Mauritius
S. AFRICA >> ISLAND OF MAURITIUS >> NEAR MADAGASCAR
by Teena Hughes
In May 2001, I spent
two glorious weeks in Mauritius, and I'll be honest, I didn't really
know where it was until my friends moved there! It sounded like such an
exotic location, an island off the coast of Madagascar which also
conjures up images of market places filled with people in
Lawrence-of-Arabia style flowing clothes, aromas of spice-filled
baskets, etc ... (Madagascar is off the south east coast of Africa, and
Mauritius is just north of the Tropic of Capricorn.)
On my arrival at the island at midnight, I was bombarded by
the absolute weight of humidity and the intense heat. I took a taxi to
my friends' place, a half hour drive away (at Curepipe
in the centre of the island), and I was so excited but could hardly see
anything in the darkness of the night. I thought I'd be too excited to
sleep, but a seven and a half hour flight from Sydney to Singapore with
a 6 hour lay over on a boiling hot day, then another 7 hour flight,
tired me out totally. When I woke up the next morning and looked at the
view from our balcony, I could see the ocean and couldn't wait to go
explore!
I was so lucky to have friends living in this amazing place, and each
day we drove to another part of the island to explore the sights,
coloured sands, stunning tropical beaches and azure blue waters. The inhabitants of the island are Mauritians mostly
descended from China, Africa, India and France speaking dialects with
French flavours and a combination of other languages (read more here).
My rusty French helped me to understand most conversations (after I
started remembering it). The culture is totally fascinating and we
explored markets in different parts of the island; sometimes I felt so
immersed in each separate culture as I explored, one minute in a
Chinatown area, the next in an Indian area, always fascinating no
matter where we were!
One day we scoured the markets and shops looking for saris, gorgeous
silk wrap around clothing worn by Indian women, and I had lessons in
fabric, colour and style - I was in heaven! And yes, I bought quite a
few, which turned out to be a bargain with my $Aussie.
Teena, Sydney
Photo © South African Tourism
|
