Oct 15 – Leaving Mauritius

It was a short stop in Mauritius as we sail for India at 8:00 tonight.  Julie decided to explore the surrounding area with a van load of other of other women from the ship.  I decided to go snorkeling at the Blue Lagoon, reported to be one of the best snorkeling areas in the world.



Julie with Sheva



Julie and the gaggle of women loaded up in the van and headed out of town and into the surrounding mountains.  The area is lush and green with fields of sugar cane, pineapples and mangoes groves.  They stopped at a Hindu temple to see a 100 foot, terra cotta statue of Sheva, one of the Hindu goddesses.   People walk from all over Mauritius to pray to this goddess during one week in Feb.  Near the stature and the temple is a lake that is filled with water from the Ganges River in India.  Using the water from the Ganges River make the water in the lake holy water.  Julie and her group were given special blessing from the Hindu monk and who painted the appropriate Hindu marking on their foreheads.



The group continued on to a water fall, and an area called the 7 earths that had volcanic dirt mounds that showed 7 different levels of colored dirt.  Both are major tourist stops in Mauritius.  They sampled freshly pressed sugar cane juice, coconut milk along with fresh coconut and pineapple all before they stopped for lunch at a Creole restaurant.  The Domain du Cachet is nested in the palms and ubiquitous greenery with an open air patio – where group lunched.  Lunch consisted of creole chicken and rice with ice tea slightly sweetened with fresh lime, hearts of palm salad followed by caramelized banana and pineapple mousse.  A final stop before returning to the ship was a small beach where each of the ladies waded bare foot into the surf allowing them say they had been in the Indian Ocean.  They then made a mad dash for the ship before the gang plank was pulled up.

Blue Water Bay

I had a great day snorkeling at Blue Water bay.  This bay is home to several different types of coral including elephant, brain, stag horn and mushroom.  The fish were plentiful and the colors of both the coral and the fish were beautiful.  Our guide told us he was part of band that played around the area so after we finished with snorkeling we went to the local village to get a copy of his CD – a little local souvenir.  We had lunch at a small restaurant suggested at the record shop.  It was tasty and cost the 4 of us a total of $6 after which we headed for the ship and prepared to sail for India.