Thurs, Day 82 - Mar 29 - 8am to 7pm, Port Louis, Mauritius

Port Louis is the charming capital city of this tiny dot of an island. Situated in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, Mauritius offers lush mountain ranges, fine beaches, stunning coral reefs and picturesque villages. The five districts of Port Louis have a rich cultural heritage and the volcanic island is loaded with natural beauty.

Mauritius was discovered by the Dutch and ruled by the French from around 1735. The British took it over after the Napoleonic Wars and ruled the island until its independence in1968. Mauritius is a delightful mixture of French and English historic buildings and the charm of an African, Indian and Asian way of life set on a tropical, mountainous island.
We spent a wonderful Easter weekend at the Mauritius Oberoi in 2015 and had a private car and driver for a tour of the island. The ship’s tours are mostly going the places we visited with the drive in 2015. There are a couple of beach activities that have an extra fee and one free beach tour, but no loungers etc. Carolyn decides to contact the Oberoi, the fabulous hotel where we stayed, and see if we can visit for the day. They agree since we were past guests and we are delighted to visit again.

We arrive at 8AM and the ship is cleared by 8:30AM when the shuttle to the shopping area starts. We are in no hurry so about 9:30AM, after a nice breakfast, we catch the shuttle and go into town to the Le Caudan Waterfront, a modern mall not only known for its designer shops and duty free jewelry, but also for its cosmopolitan craft market, covering two floors of spices, souvenirs, basketry and craftsmen at work. Carolyn also wanted to go to the old covered market, known for its fascinating cross-section of Mauritian life, but learns it is 15 minute walk so we pass. All we really want is a pin for the bears and a magnet for the RV refrigerator which we find at the craft market. We catch the shuttle back to the ship and pack our backpack for the day on the beach. Along the way we pass a Hindu Temple, a Chinese Temple and a Catholic Church all with in a bock of each other. They represent the three major groups in Mauritius

The Oberoi Hotel car picks us up at 11:30AM and takes us to the hotel. It is a 30 minute ride to the hotel where we get a warm welcome back with a virgin Mojitio at reception and walk to the beach. We find a pair of loungers in the shade right on the water and the beach staff set us up with towels and cold water. The hotel, grounds and beach are just as beautiful as we remember. We just relax and read for a while. Dick goes swimming in the crystal blue waters and Carolyn wades and looks for shells. She finds some prizes.

After a couple of hours we walk over to the infinity pool for a swim and some lunch. The staff fixes up another pair of loungers and we go for a swim. The pool is stunning! Dick orders us a hamburger with extra fries when we are ready to get out. The food is delicious and the view spectacular. We read and relax until about 4PM. Then the hotel car then takes us back to the ship. All of this cost us approximately $100 including the car, use of the facilities and food.  It has been a perfect day. The Oberoi  Mauritius is a beautiful place to stay and Mauritius is a nice place to visit. The hotel is built around a 1700French fortress. They use the old ammunition bunker as the Wine cellar.There is a lot to see, but it is fun to do nothing too!

We get cleaned up, fix cocktails in the room and watch sail away before going to the Compass Rose for a later than usual, light dinner. We are too late to get our favorite dinner table and waiter, so we eat in Mario’s section. Terry is doing one of his evening sing-a-longs at 9:30PM, but even eating later we still can’t mange to stay up long enough to go. Plus we have another port day tomorrow.