Adventures in Africa: Mauritius

My island hopping across the Indian Ocean continued Thursday when I flew to Mauritius. I arrived in the early evening and picked up a small rental car at the airport. I drove across the southern half of the island to the beach town of Flic en Flac. 

It was after dark when I arrived, but here is what my hotel looks like in the daylight.

After checking in I headed down to the waterfront to eat dinner (a salad with fresh marlin) and drink a local beer.

Today I set out on a little road trip I planned, with my first visit being Black River Gorges National Park.

The park gave me a good chance to photograph my rental car. Also, note the side of the road I am parked on--Mauritians drive on the left.

From a parking lot near the top a short hike takes you to a very impressive lookout.

From the elevation of the park, I descended back down to sea level. Along the way I passed this towering chimney, a remnant of a sugar plantation . . .

. . . and this Hindu temple. Both of these buildings speak to unique aspects of Mauritius's history and contemporary culture. 

My goal along the coast was the Maconde Viewpoint, which is the small "hump" in the background of the photo below. 

I parked by the beach and walked over.

Besides being one of the many beautiful spots along the coast of Mauritius, Maconde Viewpoint is at a unique bend in the highway that makes for a pretty cool photo!

As I continued driving along the coast I passed La Prairie Beach, and it was so gorgeous I pulled over briefly.

Shortly after that I reached the Le Morne peninsula which is a UNESCO world heritage site for its legacy as the destination for runaway slaves 200+ years ago. If I had more time I would have considered climbing the ~500 metre mountain, but today I settled for a driving tour around the peninsula and quick photograph of the mountain. 

Le Morne was my final road trip destination, and now I needed lunch. On my way back towards Flic en Flac I stopped at a mall in a place called Tamarin to eat lunch, buy a few things, and mail a postcard. The mall could have been anywhere in the world--it was what I would consider a fairly standard middle class mall. But I was struck as I walked out of it with the view from the parking lot. Definitely when I visit malls in my everyday life I do not see hills like that from the parking lot!

Back in Flic en Flac I cooled down with a dip in the hotel pool and a local beer I bought at the mall.

Then I headed down to the beach to end the afternoon and enjoy sunset. 

With sun below the horizon, I drove back to my hotel and went on the roof to watch the daylight disappear altogether. 

For dinner I was back down by the beach eating a sizzling platter of seafood and vegetables. 

Adventures in Africa: Reunion

Air Austral took me from Mayotte to Reunion on Wednesday and it was about 22:00 when we landed. My hotel is a relatively short walk from the airport, so that made my evening last night easy. 

My visit to Reunion is just a layover for my Mayotte-Mauritius itinerary, and I have about 19 hours on the island. The landscape of Reunion is what interests me most, but much of it is quite inaccessible, and with just a few hours to spend, the only realistic way to experience the unique Reunion topography was to do it from the air! So, I booked a flight in what the French call a ULM. I took a bus over to the hangar and you can see that the day is beautiful!

A relief map of Reunion on the wall gives a sense for its topography. 

The tourist website describes it like this: 

With the combined forces of the ocean, the air and the movements of the earth’s crust, an island of astonishing scenery has risen from the sea. We are left with the three enormous ‘cirques’ (natural amphitheatres) of Cilaos, Salazie and Mafate, the deep valleys hewn into the volcanic slopes by the island’s main rivers, and the upper plains dotted with peaks….

I chose a tour that involved us flying over the three cirques. I was excited to see Reunion, but probably I was just as excited to fly in the micro-light plane!

I have been in some relatively small airplanes, but never anything this tiny. It is a very intimate way to fly!

Here are some photos and a video of the roughly 40 minutes we were over the cirques.

It was an epic little tour, but definitely went too fast! In no time we were heading back towards the coast and the airport.

My tour was not cheap (€150) but it was worth every penny. After our flight, my pilot invited me to sit for an espresso and to try some local honey. 

I caught the bus back to my hotel and checked out, but left my bag in storage while I went to a local shopping mall to buy a few things and get some lunch. On my way back to the hotel the bus did not stop where I expected for some reason and I decided I may as well ride it all the way into St Denis and see the town. When the bus terminated I was intending to just get on one heading back towards the airport, but I realized I was at a téléphérique station. I actually had had no idea that there was a téléphérique system in Reunion, but here it was and my bus ticket worked to get in, so I figured I would continue my tour and ride the téléphérique.

As I ascended and then descended the hill I got some good views of the Indian Ocean, St Denis, and parts of Reunion beyond the city. 

Once back down I rode the bus back to the hotel and picked up my bag, then headed to the airport to wait for my flight to Mauritius. I was pretty taken with this view from the gate. That is my Austral Air Airbus 220 and the Indian Ocean just behind it.