We finally have a port of call today and it is the volcanic island of Mauritius. It is a country of 1.35 million people, with a mix of cultures. There are British, French, African, Asian, Hindu and European people, as well as Creole, along with a mix of languages. English and French are the primaries. Sapphire blue waters surround this tropical island with powder sand beaches and luxury resorts. Water sports rule here such as diving and snorkeling in the coral reefs. The nearby mountains offer hiking and golf courses.
The cuisine includes a special beef from cattle that are raised here. Creole sausages, prawns, and octopus are on many restaurant menus, along with Indian lentils and Chinese dumplings. As for us, we would have no problem finding the best pizza in town.
One thing we will not see are dodo birds, with the exception of being printed on most every souvenir item sold in town. The story has it that these plump flightless birds, related to the pigeons, were easy prey for hungry sailors that stopped here. Having no known predators, these birds had no fear of the men, who eventually made them extinct. Curious creatures, the sailors named them "dodo" birds, which means stupid. The last one sighted was in 1660.
Another interesting fact is a large portion of the country's electricity is produced from sugar cane with the condensing extraction from the steam turbines running the sugar mills.
One thing we recall about being in Mauritius has to be the steamy heat, which rang true today. By 9am, it was already 84 degrees and humid as ever. The Zuiderdam sailed into the harbor at Port Louis, the capital of the country after 7am. There was a new cruise terminal, Christian Decotter Terminal), across the harbor, but we did not dock there. We were in the commercial port area, where we usually are docked. Shortly after we were alongside (starboard), a tanker pulled into the newer terminal, but there was no apparent activity at all.
We noticed several old vessels with Chinese writing on them lined up side-by-side in the harbor. There were several groups of these ships, which we learned later on that they were fishing boats from Taiwan. They had created their own "city" in the harbor, and we are sure there is more of a story behind it.
Tour buses were lined up to take the guests to historic Pamplemousses and the botanic garden for $170 or the tea route tour for $170. A combo Port Louis and Pamplemousses was $100, while the colors of Mauritius was $100. Shorter excursions were multicultural for $80 and Curepipe shopping for $60. We have taken a few of these tours, and remembered seeing the orchards of grapefruit (pamplemousses) and the extra large lily pads in the park grounds.
We went off of the ship by 10am and had a 15 minute wait for a free shuttle bus. They only held about 20 people, however, there were four of these shuttles. We could have walked out of this terminal like Howard and Gyl did, but besides being so hot, the way there did not have real sidewalks and the area was void of people. And it has been so long since we were here last, we could not remember the route the bus took. We did get a very nice map of the island and the city, but the streets of the port area were not on it. Best to stick to the bus.
Miles-wise, the ride was only about 2 kilometers, but due to traffic jams, it took up to 20 minutes to arrive at the Caudan Waterfront complex. We were dropped off near the Museum, where we walked around the complex, remembering the area from our last visit, which may have been almost 10 years ago. Several nice high-end shops were here, as well as a bunch of cafes and restaurants. We scoped out L'Artista Italian Cuisine Restaurant upstairs near Pizza Hut. They would open for lunch at noontime, and we knew we would be back.
Walking the Port Louis Waterfront, we located Place D'Armes lined with the tall palm trees. There are two pedestrian underpasses to downtown, and we found one after passing the plaza. Trunk Road is a major thoroughfare which you cannot cross. You go down under. One of us hates stairs, but had no choice but to go that way. Handrails helped. We knew the Market Bazar was nearby. All we had to do was look for millions of parked cars and motorcycles, and we would find it.
A block away, we entered the produce building where we saw the freshest fruit and veggies ever. It was also crowded with local shoppers, although, today was only Thursday. By the weekend, we bet it is crazy crowded. Getting plenty of pictures, we made our way to the souvenir and clothing markets. Mostly run by the Indian community, we were just looking. That can be dangerous, since looking usually ends with purchases. Today was no exception. Some vendors were selling the silky tops one of us loves to pack on these trips. Now dealing with the vendors is a trip in itself. You know the drill. One top caught my eye, so we inquired how much? Oh don't worry about prices, we will make a deal. How many do you want? Saying "one" was not accepted. Instead of blocking the aisle in the crowded spaces, we can go into the next stall, where the vendor leads you to the back. There is a fan there, and he offered seats to relax. Of course, his bottom line is to sell you a lot of stuff. He brought out three different sequenced tops, then said some outrageous price, like $100USD. By the way, we had priced these out near the bus drop off, and they were 700 rupee or $15 USD. We should have known when he asked if we were from the USA and also on the cruise ship. That's when his prices went up. He went down to $95. We gave him our price of $40 USD, then walked out of his lair. Within minutes, he was on our heels and said yes, he would accept our offer of about $13 each. We were all happy with that.
Not to miss were the fish, meat, and poultry buildings. It was off-putting to see the fish covered with huge flies, with no attempt to fan them away. The butchers were busy finishing up the last of the daily catch, and cutting up the huge pieces of beef. The chickens we saw were giant-size, much like ones we raised years ago. They were Cornish game chickens, and we let them mature until they were full size. Best chicken ever, even though they ate a ton of chicken feed to get to that point.
Time to head to lunch, we gave up any more notions of shopping for anything. It was just too exhausting. So lunch was upstairs at L'Artista where we ordered two Phoenix beers in bottles….ice cold. An Italian restaurant, we found several types of pizza on the menu, and ordered a BBQ chicken and mushroom pizza. Plenty large enough to share. We had asked if it had red sauce, and the waiter said yes. However, we figured he did not understand our question, because the pizza had no sauce….just cheese, chicken, and mushrooms. It was very good. We added two desserts of vanilla ice cream and one zabaglione. We shared both, deciding the ice cream must have been gelato.
Time to go back to the shuttle stop, we had been told there was a break between 12:30 and 1:30pm for their lunch. There was a line already, so we got in the shade and waited. One shuttle filled, and the next one was on the way. But one of the bus girls escorted another group to this shuttle without telling the rest of us to join in. By the time we figured out what happened, that shuttle was filled. Complaining that we all had waited for ½ hour for that bus, she stopped a regular tour bus that was headed back to the pier with only half of it full. The rest of us gladly went in the larger air-conditioned bus for the quick ride back.
We literally chilled out in our room from 2pm onward. Working on photos and reports kept us well-occupied. It never really cooled down today, despite some cloud cover which we thought might produce rain. It never did, but the black clouds hung over the mountain tops all day.
All aboard was 6:30pm, and the ship left at 7pm, right after a nice sunset that was blocked by pier buildings. With the help of the pilot and two tugboats, we were on our way towards tomorrow's port of Reunion.
We all had stories to tell at dinner. Everyone had done something different, which is always fun to share. Dinner choices were better this evening. There was a repeat of the veal cutlet, which really the veal chop like a tomahawk steak, only smaller. Totally delicious and sharable. Fish and chips were much better as well. The skinny French fries were hotter, but Nik came along with freshly-fried ones that were SO much better, thanks to Oscar, who has returned after being ill for 4 days. Ate them all. Dessert for one of us was something chocolate, while one of us had the fruit plate….always refreshing and not too heavy.
A film was shown in the show lounge called The Banshees of Inisherin. Sounds heavy also……
Bill & Mary Ann
