. I think the experience helped me slightly get over my fear.

We then made our final stop of the tour and the 7 colored earth. A beautiful colored ground formation from minerals within the lava from the volcanoes…

We made the most out of day and took the free shuttle to the waterfront shopping area for the last hour we had before needing to be back on the ship. We had enough time to snatch some pictures of the umbrella covered street,try a flat white. Which I learned is only espresso with extra frothy milk, and get a dodo bird magnet with the country flag. This magnet was exactly what I had in mind. The dodo is significant to the island, even though they’re long extinct. And each color of the flag has a significance as well:

• Red represents the struggle for freedom and independence.

• Blue represents the Indian Ocean where the island sits

• Yellow represents the light of freedom shining over the island.

• Green represents the agriculture of Mauritius and its colour throughout the 12 months of the year.

Réunion, La Possession 3/4/23

Another island off the coast of Africa, except French. This is the furthest place in the EU from the rest of Europe, interesting fact!

The start of the day was the messiest we've had yet. We weren't entirely sure what was going to happen. We wanted to do a hike, but the original one was too far away. Our new hike required public transportation, which wasn't working logistically. Finally, an hour and a half later, 7 of of split into 3 ways... Abby and I found ourselves drinking a breakfast beer after the hectic day we'd already faced and it was only 10am.

The Phoenix and the Dodo are two famous beers from here, so of course we had to try one. I went with the Phoenix, and it was great!

We spent the rest of the day wandering the town. With no idea what was around the next corner, it was a pleasant day.

We stumbled upon a market with delicious looking fruits and veggies.

The lizards thought they looked delicious too.

We found a Hindu Temple and were able to take our shoes off and go inside. The stay didn't last long as it was the heat of the day and our feet were burning on the ground...

In all, it was a beautiful day.

The colors of the both of these islands... the colors of the architecture, the culture, the food, the scenery, really just goes to show how incredible and vibrant of a place it is.

Onto the next,

Tay

P.S. due to weather conditions of a cyclone, we are changing routes and no longer going to Madagascar.