I was up and ready at 6am, and headed to deck 7 stern. There was the island, not really big as I could see the entire island without having to move my head much. It was a glorious day: bright and sunny outside, water that was crystal light blue, and the sun was shining light beautifully off of the island. What a perfect day for Jacob to have his birthday. I enjoyed the beautiful weather as we moved at a crawling pace (there were times when I was not sure if the boat was moving at all). Around 7, the pilot boat arrived and directed us into the port, and by 7:30, we were docked to Mauritius (30 minutes ahead of schedule). The port was not very big; it was sort of deep but not that wide at all. Aside from our ship, there were no big ships inside of the port area. There were a few anchored outside, most likely tendering. I had breakfast of the usual cereal with the group and we finalized what we were doing today. We were requested to be seen by the custom officials for interviews, and I was one of the first to be seen by them. They were all Indian! It’s really strange to see such a thing outside of India; I don’t think there are any countries outside of India dominated to this extent by Indians, aside from Mauritius. I went to Ben’s room, where Ben, Nick, Howard and I chilled and talked, and watched the diplomatic briefing from the TV. We were too lazy to go, and after the bad one in South Africa, we were not really motivated to go to it. I dozed off for a few minutes in the middle of it, since I did not get a lot of sleep last night. Soon after the briefing was over, around 9:30, the ship was cleared and we made our way to exit the ship. Even the port was not that big/busy, if we wanted to get to the city and avoid a 20-30 minute walk, we had to take a water taxi. The first few ones were filled to the brim, and we sailed over to the waterfront area. The taxi stop in the city was right in front of a shopping center, and the city itself seemed like a pleasant medium sized city. There were no tall buildings, but there were a number of high rise buildings. We spent the first 30 minutes trying to find an ATM for us to withdraw money, which we found in a mall like place across the street from the port entrance. Then we had to figure out how to get to Grand Bay Beach. Near the port entrance we ran into Tesia and Aaron, and they joined us in our endeavor. We found multiple taxis for all of us, and we made our way to the beach. It was quite a beautiful drive with some great scenery. There were sugar cane farms everywhere and in the distance were some small mountains. Also on the radio was a horrible remix of Black Eye Peas’ “Tonight is Going to be a Good Night.” Within 20 minutes, we were on the Northern side of the island… Grand Bay. Getting out of the taxi, I notice the beautiful water. Crystal clear blue with a gradual transition from light to dark as the water got deeper; and small sail boats all along the coasts. The beach itself was not very large, more like a park with trees next to water. The city along the coast was a cute little town with a small road and buildings no taller than three stories. The first thing we did was search for a restaurant. Half of us wanted to go to this one place, but the other half did not (because in all honesty, it was quite pricey, even for American standards). So the other half of us (Dino, Mariah, Aaron, and I) went out to search for another place, and came upon a Chinese restaurant that was more reasonable, and we made ourselves comfortable and filled our stomachs. Fried rice was a simple yet tasty break from ship food, something really needed (I really can't wait for food in India). Alyssa (my extended sister) and Lander later ran into us at the restaurant and joined us. We had a good talk, a lot about how our group is split into sub-groups and other such topics. Towards the end of the meal, we noticed the other half of our group walking on without out. It makes me really sad sometimes that our group has these sub-groups (ex: what I call the Crystalline Lattice) because it really kills the mood and awesomeness of the situation sometimes. Once we were done eating, we headed out too, hoping that we would find the others (I honestly didn't care too much of finding the others), and walked along the beach. The beaches were fabulous, with soft sand, great waters, and there actually were not a lot of people. There were, however, a lot of resorts along the beach front (I heard there were around 200 of them on the island, which is pretty ridiculous for some a small island), which was kind of annoying since entire stretches of coast were occupied by private beaches for these resorts. After some 15 minutes of strolling the sands of these great beaches, we finally found the rest of our group. They had parked in a secluded beach that was quite small (in a good way) and had very nice waters that were shallow yet swimmable. Some of them were sunbathing, the others were playing in the water. I dropped my stuff, took off my shirt, ran to the water, and dove in. The water was not cold at all. It was actually quite pleasant, but very salty. Probably because the water was shallow, and the Indian Ocean is the saltiest ocean in the world. We had a good time in the water for like an hour or so. We did all sorts of things: just talked, tackled each other, threw each other into the air, had shoulder fights, and tried to make towers and pyramids. Doing these last two was so difficult (only us guys attempted). We had a number of almost-there towers/pyramids, otherwise we failed miserably. But it was awesome fun. The others in our group (the girls) and on the beach watched us like we were stupid, but who cares. After a while, we got out of the water to enjoy the sunny weather. Aaron and I occupied some seats that were there, ad we passed out for some time (like 30 minutes). When I woke up, I felt wonderful. I generally don't nap, but napping like that in the sun felt so good. This port is a real break for us from classes and crazy traveling. This was like an actual weekend. Ben and I decided to go exploring over some rocks (which were black and so quite hot), with Michaella deciding to follow us shortly after we left. We came upon a rock outcropping into the ocean, and took turns going to the tip and getting pictures. From there we also got a great view of a long stretch of coastline, which was very Hawaii-like: fantastic waters with a short sand beach, and palm trees lining coast. Back at our beach, I dove back into the water with Nick for a few minutes before we decided to leave. We made our way back to the place where we got dropped off by the taxis. Along the way we ran into a Hindu temple. I felt drawn to it, and I went in and paid my respects to the Gods inside. That was my first time in a temple in quite some time, so it felt good as I got this home-like feeling. We also got some pineapple that was cut like a lollipop and very delicious, sweet, and juicy. We decided to take the bus back because it would only take a few more minutes to get back and was considerably cheaper than the taxi. Back in Port Louis, we separated into two groups again (you see a pattern?) since some wanted to go straight to dinner while the rest of us wanted to get back to the ship and change before getting dinner to celebrate with Dino. Showering on the ship felt refreshing, and we left again for dinner somewhere near the port. We agreed upon a grillhouse and we began celebrating Dino's birthday there. While many of the others enjoyed something very meaty (like a steak or ribs), I had some tasty vegetarian curry, which was quite good, but nowhere near as good as Indian food (god I cannot wait till India). I saw a number of other friends going out that night, and I felt like joining some of them, but I had to stay with DIno since he is my pal and it was his birthday. After dinner, we went to a sports bar that was attached to a Pizza Hut, and the others had a few drinks. They did not get drunk but they were definitely tipsy or beyond. a number of people Dino knew, Devon and Luke for example, bought him drinks even though he was done after the drink he got for himself. I had met Devon before that like once or twice and always had said hi to her whenever we ran past each other in the hallway, but I had my first real conversation with her that night. Around 12, I decided to call it a night and headed back to the ship. Tomorrow will be fun, but got lots to do: stamps, postcards, soveigners, and hiking to the waterfall. Can't wait for that waterfall.
-Nimish
October 14, 2010
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