Mauritius!

We got a long weekend in paradise – Mauritius. I must first thank my friend and former colleague Jenny Mao for my Mauritius experience. She is Mauritian – what are the odds of knowing someone from the smallest country we visit? Jenny and her wonderful family, mother and aunties as well as cousin Georgy, set us up in Mauritius. We first found the family restaurant, Charley Snack, as if we had been there before. We were treated to a lovely meal of noodles (I love noodles in every language) and chicken and some of that wonderful pineapple. I have not cared for pineapple for decades, but found these little mini-pineapples to be tasty as heck. Auntie would not accept payment from us – we were received as if we were family. Then Uncle heard where we were headed and sent not one but two guides to make sure we got to our destination.

After we shopped and looked around the waterfront for a while, modeled after the waterfront in Capetown (!), we called Georgy. He picked us up, 3 women he had never met, and treated us like queens (no irony intended). He drove us up the coast, stopping at a wonderful beach at sunset for our first (of many) photo op. All the while he was telling us about Mauritius, answering questions, and generally being a fine tour guide. We then arrived at the HOUSE Jenny so generously provided for us. Georgy lived next door so he was pretty much stuck with us. Then as we were getting settled Jenny CALLED from Seattle to check in on us. I’m telling you.

The house had lots of room and the refrigerator was stocked, let me just say. We had our own rooms (myself, Beth, and Merna – UNC!!) and a nice back patio to sit on. That’s when I met a kitty, which I always love. We then joined Georgy for a few drinks and then DINNER which Jenny’s mother provided – so good! Mauritian Chinese, with rice, shrimp, fish, this and that. Georgy then outdid himself with a chocolate lava dessert and ice cream. His house is beautiful, done so nicely with lovely antiques. Sheilagh – granite countertops and stainless appliances with cherry cabinets – how about that! He just charmed all of us, so nice and funny.

He directed us for our full day in Pereybere. The beach was about a 5 minute walk, and other towns along the coast were available by bus. First, imagine our surprise when the HOUSEKEEPER arrived and made us breakfast. Oh my. Then she did my laundry! That’s an unaccustomed luxury, but as Georgy told me so dryly, “That’s what housekeepers DO.” So off we went to the beach. I can’t remember the last time I swam in the ocean, and certainly I have never been in water this warm (it was warm in Puerto Rico but I didn’t swim, just waded.) It was great and something I would like to do more. We sat in the sun and in the shade; I felt a burn coming and wisely, I thought, got under a tree.

Turns out by the time I felt the burn on my legs, the damage was done to my tummy and chest – DUH. Oh well, no biggie. I may also have gotten some reflection off that beautiful white sand! So we sat, Merna bought some pretty seashells, and one of the many dogs around everywhere came over to us, dug a little cozy, and napped. I petted the dog. Georgy had said, “Don’t pet the dogs.” I told Georgy I petted the dog. He just cut his eyes at me. I laughed on the inside. We were leisurely that day; I walked up to the store. Thank goodness for Cadbury – there’s new stuff in every country! The world of chocolate. So got some snacks to take back to the ship, plus some of the tea Jenny introduced us to. Back at the house, we saw that Archbishop Desmond Tutu, our Arch, was on TV leading a service in Mauritius. He is treated like a rock star everywhere he goes. And he’s ours. People don’t believe when we tell them he is voyaging with us for almost 4 months.

Time out – I’ve got to tell this story. This may be the funniest line in the history of the world. Well, with that setup you are bound to be disappointed. Anyway, we were in the dinner line, and something something, and Merna I think commented to the Archbishop that he was very humble. He replied, “Yes, I’m very proud of my humility.” Well, I shot him a look and saw great merriment in his eyes. I thought I would laugh my head off. He is really quite funny, and as I’ve said several times already, very joyous. His wife is very sweet as well.

OK, so we watch Arch on TV, napped, etc. Then Georgy came home and we went to dinner at a very nice restaurant with some typical Mauritian food. I had seafood in mustard sauce, and sampled some of Merna’s octopus, followed by crème brulee. Similarities again, see? Everywhere we go we are roundly admonished to avoid dairy products, but who would want to? Actually, a pretty good trick is for us all to take 2 Pepto before every meal. All the briefings are famous for working in the Pepto spiel – the last one had Pepto spelled out in yoga positions, Village People-style.

Georgy then sacrificed his Saturday to haul us around, shopping and back to the big beach, Grand Baie (sp? translates to Grand Bay I think) where we found some nice treasures of coral and shell. Merna was on a mission to get as much dodo bird stuff as she could. Mauritius was the last home of the dodo before it went extinct, or more to the point, until the Dutch ate them all. Georgy then treated us to a lovely lunch in a pretty little café, complete with more ice cream and sorbet. All three of us were working on him to get him the visit the US, particularly Seattle. He was just fabulous. I said to him, “Hmmm, I wonder when Jenny is visiting Mauritius next.” She may have a new nanny tagging along, just so I can visit with Georgy again.

Georgy set it up with his handyman/driver to take us back to the ship, wait while we dropped our stuff, then drive us back around to the waterfront shopping area. I expressed my appreciation at him really going out of his way for us, then stopped myself and said to Georgy, “I suppose that’s what chauffeurs DO.” He was glad I finally got it. All in all we had a wonderful and relaxing visit, thanks to Jenny and her family and Georgy.

Unfortunately there were a variety of student issues at this port, some of which made the local paper. Paradise is what you make it, I suppose. But I enjoyed Mauritius; I’m bringing home some honey, tea, vanilla, and pepper to help remember my time. They wouldn’t let me bring the kitty, or any of the frogs, or the dog on the beach, or one of the pretty lizards, so I had to make due.