First view of the southwestern tip of the island of Mauritius. The large out cropping at the southernmost end is Le Morne Brabant Mountain. It is a world heritage site because it is where escaped slaves (Maroons) found refuge.
Pilot and tug boats assist in our approach.
Colorful Hindu temple not far from our berth.
Two gendered god.
Lingam--phallic symbol of Shiva.
The color continues.
Shrine to the Virgin Mary on the southern hillside of Port Louis.
This poster has a familiar feel.
Central park of Port Louis with monuments to good guys.
Aptly named bank for a country whose culture blends that of enslave peoples from Africa and indentured peoples from Asia.
Had a delicious sugar cane and ginger drink.
Had a nice visit over lunch in the market food court with this family with ancestry from India but have lived first in Malaysia (his home country) and now in Mauritius (her home country). The son wants to go back to Malaysia.
When our family visited Mauritius in 2015, we were only allowed to spend a 10 hour day in the country--no over night (due to previous infarctions from riotous SAS students on previous voyages). One of our activities that day was climbing to the top of the peak (la Pouce) in the center of the photo.
Day two was the scheduled Field Class for my Geography of Hazards class. We joined with Professor Ed Boyer's Coastal Ecology class for a fun day on the south coast of Mauritius.
It was a beautiful drive southward to Bel Ombre.
This center (part of a beach resort) hosted us for the day. We had lectures and demonstrations in the center and then outings focused on reforestation of mangroves and the decimation of coral reefs due to ocean temperature rise.
Mauritius like many other small island nations is at the forefront of efforts to mitigate the devastation that is now happening with climate change.
One of those efforts is to restore coastal mangroves to lessen the impact of more severe cyclones coming ashore. Mangroves stabilize coastal environments and lessen the impact of cyclones and tsunamis.
Le Morne Brabant mountain in the distance is where escaped slaves one established their own Maroon Republic.
Evidence of coastal erosion.
Our classes were accompanied by Mauritian academic and scholar, Emilie Wiehe who studies environmental issues on the island. Through her local contacts she arranged for my class to meet with local officials of the small town of Baie Jacotet (Bel Ombre). One high school teacher who also serves on the town disaster team, walked us through town explaining how the town precariously sits in a basin between an eroding shoreline and high sea levels and deforested hills where there are increasing rains along with soil erosion and landslides. The town has a nice soccer pitch.
The city offices are safely built on stilts.
Last year the town was inundated with heavy flooding. No one died due to a good warning and evacuation protocol in place.
Drainage ditches installed with federal government funding could not accommodate the rising waters.
Similarly a diversion canal around the town failed after filling in with invasive plants and cluttered with garbage.
I had hoped to visit with government officials in St Louis about national efforts to mitigate disasters. But since we were in port over a weekend that was not possible. Instead we went to where all the local disaster officials miraculously wee gathered in one place at midday on a Sunday--in the sea side town part participating in a Petanque tournament. Petanque is a bocce ball type game from France in which metal balls are rolled to get closet to a small wooden target ball called the cochonnet (piglet).
Between games, five of the volunteer officials met with us to discuss local efforts to prepare for and survive flooding coming from both the sea and mountains. They acknowledged the federal government's funding help, but also noted it was not enough.
The site of our afternoon snorkeling. We divided up into two shifts. Each get about 45 minutes in the water.
The main reef with white waves crashing is farther out than we went.
We snorkeled in an area of sea grass and smaller corals.
Storms threatened but did not impede our adventure.
Any time snorkeling is a good time. I brought along my prescription mask.
Bleached, dying and dead coral caused by rising ocean temperature are covered now in algae.
Nest day I explored more of St. Louis. First stop was the Natural History museum where I read they had a dodo exhibit.
Upstairs were exhibits about the founding father of Mauritius and about the role of Mauritius in the two world ward.
A hilltop fort.
Life goal: have a large baloney lined with bougainvillea plants.
Ate delicious Dholl Puri (curried yellow split peas in roti) from stalls in the main market twice for lunch.
Fresh mango and pomegranate for the win.
MV World Odyssey in the distance.
The port side, Blue Penny museum covers the history of Mauritius--with lots of maps and images. It is named after the blue penny stamp (with its own display room) issued by the British in Mauritius for mail. Mauritius was the fourth poliltical entitiy inthe world to start using postal stamps for international communication.
The museum also highlighted one of Mauritius' most famous novels--Paul et Virginie by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre which is a tragic love story between two young lovers on the island whose love was eventually separated by an ocean.
Cabin view just before our evening departure.
Indian Ocean beauty
One day off from teaching to enjoy the Sea Olympic. Six seas of students (represented by a sea name and color) and one sea (group) of faculty, staff and families--Aegean Sea, color teal. All competed in a fun day of competitions. I'm not that competitive (except at Scrabble) so I volunteered to be a judge for the Family Feud game and Survivor style relay.
The seven seas.
Opening ceremonies.
The always popular synchronized swimming competition.
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