Port Louis, Mauritius, Africa

 

This is the second of our three Indian Ocean Island ports. The African Mauritius Island is an island 30 miles by 20 miles in area approximately 500 miles east of Madagascar.  It is all volcanic, made up of 24 distinct volcanos.  Its population is 1.2 million, mostly of African and Indian decent.  The Indians were brought in to work in the sugar cane fields and stayed.

Mauritius was the home of the now extinct Dodo bird.  The Dodo was indigenous to Mauritius.  It was a large flightless bird, bigger than a turkey.  When the first explorers came, the Dodo became extinct as it became their “Thanksgiving” dinner over several years.  Within in 40 years the Dodo was history.

Again, for the beauty and for the people, we enjoyed Mauritius.  Now we are on the way to Reunion Island and the ocean is very rough in this area.  The Captain explained we are getting hit by high winds and swells coming from several directions, causing “pot holes.” It isn’t very bad.  We have had amazing weather and smooth seas during the whole trip.