Mauritius and Update

Don't forget to check out the rest of my South Africa Post before you read about my time in Mauritius.  Sorry I have been so behind on my postings but my work on the ship keeps piling up.  I have been in India as well as Singapore now and I will arrive in Vietnam in the morning so I have some catching up to do.  Thanks for reading and I am working on my stories from India and Singapore which were both fantastic.  I hope you all have been enjoying my pictures as well.

There is not really much I can say about Mauritius besides it is a beautiful island that reminded me a bit of home and it is also an example of a success story in the African continent even though it is sort of off by itself.  Its economy is largely sugar based like Hawaii was and a large part of its population is Indian because they were imported for labor after slavery was outlawed.  They were colonized by the French as well as the British but they are now independent.  Oh and the main city is named after me!  Just kidding but it is named Port Louis which is probably remanence of the French.  I didn’t really get to see the city because it was surprisingly hard to get to from the ship and we wanted to go somewhere to snorkel and relax.  We ended up getting a cab to the northern part of the island, a little passed a place called Grand Bay which is one of the popular tourist destinations.  We hadn’t made any hotel reservations but we didn’t really want to go back to the ship so we sort of looked around until we found a nice little hotel on the water called the Hibiscus.

Once we checked in we got our hands on some snorkels and swam around right in front of the hotel and saw some cool fish.  The water was a bit cold but it was still really enjoyable.  One of my friends had never been snorkeling before and the other is a bio major who is really enthusiastic about sea life so it was fun to explore the reef together.  After that we just relaxed and napped on the beach for the rest of the day which was just fantastic.  Then we had a delicious three course meal at the hotel which was included in our stay.  The first course was a marlin fish salad which was light and tasty.  Than came the asparagus soup which was surprisingly delicious as well and made me think of my mom who despises asparagus.  It was so good in fact that I ate some of my friends as well.  By that time I was pretty full but than the main course came, beef stroganoff with noodles.  Tasty as well but I was too full to finish it.  I could have passed out right after dinner but my friends wanted to go and see if there was any sort of night life around where we were staying.  We walked out of our hotel and on to the street and there was literally no one out and about.  We walked toward where we had seen some restaurants and stuff earlier but didn’t find much.  We eventually sat down in a little restaurant where we got something to drink and then to our surprise we were entertained by some local dancers.  It was a very cool form of dance that we had never seen before and they were all dressed up in what I assumed was the local performance garb.  They did a couple of dances which we enjoyed very much and than we headed back to our hotel for the night.

The next mourning we packed up to to back to the ship but we stopped at a beautiful beach right next to the hotel for a swim and some delicious food before we headed back to the ship.  It wasn’t home but it sure felt a little like I was back in Hawaii.  I really wasn’t looking forward to getting back on the ship and going to class everyday but I was excited that India was right around the corner.

South Africa Continued

After I got back from my safari I had about two hours before I had to be ready to leave for my township homestay so I barely had time to recover before I was leaving the ship again.  We drove for about 30 minutes before we got to the township where we were staying.  As usual I had no idea what I was in for.  Once we got to the house of the woman who sort of ran the homestays she told us which “Mama” we were staying with.  Mine was Mama Beauty who was at the main house so after meeting her for the first time she led me and another guy, who happened to be someone I know from Chapman, back to her house.  It was nothing fancy but it had every convenience of most houses back in the US which surprised me in a good way.  She was very nice but she didn’t talk much.  We talked a little about where I was from which I think was sort of abstract for her because it is pretty much on the other side of the world and she had never left South Africa.  I tried to learn about her background but she wasn’t totally open.  She was happy to share about her sons who were very successful. 

Her youngest still lived with her and he was nice enough to give us a tour around the township.  He told us how he would get to school each day on the train and that his favorite subject was history.  He liked the area where he lived but he also showed us the area of the township not so far away that was more run down and he explained how drugs had become a big problem.  We actually saw a child about 5 years old holding a cigarette which was quite shocking.  Some people saw us and came right up to us asking for money most likely because we were white.  We eventually circled back to Mama Beauty’s house for some traditional African dinner.  Don’t ask me what it was but it was good.  The only thing I recognized was the chicken and it was so tender and juicy.  I know all I do is talk about food but hey food is culture and I love food.  Anyways it was an interesting evening of chat and watching South African soap operas on the TV.  Soon it was off to bed but the funny thing is we could not find the light switch to save our lives.  We searched the entire room to no avail.  I thought we were just going to have to sleep with it on but I guess Mama Beauty herd our struggle and asked if we needed help.  She told us where the switch was but it still took us a while.  It was behind a stand up mirror and a curtain so ya we would have never found it.  We finally got to sleep and the next morning she had a great breakfast for us before she sent us on our way.  I can’t say it was an especially moving experience but it was one I am glad I had.

The rest of the afternoon I spent wandering around cape town with a friend of mine.  As we were walking we met a very nice gentleman named Moses who worked at one of the hotels near by.  He showed us to the central market and told us about all the hotels in the area.  After we told him we were sailing around the world on a ship he told us he had just applied to work on the Caribbean cruise liner and he was excited to hear back from them.  He was a very kind man and made sure we knew exactly where we were going and that we had all the information we needed.  I hope to possibly have future correspondence with him in the future.

As we wondered around the market the people in the stalls were very insistent that we have a look at whatever they were selling.  I was caught by a hat salesman that finally convinced me to buy one of his hats but for much less than he originally priced it at.  We eventually escaped the market and started walking around the city until we ran into a grocery store where we got some much needed snacks for the ship.  As we walked around I found Cape Town to be not much different from any city I had been to in the US or Canada except that they drive on the opposite side of the road.  Plenty of sky scrapers, stores, and hotels littered the landscape and the remanence from the world cup was clearly evident in new infrastructure as well as signage. 

The next day I got to go on a trip to a sort of Cheetah reserve where they are doing their best to help this endangered species.  I was already quite fond of these majestic creatures but I got to learn so much about them and their struggle to survive.  They are actually non aggressive creatures as show by their flight rather than fight instinct but they do sometimes prey on livestock such as sheep so they are killed by farmers when spotted.  To help eliminate this practice in South Africa and other places where cheetahs live this organization gives farmers a special breed of dog as a puppy at no cost to them for a year as a trial period.  Then as the dog grows up it essentially becomes part of the heard in its mid so it protects the heard.  I know your thinking well a dog isn’t going to stand much chance against a cheetah but actually a loud bark is enough to scare them off as well as many other predators.  Almost all of the farmers that have gotten dogs have been very happy and have kept them after the first year trial period.

Learning all of this was nice but the highlight was when we actually got to pet a cheetah.  It was being held by the head trainer but it was still really cool to put my hands on such a powerful creature.  It was not very soft but it was purring which was so cool to feel on such a big cat.  I was sad to see it go back to its enclosure but then we went on to the next place right next door which was a conservation area for birds of prey.  Right when you walked in there were two owls that you could see really close up and even pet for a while.  I believe one of them was named Ollie but I can’t say for sure because I was so caught up in petting an owl that I forget to listen.  These owls had all been rescued and domesticated but some birds were rescued but then going to be set back out into the wild.  There were so many different types of birds around the compound, from eagles to vultures to something that looked like it could be a dinosaur.  We also got a really awesome show with a couple of birds where one of the conservationists showed us some of their hunting skills and we got to hold a rather large owl on our hand.  Watching them fly around freely and catch tiny pieces of meet out of the air was really quite spectacular and I didn’t want it to end.  We walked around a bit more before we had to leave and I got to see even more different types of birds but it was so sad to see them either in cages or tethered to a stand where they really couldn’t fly.  Most of them were rescues that were hurt so bad they would not survive in the wild and I think they let them loos to fly around for a while but it still doesn’t seem right.  I don’t really know what I am talking about but it is still hard to see such amazing creatures tied down for people like me to look at.  But, all in all it was a great visit especially after being on a safari earlier in the trip.

The next morning I was off early in the morning to visit Cape Town University for my higher education in the global economy class.  We arrived a bit early so we took a stroll around the campus which is at the base of the magnificent table mountain.  After our walk we had a meeting with some administrators from the international office who told us a little about the university and showed us a video about the different programs offered.  Then we had some coffee and got into the more interesting stuff which was the problems facing the higher education system post apartheid.  Two student ambassadors  also joined us and pretty much laid out every issue they are facing in a very eloquent manor.  We were all very impressed by how in tune they were to the student body at their university as well as the higher education system in South Africa as a whole.  I won’t go into all the issues here but let me tell you there are many.  I found the main problem is that the secondary education system is simply not preparing students for higher education so they are having to admit students that are not necessarily ready for upper level classes.  This creates a variety of different problems that they are having to adapt to.  After our meeting we got to have lunch on campus at a sort of small cafeteria restaurant with one of the students which was great.  After that we headed back to the ship where I had time to do a few last minute things around the port before we sailed to Mauritius.  Oh and for all my film friends they were shooting a commercial right near the bow of our ship on a yacht they had pulled up to the dock.  I wanted to steal some crafty but I couldn’t blend in all that well.

Overall I had a great time in South Africa and it is definitely somewhere I’d want to go back to some day.  I didn’t get to the top of table mountain or robin island which was a disappointment but it just gives me all the more reason to go back.  Next up Mauritius for a little R and R.