I don’t even know how to describe Mauritius—beautiful, tropical paradise, party central…it’s all of the above. Mauritius is a gorgeous island off the coast of Africa, near Madagascar. It is endless beaches, five star hotels, clubs, cascading waterfalls, a perfect place to bring six hundred college students. I’ll let your imagination wonder about all of the stories that have come from this port in which we were there for less than forty eight hours.
We arrived in Mauritius around 8am on Thursday morning and immediately got off of the ship once cleared by immigration. We walked around a little bit, found a couple of taxis to take us to Tamaran Falls, the site of incredible waterfalls. We were told the hike wouldn’t be too bad, so Amy, Carly, and I figured it would just be a bunch of walking to it. We wore flip flops…not the best idea we’ve ever had. We got there and we literally had to climb and descend rocks and gravel. It was intense, but so worth it. When we arrived, the scene was out of a movie...picturesque scenery of waterfalls and open nature. It was breath taking. We were told that we could climb up the cliffs and jump off of them into the pool of water. It was so much fun to just be there with everyone.
After hanging out and swimming for a little bit, Amy and I joined Ashleigh, our friend from the River Rafting trip for some lunch at this cute outdoor restaurant. We got pizzas and chicken and seafood plates, with as much spice on it as possible. It was so good!!
After that, we took the water taxis (the little boats that took us from the ship to the waterfront) back to the ship.
The next morning we got up and took the bus to Grand Baie, a gorgeous stretch of beach and crystal clear waters. We ended up making some friends with other SAS students, Jules, Chris and Sam. We spent the day with them and hung out at the beach for a couple of hours and then got some lunch at SPURS!!! I never thought I would see that place again!! It was so good. I absolutely love that place. After lunch we found a little market to get some last minute souvenirs and such. The markets can be very overwhelming. Everyone says that they are much less intimidating here, but the locals still get in your face when you are looking at little things to buy. If you decide you don’t want it, or it is too expensive and just want to walk away they try to follow you. You literally have to tell them that you do not want it and leave the market. It can be intense.
We headed back to the ship with plenty of time to spare so we wouldn’t have to worry about getting any dock time. We have a set time to be back on the ship and it is 6pm. If you are even one second late you will have dock time. After dinner, around 5:30pm, my friends and I decided to go to Deck 5 and watch all of the people who are racing the clock to get on the ship on time. There was a long line because bags need to be checked and such. It is common sense to not wait until after 5:30 to try to get back on the ship. There is going to be a long line. People were still running to get in line at 5:55pm. It was one of the funniest things I have seen. There were students who were still drunk walking up the gangway. Pure comedy!!
All in all Mauritius was a lot of fun and definitely a place I would return to. We were there for only two days, but it was still a lot of fun and for some people, maybe too much fun. Mauritius tends not to like when SAS arrives, because it is treated much like Spring Break times ten. We are there for such a short period of time that, as history has discovered, we tend to go a little crazy. There are hotels and places that will not even allow SAS students to come there. I do not doubt that the hotel in which most SAS people stayed will rethink it for next year. I won’t go into detail but I’m sure that you can imagine it for yourselves.
I’m not going to lie. I had a couple of drinks and enjoyed my time in Mauritius, but I want to remember this trip. And if I am getting so drunk in every port, that won’t happen. I don’t really understand it. I am all for having a good time, but I don’t need to be so drunk to do so. The captain of this ship is not happy either. He pretty much called this voyage a “booze cruise.” That is horrible…no that is embarrassing. Hopefully things change in the upcoming ports.
We have about three more days of sailing, one of which is the Sea Olympics…GO YELLOW SEA!! I will blog about that in a couple of days, hopefully with news that Yellow Sea kicked some butt!!!
Oh and I am no longer an orphan on this voyage. For a long time I thought I was going to stay little orphan Annie looking for Daddy Warbucks to come rescue me, but I have finally found a family. There is a program called Extended Families, in which Life Long Learners, faculty and students become families. Almost everyone on this ship is in a family. I have officially been adopted—I received the adoption papers today!! I am so excited. One of the Life Long Learners in my art class adopted me. I am so excited J I have my first family dinner tonight where I will meet my siblings, one of which is Amy. So now we are officially sisters ;)
Up Next: INDIA!!! and my first Home stay!! I am so excited J
Until next time,
Love always, Kayla <3
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