Outline · [ Standard ] · Linear+ Worldwide Pics, Post pictures of your homes & vacations

[Zkribbler]

In 2002, I visited the island nation of Mauritius.



I landed at the international airport in the southeast. We took the main highway through the old capital of Curepipe and the current capital of Port Louis, to the tourist resort of Grand Baie.



I stayed at the Ocean Villas, which is across the bay from the town of Grand Baie.



This is a pic of the resort's private beach.



The country is about 1/2 Hindu, 1/3 Muslim and 1/6 Christian. Here's a Hindu temple which I passed on the way around the bay.



There in the distance is the first traffic light I saw in Mauritius. But there are round-abouts, lots and lots of round-abouts. Also, because it's a former British colony, everyone drives on the wrong side of the road.



Here's Grand Baie as seen from the town of Grand Baie:

[Zkribbler]

One of the touristy things I did there was to go on a "semi submersible." That's a boat that doesn't submerge but rather has windows beneath the waterline.



See? IIRC, those are "sargeant major" fishes.



I took a boat trip up to a tiny island off the northeast part of Mauritius. This little girl and her older sister shared the boat with me. They were from South Africa.



Here's me. The next thing behind me is India.



This is that little girl again. Here, she is swimming with a black tourist. Folks can be wonderful when they're not taught to hate.

[Zkribbler]

Another trip was south, down the west coast of the island, on the Isle Mauritius.



We stopped for a picnic. The girl in the cap is one of our guides. The lady in the blue blouse is a tourist from India.



On the way back, a paraglider sailed overhead.



Me again.

[Zkribbler]

Sugar is one of their major crops. After it is harvested, the stubble is burnt to provide fertilizer for next year's crop.



The the volcano, now extinct, which created the island is now a tree-filled crater. It's located near Curepipe.



Looking 180 degrees in the opposite direction. There's me!



This Hindu temple dwarfs the one in Grand Baie:



A waterfall in Black Canyon, in the southwest portion of the island.



Here's Black Canyon, with the Indian Ocean in the far background:



Me, with white peacocks.



The pink pigeon is a very rare bird. Once upon a time, there were pink pigeons and blue pigeons. The pink pigeons like to eat a certain toxic berry, which made them loopie. They were easy to catch, but eating them made people dizzy. So instead, people tried more to catch the blue pigeons. The blue pigeons went extinct. The pink pigeons came close, but some still survive.



Mauritius used to be an ecological disaster. The dodo went extinct there was well as the blue pigeon. For awhile, the place was known as "Rat Island." The island's since turned 100% around. The pink pigeon is protected. The endangered Mauritius Kestrel is making a comeback. The rainforest, which was down to 1% of the land is being brought back. There were no rats that I saw. The place is really a tropical paradise!