Mauritius!

After a week of midterms, Mauritius was exactly what the SAS community needed. We came into port in the midst of the most crystal clear blue water I have ever seen. Customs cleared the ship quickly and most of the students got off the ship immediately. We were in a port that didn’t allow us to walk into the main part of town, so we had to take a water taxi into the visitor-friendly portion of the waterfront. We hopped on the water taxi, completely crowded with students, and slowly made our way across the water to the waterfront, with palm trees and little sail boats and a bunch more water taxis awaiting on the other side. After we hopped off the water taxi, we asked a taxi driver to take us on a tour of Mauritius for a couple hours before we had to be on the ship for an afternoon trip. The guy took us around the city and surrounding areas, explaining everything we saw and showing us some incredible lookouts of Port Louis and the waterfront. After we grabbed lunch, Chloe and I went back to the ship for an orphanage visit that we had planned with SAS. We got on the shuttles, and went to the S.O.S. Children’s Village of Beau Basin. This is a place that provides housing for children whose parents are dead, imprisoned, or otherwise unfit for parenting. The kids live in small houses with a “mom” and a handful of other children. Chloe and I hit it off with a little four-year-old boy and played catch and soccer with him. Three of the other boys that lived in the same house came over and played with us too, and were amazed by the stickers we had brought and absolutely fascinated with our digital cameras. After a couple hours, Chloe and I looked around and realized that none of the other SAS people were there, so we ran out and caught the shuttle just before it left! Once we got back to the ship, we cleaned up for a night out and had a great time hanging out at the nearby bars and pubs and meeting new people.

On the second day, I went on an SAS trip to Ile De Deux Cocos. This was, by far, the best SAS trip I have been on so far. We took a bus to the other side of the island of Mauritius, and then took a glass-bottom boat out to the little island that we would be on for the day. The boat ride was great- the weather was perfect and the views were sensational. The water was so clear and we could see everything through the bottom of the boat. The coral reefs were so beautiful and there were so many types of colorful, interesting fish to look at! When we got to the island, we all put our stuff down and lounged on the beach for awhile until we went back out on the glass-bottom boat for some snorkeling. The snorkeling was so AMAZING! The water was clear, the fish were gorgeous, the coral was unreal. We went back to the island for an incredible barbecue lunch and fruit bar for dessert, and then had more time to relax on the beach and hang out in the water. There was a beautiful villa on the beach that they allowed us to explore and I want to get married on this island and stay there…too bad it would cost $5,000 per night! After a few hours of relaxation time, we got on the boats and went back to the mainland so the bus could return to the ship. I came back and got ready for a girl’s night out with some of my friends in Port Louis.

Saturday was our third and final day in Mauritius. We slept in and then took the water taxi back into the main part of the waterfront. There were tons of shops and restaurants to explore. We had a great time shopping; everything in Mauritius has Dodo birds on it! Mauritius is the only place where the Dodo bird lived before it became extinct, and the Mauritians are clearly very proud of this! There are Dodo towels, stuffed animals, ceramics, pencils, watches, key chains…even staplers! So we bought a bunch of random dodo stuff to spend the extra rupees we had, grabbed lunch, stopped by an internet café, and then got back on the ship shortly before on-ship time. We sailed away amidst the decorations and excitement of the Festival of Lights that was occurring in Port Louis that night. It was a very laid-back, relaxing, fun port, and I think a good place to stop before we get to some more culturally shocking areas like India, which we will arrive in tomorrow morning. Two days ago were the Sea Olympics; everyone competed in various competitions to earn points for their “sea”- the halls we live in. I live in the Balearic Sea and we got third place! This was a big surprise considering how much smaller our sea is than the other ones on the ship. I am really looking forward to India, although I am trying to prepare myself for the shock that I’m sure I will experience. I’m so sad that we are finished traveling in Africa, but I look forward to Asia and the new things it will expose me to!