Mauritius

Us steering the catamaran to Gabrielle Island
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When Tovah and I received our seats we had no idea how lucky we were to be seated in row 85.  After venturing upstairs in the plane we sat down next to Vince who is living and going to school in Mauritius.  We chatted with Vince about things to do in Mauritius and he kindly offered to give us a lift to the north part of the Island (where he lives with his family and where Tovah and I were heading).

After almost not being allowed into Mauritius due to not having plane tickets back to the United States, even though we have tickets leaving Mauritius for India, as well as tickets from Nepal to Thailand, we were picked up by someone that works for Vince's father who drove us to his work where his dad took over.  They were so nice and took us to their house where we had a beer and met Vince's sister Alexa.  While they surprisingly suggested we stay there for the night and try to find accommodation the next morning, we really did not want to impose more than we had already.  So Vince took his dad's car and we, along with Alexa, picked up her boyfriend Jason and on our way to look for accommodation stopped at the Banana Beach Bar for a drink.  Well it got later and on our way to attempt to find accommodation again, Vince convinced us to stay at their house that night saying it would be easier to find a place in the morning.  So back to the Hoffman's we went where we made dinner and hung out till Tovah and I could no longer keep our eyes open.

No more tents

Giant Amazon Lilies at the Botanical Gardens
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It was kind of strange waking up the next morning realizing that we had crashed at someone's parent's house who we had met on a plane!  Anyway, we took a taxi to Pereybere where we found a flat to rent for about 25 Euros/night.  It was really nice having a kitchen, bathroom, living room and porch, and reasonably priced.  We dropped our stuff and spent the rest of the day at the beach and venturing into the next beach town, Grand Baie.  The public beach in Pereybere was nice and conveniently located across the street from our flat, but was littered with screaming children and tourist (like ourselves).  We also became good friends with the fruit and vegetable street vendor, Nizam.  Not only did he introduce us to litchi (a fruit Tovah and I both love but had never had before), but he always hooked us up with free fruit every time we walked past his stand...which was multiple times a day since it was on our way to the beach, shops, etc.  He was a great person to know- and everyone knew him.  However, if you didn't have at least a half hour to spare, then you had to try to walk by without him seeing you as he was quite the talker!

Waterfalls near the Blackriver Gorge
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We decided to try out a different beach the following day as the one where we were staying was crowded with families.  We took the bus (very easy and cheap to get around via bus between 20-80MRU) to Tour aux Beach.  It was much less crowded and gorgeous.  We chilled there until we had to go back to change flats (ours was only available for one night) which turned out to be right next door so it wasn't too bad.

Deciding to spoil ourselves we paid for a Catamaran trip on the third day to Gabrielle Island.  For about $40 you get a full day (9am-4:30pm) sailing out through clear blue water to a nice reef for snorkeling.  After a bbq lunch of fish, chicken, lots of salads and all you can drink, we sailed back to the mainland all the while chatting with the honeymooning couples and families on vacation.

Rainbow sands.
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The next morning we rented a car and headed off to explore the rest of Mauritius.  Tovah drove us to a parking lot where she, very patiently I must add, attempted to teach me to drive our manual car.  After about 20 minutes and some definite whiplash, I gladly gave up the driver's seat.  It was actually my goal for Mauritius to learn to drive stick...I guess it will have to be postponed for another time.

From the parking lot we drove to Pamplemousses, where the botanical gardens are.  We managed to see the tortoises and the gigantic amazon lily pads (my main reason for wanting to go there) before the heat and humidity made us ready to move on.  It was actually there that I began to feel really ill which got progressively worse throughout the day.

"Please do not feed the tortoises!"
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We stopped next at the capital of Mauritius, Port Louis.  We only wanted to go to the waterfront there so that we could send stuff from the post office.  The sending process took longer than expected and I was feeling so weak that it was hard to stand for long periods.  Our goal was to get to Tamarin (on the south west coast) and find a place to stay for the night.  By the time we got there I could barely lift my head let alone wander around to look for accommodation.  Tovah was a legend and from there on out did everything and took such good care of me!  She would park the car near the beach and run around the area asking if they had any vacant rooms and for how much (this was important as one hotel was close to $1000 USD/night...we really had no business even inquiring there as our budget for a night of accommodation wouldn't have even bought us an appetizer at that place).  I,on the other hand, would wait laying back in my seat in the car staring at the roof as I was too weak and achy to move.  When she found a place I went straight to the room and pretty much slept until noon the next day when we left.  Meanwhile Tovah brought all our stuff up to the room, got me food and water and tried to convince me to eat.  Yes, that's how you know that I am really not well if I have to be convinced to eat!  Once I convinced her I was ok and content just to be laying down Tovah went across the street to the beach for a while.

The next day we drove to Black River Gorges, the Chamarel Waterfall and Chamarel Coloured Earth.  The Colored Earth was cool as it was soil that was 7 different colors.  Unfortunately it was there that I went from feeling better I thought, to feeling really sick again.  I went back to the car and waited for Tovah.  When she came back she told me she thought I should go get checked out at a hospital as we were flying to India the next day.  I agreed and so we put an end to our sightseeing and made a visit to a nearby hospital where I was seen right away.  A 5 minute doctor consultation and 5 prescriptions later we walked out of there without my having to pay for anything!!  Gotta love the health care system in Mauritius!  From there our accommodation search went the same as the day before and once again Tovah made sure I was all set up and that I took the first dose of my meds before going to check out the beach.  I slept until about noon the next day aside from waking up to take meds, shower and pack.

After returning our car we waited at the airport for almost 4 hours till our plane left.  Luckily it wasn't a full flight so Tovah and I were able to spread out and sleep for most of the 6 or so hour flight to Mumbai.  I really can't express just how wonderful Tovah was when I was sick, especially since I can't imagine being very fun company!