Mauritius an Island of the Dodo Bird

Mauritius

AN ISLAND OF THE DODO BIRD

travels

Text and photos BOGDAN TRZCIONKA

A virus brazenly spreading on our planet has once again thwarted a fantastic diving plan on the wrecks of Florida. Putting Key West off, we were forced to look around for another, equally interesting destination, and this way we learnt that after a year and a half of total isolation, in October 2021, Mauritius is opening up to tourists.

I once met a Mauritian woman, whom I had the opportunity to teach skiing in Slovakia. The girl who saw the white fluff for the first time in her life walked on it barefoot, despite the fact that we gave her shoes. So, I thought then that in Mauritius people live in huts and do not know shoes. Imagine my surprise after landing... (there was even an airport!). Motorways, urban agglomerations, cars that I have not seen in Europe – there were even shoe stores. Not everyone knows (I didn't know either) that the Republic of Mauritius is not a single island, but an island state located in the southwestern part of the Indian Ocean, about 900 km east of Madagascar. The safety procedures required the vaccination certificate from our entire 18-person group, but also additional tests 72 hours before departure, on-site tests at the hotel immediately upon arrival and additional tests on the fifth day of stay on the island. It was a bit overwhelming, but a man thirsty for sun and water will do anything. Fortunately, there were no unpleasant surprises. Despite a few minor shortcomings, our hotel turned out to be very good, with palm trees planted around and with 3 swimming pools, a gym and a spa. We decided to live in the northern part of the island in the town of Trou

aux Biches ("Trobish" – as Creoles say) because of the best conditions for diving. Serving us The Blue Water Divers diving centre, located a kilometre away from the hotel, provided transfer, and Hugues, the owner of the centre and our guide to the vastness of the underwater world, turned out to be a real enthusiast and at every step you could see how much he still loves what he does, despite thousands of dives behind him. We were lucky to get to this place. In general, the diving area is divided into 3 zones. We dived in the first zone, as part of the basic diving package – all dives from boats on nearby reefs and wrecks located a maximum of 20 minutes from the marina. The seasons in Mauritius are not the same as ours. In October, summer, which falls between November and April, was barely beginning, so our aspirations for further waters and the desire to dive with sharks were effectively tempered by Hugues, informing about powerful currents at this time of the year, which we had the opportunity to face somehow closer to the shore. On one of the dives in the zone of stronger currents, our colleague made a mistake, swimming too high above the reef and within a moment disappeared into a big blue. Such situations always make me anxious, but Mark's experience, his composure and the immediate decision to release a buoy meant that he was quickly noticed and taken by the crew of our boat. On the official website of the diving centre we can read that having a minimum of one buoy per pair is required. During the debriefing, I wondered aloud what would happen the current took away a person without a buoy? When going diving in the seas and oceans, definitely every diver should have a buoy, a compass, and maybe even a whistle and a mirror and should know how to use them.

The underwater world of Mauritius is very different from that known from Egypt. It is in vain to look for similar, colourful reefs here. In this respect, nothing will probably not beat the Red Sea. However, the abundance of life in different locations and the availability of wrecks at small depths surprised me very positively. On subsequent dives we had the opportunity to see willingly posing for photos, largesized lionfish, moray eels, reef catfish, crabs, snappers, electric rays, stonefish and sweet amphipriones, bustling about in multi-coloured anemones. There were also giant turtles and tiny nudibranchs. In short, everything a diver needs to be happy. I'm not going to be smart and list all the species here, because I'm not a marine biologist. However, I will write with conviction that it is worth visiting this place at least once in your life. The added value of our accidental selection of Blue Water Divers was the fact that its owner was probably recognized by the underwater creatures as part of the ecosystem. By making specific guttural sounds under the water, he was able to summon a huge moray and dance with it underwater salsa! You don't know what to think while watching such a spectacle.

Due to the climate and quite a large annual amount of rainfall, the island of the dodo bird is a very green, volcanic land with magical craters, majestic waterfalls, lush forests and astonishing mountains. Going on such a long journey, it would be difficult to stop at only exploring the underwater world. After five days of diving, we decided to learn more about the nature and history of the country. Our guide around the island was Gertruda – a Pole who has been living on the island for 20 years. I was surprised to learn that there are no native inhabitants on the island. The first people here were the Portuguese visiting the island just to replenish the water supplies on the ships. Following the Portuguese, unfortunately the aforementioned large dodo bird, endemic here, in 1638 on the island appeared The Dutch.

They, however, decided to colonize the island and named it after Prince Maurice of Orange. A large bird meant a lot of meat, so it's easy to guess the rest of the story. The Dutch ate all the birds and almost nothing is known about their life in the wild. Without going into details – in the 18th century the French took over the island, and in 1810 the British. The latter abolished slavery and began bringing workers from India. That is why today more than half of the island's inhabitants are Hindus. We had the opportunity to see fantastic, multi-coloured Hindu temples, as well as numerous altars, even on beaches, where the faithful made sacrifices to the gods in the form of gifts of nature and incense sticks. Hinduism, Christianity and Islam are the main religions that can coexist peacefully with each other. The language most often spoken by the inhabitants in my presence seemed very similar to French. As I learned from Gertrude, for the Creoles – people of African descent with an admixture of any other blood, French was too difficult and they developed their own variation of this language. It is reportedly used by 80% of the island's inhabitants. However, only in speech: the language is relatively rarely written down. When visiting the island, do not forget to call in greeting 'kimanie' with an accent on the last 'e' (I have no idea how to spell it), which will bring a smile on your face and favour, because it means something like 'how are you?'.

During the two days dedicated to the trips, we visited the capital of Port Louis along with the local bazaar, filled with colours and scents, the crater of an extinct volcano, the temple of Shiva, the Chamarel waterfall, as well as the Pamplemousses Botanical Garden – one of the oldest gardens in the world, astonishing with unusual, colourful and diverse vegetation, including 82 species of palm trees. Particularly noteworthy is the place called the Seven Colours of the Earth. The appearance of

this area is the result of erosion of volcanic ash and the richness of the soil in terms of saturation with various minerals. Nowhere in the world have I encountered such a phenomenon. One of the points of sightseeing was the Eureka colonial house built in 1830 on the Moka River, where we could get to know the life of the inhabitants of that time and feel the atmosphere of those times. While visiting the gardens belonging to the estate, you can come across 4 beautiful waterfalls and endemic vegetation on the banks of the river. I was captivated by the beauty of the porcelain rose, also known as ginger lily, which on its long stem lasts for almost half a year.

When visiting Mauritius, it is worth remembering that it is one of the few African countries with a stable democracy with regular free elections and respected human rights. Thanks to its developed tourism sector and foreign investment, Mauritius has achieved one of the highest per capita incomes in Africa. Going there, you do not have to be afraid of organized crime or walk around with pepper spray in your pocket. Yes, there are thefts like everywhere in the world, but a bit of awareness is enough to protect yourself from it. There is also no need for additional vaccinations before departure. You have to watch out more for monkeys than humans. Small macaques living in the wild, although quite intelligent, don't understand jokes and it is easy to arouse aggression in them. This is why the one who used the buoy earlier in solitude, was returning from the trip barefoot (apparently misfortunes come in pairs). You learn all your life – you can't run away quickly in flip-flops.

The current currency of Mauritius is the Mauritian Rupee. You can easily pay in euros, but local shopkeepers and taxi drivers convert the currency at a rough guess, to the disadvantage of tourists. There is no major problem with ATMs and payment by credit cards is possible, except in bazaars and small shops. In October, the air temperature was 28oC, and water 26oC. We would like to thank the tour operator Safpol Safaris from South Africa for great organization. Meanwhile, I am starting to plan the next expeditions in 2022. See you above and below the water!