Mauritius

Today I suddenly realised that I'd be in Madagascar before the end of the week...and that I still hadn't posted this blog on Mauritius, from the last school holidays! So here we go...

The last school holidays were both the Christmas and summer holidays, hence it was five weeks long instead of the usual two weeks as on mainland France: the perfect opportunity to do some travelling! I decided, seeing as it was cyclone season, to go to Mauritius rather than Madagascar. The island of Mauritius is Réunion's closest neighbour, but despite its proximity we (that's me and three other Language Assistants) discovered that it was definitely a very different place. I couldn't help but compare the two islands most of the time I was there. Most noticeably, the population is much more Indian than in Réunion, and the landscape a lot flatter, although the mini-mountains that they do have are very exciting shapes - one looks a lot like it's giving you the thumbs-up; another a bit like a pointy wave about to break. Mauritians, like people in Réunion, speak a creole language of French origins, but it's still a different language. They also speak French like in Réunion, but unlike the majority of the Réunion population, they speak English too! One other major difference between the two islands which cannot fail to be noticed is the huge difference in the level of tourism. Tourism is an extremely important part of the economy in Mauritius, and there are hotels, restaurants and tour operators everywhere: in Grand Baie, where we stayed, they literally lined either side of the main street. Réunion, on the other hand, is practically devoid of tourists by comparison, and the ones you do find there are generally from mainland France. You might have guessed that I prefer Réunion. But here are some of my favourite bits about our trip to Mauritius:

Food
It's cheap!! Especially coming from Réunion where one of the effects of being an overseas French department is unusually high supermarket prices (2.55€ for a 350g loaf of sliced bread in our local supermarket, and there isn't a cheaper option). The Indian influence in the Mauritian population inevitably extends to the food, resulting in market and street stands galore serving up roti, dholl puri, and various other curry-based delights. One of our classier nights out involved wandering down to the nearest food stall and dining on roti (a sort of curry tortilla - three cost just less than one Euro) with ice cream for dessert, mm mmm. We also visited a market one lunch time, and had dholl puri (pretty much the same as roti, but the tortilla is flakier) and chana puri (a dough ball that is split open and also filled with curry). This time no ice cream, but instead we tried a drink called alouda...and absolutely loved it! It seems to be made of chilled condensed milk, normal milk and a little vanilla ice cream, with tiny blobs and strands of what I think was sago floating in it - refreshing and delicious. I had two. Two large ones, of course.

Island trips
Mauritius definitely one-ups Réunion when it comes to beaches and islands: its lagoons stretch much further out from the shore, the beaches have soft, fine sand, and there are many beautiful little islands scattered around.  Many of these islands are privately owned, or nature reserves, and have strangely illogical names. In the north, for example, there is the île aux serpents (snake island) which is round and has no snakes, île ronde (round island) which isn't round at all but has snakes, and île plate (flat island) which has a hill on it. One explanation is that the names were chosen deliberately in order to mislead enemies during wartime; an alternative is that some mapmaker merely got them mixed up.

Passing Coin de Mire island, on the way to îlot gabriel

In any case, a boat trip to one of the islands is a tourist must, and our first one - to île aux cerfs - was quite possibly the most touristy thing I have ever done. I have never enjoyed feeling like a stereotypical Brit abroad or package holiday tourist. Let's just say I feel a bit silly. That said, the most enjoyable day we had was a catamaran trip to îlot gabriel. Like our first trip, we were taken to the island, served lunch, and brought back, but this time there were fewer tourists in the group, and many of them were regular Mauritians having a day out. The island itself was a little wilder (no hotel, golf course, pricey touristy water activities, souvenir stands...or toilets, for that matter), snorkelling equipment was available, and there were no sea urchins, unlike at île aux cerfs. We had the most beautiful weather, and lunch was delicious, but the highlight for me were the paille-en-queues, or white-tailed tropicbirds. I may have already mentioned that they are my favourite bird out here (you can see an image of one at the top of my blog) and the sky above îlot gabriel was teeming with them. One nearly flew into me as I was walking down to the water! I later had a much nicer encounter with them: the friendly Mauritian guy manning the makeshift bar on the island took us to see three nests (complete with chicks!) in the moor-like interior of the island. The birds didn't seem scared at all - I guess all the tourists tend to stay on the beach or in the water.

A paille-en-queue chick

Setting off for île aux cerfs from Trou d'Eau Douce in the East

Discovering Réunion creole culture
Strangely, I learned more about Réunion culture than Mauritian while in Mauritius! This is because the hostel we stayed in was also hosting a large group consisting of two related families plus friends from Réunion. Réunion families often go on holiday in Mauritius, the main attractions for them being beautiful beaches and cheap shopping. We inevitably bumped into the family group frequently in the kitchen and dining area, usually while they were cooking up some creole feast for the evening. I had my first taste of carri poulet (creole chicken and rice) thanks to them, as well as wasp larvae.
That's right. Wasps.
Apparently it's an expensive delicacy in Réunion, but in Mauritius these guys had fashioned a nest-hooking device from a pole and some wire, attached some burning wood to smoke away the wasps, and were pulling nests out of trees all over the place. They then quickly toasted the nests over the gas hob, tapped out all the larvae, and fried them up in something pretty tasty. We nibbled on a few before they started cooking (you can eat them raw), and I got quite a shock when I bit into a larva...the taste was fine, but I felt as if an enormous spot had burst in my mouth. Clearly, my face betrayed my thoughts because the family found it hilarious.

Picking out tasty larvae from the toasted wasp nests