Mauritius

Arriving by ship this morning was spectacular -- looks a lot like Hilo.  The volcanic mountains rose up from green plains and a small section of double rainbow welcomed us to breakfast on the deck as we pulled into the dock.  As soon as it was docked, 5 men with drums and 5 women in traditonal costumes began sega music and dance.  Very much a Caribbean voice with French overtones.  

It took only an hour for us to clear the ship -- meaning that immigration came on board and checked each of us.  We were each handed our passport by the purser, showed it (and an embarcation card that we had filled out earlier on the voyage) to the immigration official, and then gave our passport back to the ship.  As soon as all 700 or so of us had marched through, the ship was cleared for departure.  Just at that moment a downpour began.  

First stop was to a clinic so that Will could renew a prescription blood pressure medication that he needs for the rest of the trip.  We were greeted first in French, but they spoke good English too.  He had his blood pressure taken right there in the waiting room, then the Dr. came to talk to him right there.  She took him to the pharmacy -- the pharmacy had to rummage a bit to find it, but we were out of there in under an hour.  

Students were planning a day in the sun on a variety of catamarans, some with unlimited rum.  The rain put a damper on some of those activities.  Apparently the catamarans never left shore.

We had got a car and driver for the day, so we went from the clinic to the other side of the island to see a wildlife preserve.  But first lunch.  The driver took us to an excellent place with local food looking out over small boats on the sea.  The food was between Indian and French, with a Caribbean overtone.  Fried aubergine appetizer, then for me a mixed seafood dish with 3 chutneys and a cup of dahl.

Unfortunately they were not running the boat over to the wildlife preserve in the rain.  They also indicated that the footing would be slippery.  Since the professor who had gone home with a broken hip (actually turned out to be a broken femur) had slipped on a wet rock, we let that idea go.  In the rain we took a short walk on the beach at the blue bay nearby and went to the historical museum.

At the historical museum we saw actual dodo bird bones as well a paintings and prints from the time of the dodo.  Learned more about the not too pretty history of this place.  The place was known by Arab and Malay sailors before being "discovered" in 1505 by the Portuguese.  The Dutch settled in 1698 and left in 1710.  They clubbed the friendly dodo for food -- not too much else to eat, except fruit bats.  The Dutch also had brought rats with them -- and probably the rats helped eliminate the dodo by eating the eggs.

After the Dutch left, the French arrived in 1715.  At first they did not create a settlement, but soon saw its strategic advantages as a refuge from Indian Ocean typhoons.  They began to develop the country, build roads, build a  hospital, and created sugar plantations.  By 1978 there were 42,828 people living here in Mauritius; all but 2456 were enslaved.  They built slave ships, made rum and prospered.  

In 1810, the British fought and took over the place.  The folks from Mauritius went to England to try to get back some of the freedoms that the French had taken.  All they got back was freedom of the press.  When the slaves were freed in 1835, the British began bringing laborers from India -- with little better than slave conditions.  About 500,000 came in through the arrival point of Aapravasi Ghat Immigration Depot -- their Ellis Island.  

Mauritius got its independence in 1968.  Sugar cane is still grown all over the island, but tourism is probably a bigger industry.  Textiles used to be big, but China can make them more cheaply.  The people are 68% Indo-Mauritian, 27% Creole, 3% Sino-Mauritian, and 1% Franco-Mauritian.  We drove past all kinds of religious buildings.

After the museum, we came back to the Pt. Louis side of the island and went to a market.  I really love the markets in these countries!  The trays of herbs had coriander, mint, thyme, chives, and curry leaves. Clearly this is a very international mix.   Eggplant (like lunch), a few kinds of greens, oranges, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, sections of large squash, other vine vegetables, and other fruits and vegetables were on display.

We succeeded in getting some dodo bird paraphernalia for Nick -- a small carved one, a dodo bird bottle opener, and dodo bird playing cards.  We passed by most of the dodo bird t-shirts, but they did have a cute on in a Madeline size.  There were also dodo bird sarongs, beach towels, wood boxes, magnets, pens, and postcards.....

The first two music stores we found were closed, but the third had a sampler of the sega music.  It is fun getting back on the ship and hearing what everyone did.  One girl went with others to visit a glass factory and actually got to do the blowing!  Four girls started to hike, even in the downpour, but a jogger told them that the trail would be washed out and unsafe.  He worked in the mayor's office, and took them back there.  He worked in recreation, and had a closet full of soccer shirts.  He gave them a dry layer before introducing them to the mayor.  She invited them for lunch, gave them bags of Pt. Louis trinkets, and went with them to the market to help them bargain!