So by the time we get to port – it was time to go to the SOS Children’s Village of Bambou. It is a community for orphans. They live in a complex with a few adults, one called “Big Mama.” They children don’t speak English but the director just wanted us to play with the kids. They LOVED our cameras and literally just took them from our hand. After a few minutes, they figured out how to use the cameras: how to view, change settings…so smart! They kept putting us together and taking pictures of us. We told them that we wanted pictures of them and they figured out how to do the MySpace arm shot. They we so much fun – we swung them around and carried them on our backs and played monkey in the middle. It was so simple and wonderful. On the ride home – some people were sad that these kids didn’t have parents. But I thought – they are lucky that they have this program. Forever the hopeless optimist – you shouldn’t be sad that they NEED a program like this, you should be happy they HAVE a program like this.
Back at the ship, I met up with a bunch of people and headed to Chinatown in Port Louis. We went with Kovila – the interport student. About 50 kids followed so the gang branched off and went to eat chinese. As a disclaimer – Mauritius is a very multi-cultural island. They have bits of African heritage, Middle East and Indian religion, Asian food, and French and English influences. When walking, you pass a mosque, then a church, then a Hindu temple. And of course, due to our favourite concept of globalization, there are bits of American culture starting to grow into their culture. So after dinner we headed to an outdoor bar to have a few drinks. It was a Thursday night so the night life was dull. But odd enough – in a sports bar, they had the Washington University basketball game on! And Andrea goes to WaZu so a bunch of us sat and watched. They won hahaha. Only in Mauritius could you find an American college basketball game.
The next day Jika and I woke up and decided to go snorkel. I have never snorkeled before so I thought the best place to start would be an island that is almost completely surrounded by coral reef. We left the ship and found a taxi driver Fawzi and said “We want to snorkel.” He drove us to Grand Baie and took us to his friends’ shop. He told us to the storm (the anti-cyclone) the waters were too rough. We went to a few more shops and they said the same thing. At first, Jika and I were disappointed because we leave port the next day. But our driver said “wait wait wait I’ll take you to the east coast and it should be better.” So we drove an hour to the other side of the island. It was beautiful – I don’t think a lot of tourists go there. I got to know Jika better (she’s from Mexico and amazing) and we chatted with our driver. Finally we get to another shop on the Ile de Surf. They said that it would be fine to snorkel! WOOOO!! So the two of us headed out on a small boat with a driver, a guide and a bucket of wine and beer. It was beautiful! The water was so clear and a perfect teal. We put on our gear and dove in. Our guide took us around and showed us all the marine life. He spoke only French so we had to guess as to what the animal was. We recognized the starfish and seacucumber but there was this huge thing that looked like a shell but it opened its mouth!! We found a few crabs then we saw the fish! They have such big eyes!! So many different colors and they stare you down. Then our guide told us to get back into the boat. We looked at our watch and it was an hour since we began. We paid for an hour so we thought we were heading back – but he took us back into the boat to take us to the coral reef. We put our gear back on and dove in and it was gorgeous! The corals had all these colors and the fish swimming around contrasted their colors. I forget that there truly is a whole other world under the sea! We picked up a few beautiful shells. We got back into the boat a few hours later and it began to rain. But it was glorious! The day turned out perfect.
So we headed back to the port with our driver. He loves Lenny Kravitz. He took us to the residential part of Port Louis and we ran into his sister. It was so sweet. Jika and I got some food and headed back to the ship. On the way back to my room, I saw Andrea who told me to shower and get ready in 15 minutes because they were going out. I did it in 14 – it’s a lot easier without hair, which by the way is getting really fuzzy. The gang headed to dinner where I had the SPICIEST noodles in my life. Andrea and Kevin agreed but everyone else said we were wimps. We had these flaming shots and decided to give each other alternative names. Dan became JT (because he looks like Justin Timberlake with his shaved head…according to the kids in South Africa), Danni became Taner, Andrea was Catherine, Kevin was Cyle, Wendy was Natalie, Andrew was David, Eric was Joel, and I was Nicola. Then we invented a game: if we call someone by their real name instead of their code name – you owe them a shot. I was horrible and owed everyone a shot by the end of the night. Thank god the exchange rate is 33 rupees to 1 dollar. We headed to Grand Baie and went to this outdoor bar in the sand and danced to the live band. It became super crowded so we went to Buddha Bar. It was insane – a nice mix of SASers and locals. A bunch of my friends were there and we had the best time. We danced on the bar and the dance floor would release this bubble foam to cool everyone off. The boys were dancing on the pole like loons. Around 4, ‘Catherine’ and I regretted wearing heels for the first time in two months. So ‘Cyle, Catherine, Joel’ and I headed back to the ship. The whole ride was in a comfortable silence.
The next day, I was up early again to hike a mountain named The Thumb (Le Pouce). Jeff and Kyle went too so the New Yorkers sat in the back of bus, being sarcastic and sassy. It took a few hours to climb the mountain but it was beautiful. I walked behind everyone so I could meditate. It was beautiful! Then we headed for food next to a waterfall. I was the only vegetarian and the guide Asjaz kept making fun of me. Oddly enough, my vegetables looked better than the chicken that was served. Then everyone headed to the waterfall. We were allowed to swim but I sat and spoke with our guide. I really really love to learn about other people – I found out all about his life. He was so open about his past and his dreams. After an hour we headed back to the bus and got back onto the ship and left port.
This was a good simple stop – it was our Spring Break. Nothing was too heartbreaking or life-changing. And it’s a nice break for the past insanities and a good preparation for what is about to come. The next few weeks are non-stop. We have a week at sea until India then after that – it’s BAM BAM BAM with ports than school then back to port then school with tests and papers. We are almost halfway through the voyage but not halfway through the ports. It’s insane until Japan, then two weeks of studying, finals, reflections and goodbyes. Though I am missing home a little bit – I am not looking forward to those two weeks or to the assimilation back into home life.
Okay so then it was the Sea Olympics – which was hilarious. But that will come later. I’m sure most of you are still working on reading about Africa. Chew slowly – it’s a lot. Believe me, I know.
Infinite xo Amanda Panda
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