Mauritius

SY Ghost
Tim and Clare Hagon
Sun 2 Nov 2014 06:45
20:09S 57:29E
 
The home of the Dodo. We arrived in Port Louis at 2100 on the 12th October, negotiating our way through the oil rig ships and the tankers that were anchored outside the port. Once inside the port we motored for a couple of miles past fishing boats of all descriptions into a small ‘marina’ right in the centre of town. There we had a couple of large G&Ts and enjoyed the boat being stationary for the first time in several weeks. It’s the small things, like putting a drink (soft) down on the table and having it stay there for more than 2 seconds that you miss when at sea!
 
The island is very touristy and has a huge sugar industry. One of the downsides of arriving in cane cutting season is that they burn the fields to clear them before harvest. This results in black smuts floating high into the air, falling down onto the boat and being impossible to clean up. Still, not really much of a grumble as when we arrived the view of the fires from the boat were very impressive.
 
One of the highlights of Mauritius is a game reserve. It has been created with animals from Africa and the emphasis is to get as close to them as possible, without being eaten! We spent an hour walking with two lions through the bush, their keepers alongside. It was an extraordinary experience.
 
Penny and Alan Spriggs joined us here to go through to Cape Town, via Reunion. It was Alan’s birthday on the 17th and we managed to find superb seafood restaurant to spend a few hours in. It’s called Le Capitaine and everything, without exception, was cooked perfectly.
 
The next leg is the shortest in the rally, some 130 miles down to La Reunion. We started at 1430 hrs to make landfall in the morning.

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