Gym's Ramblings: Slipping down to the South

I like Chicken Congee in the morning. I understand billions of people eat this simple rice dish for breakfast every day. At our breakfast spot, it comes with a whole poached egg, some soy sauce and hot chili peppers on the side. I cut the egg up and mix in half the soy and all of the nasty little chili pepper pieces. Then, I savor each spoonful, being mindful of the ones that contain the bits of green and red heat. Having a kleenex is a good idea during this process but you don’t suffer, you leave feeling satiated and at peace with the world.

Yesterday, we left our home here at the Four Seasons and ventured out into the rest of Mauritius. We booked a Four Seasons driver/guide for this all-day trip and we are glad we did. Aswan showed us great hospitality on this exploration of the southern half of the island and we got along so famously that at the end of the trip, he invited us into both his home and the home of his parents, to meet the whole family. We had a great day, with some great sightseeing and the bonus of an inside look at Mauritian society.

Although Mauritius is a small island, most of the roads wind around and up and down the remnants of old volcanoes that are the backbone of the island and therefore it is not like driving in Saskatchewan. On most roads the posted speed limits are either 60 or 80 kilometers per hour. There is one exception and that is the only four-lane highway on the island, a pretty straight route that connects the airport to the capital city of Port Louis. Unfortunately, our travels transected that “freeway” and our exploration of the island was mainly on the slower roads.

We were worried when we started the tour that because it had just finished raining that morning, the peaks and view-points that we were going to see, would be shrouded in mist. We got lucky though and our photos turned out pretty well. The day turned out to be pretty clear and very hot because of the high humidity.

Our first stop was the a viewpoint called the Trou aux Cerfs, a near perfect little dormant volcanic cone that had a great viewpoint at about 600 meters above sea level. You could look back to the north and see the capital’s skyline in the distance, framed by the other “mountains” to the north and the Indian Ocean. You could also go look down into the very symmetrical cone of the cute little volcano you were standing on that was about 350 meters in diameter and 80 meters deep. It would make a spectacular par-three golf hole.

view of the capital, Port Louis, from Trou aux Cerfs

looking down into the cone of the volcano

Not far away, we got away from nature, for a brief visit to a toy-ship building factory. Neither of us had ever seen anything quite like this place and even Mrs. Gym thought the ship models were pretty cool. The problem was, of course, we didn’t have a nautically themed room in our smallish bungalow back home.

Man-o-war circa 1800 which would fill our living room

another massive model clipper ship that would fill a room

building a smaller model using teak imported from Myanmar

adding the rigging which looks like a very finicky job

a cool model motor boat

Next on the agenda was a visit to the holiest Hindu place in Mauritius located at a place called the Grand Bassin and also Ganga Talao. We’d been to Hindu holy areas in India but this time with Aswan our Hindu guide, we got a really got a good feel for a Hindu temple. Aswan showed us around a little bit and then we were blessed by a Hindu priest who took us through an elaborate ceremony in some ancient but appropriate language and then when we were done, reminded me in perfect English, to remember my golf cap that I’d removed for the blessing. Hopefully that blessing will see us safely through our travels for years to come. Later, Aswan told us that when Hindus buy a new car they have it blessed at Ganga Talao. He also told us that once a year, in February, up to 500,000 Hindus from all over the island make a pilgrimage by foot to this holy place and it gets pretty crowded up there.

This is Lord Shiva, the ruler or king of Hindu gods.
The statue stands 33 meters tall and stands at the entrance
to the area containing the Shiva Temple

The Shiva Temple sits on the shores of a beautiful crater lake
which is elaborately landscaped and populated by an incredible number of fish.
You can not swim in or catch fish from this lake.

Inside the temple we participate in the blessing ceremony
with the Hindu priest canting in the backgroud. Here we water the
plants on for Shiva.

Mrs. Gym in front of some of Shiva's friends.

Statues of lesser Hindu gods line the shores of the crater lake

Another 33-meter statue of Durga Maa Bhavani is currently
under construction across the road from the Shiva statue.

Our next two stops were at some breathtaking viewpoints in the Black River Gorges National Park. The national park was set up to protect most of the island’s remaining rainforest and a number of endangered endemic birds. We hiked up to two places where we had specular views of a couple of waterfalls that flow over into the Gorge.

Our first stop took us to the trailhead of a path that lead to this view
which looked over the edge of the Gorge.

Another view from the edge of the Gorge

Chamarel Falls cascades over two distinct layers of rock which are
two different lava flows

By Chamarel Falls there was also a very cool outcrop of the Seven Colored Earths. I know some geologists that would have got a woody looking at this outcrop. It is a masterpiece of color in volcanic sands layered in surrealistic fashion by forces of volcanism and chemistry that create a masterpiece that does not erode. It is like a place where geologists should have to make a pilgrimage at least once in a lifetime.

iron and aluminum are the main elements that colour these sands
which have eroded off of the volcanic basalt. These elemenst naturally
repel each other. The most amazing thing about these sands "dunes" is
that they do not erode very easily.

Seven Coloured Sands

Then we broke for lunch. We had arrived at La Rhumerie du Chamarel. I ordered the “catch of the day” and Mrs. Gym had a Caesar Salad that had been kicked up “too many notches”. Mrs. Gym gave me the stuff that did not belong in the salad.

A beautiful restaurant at La Rhumerie Du Chamarel. It was extremely
hot up there.

After lunch we toured the Rhumerie with a nice couple from Florida. We all learned that this beautiful double-distilled rum was not exported to North America. We all secretly made plans to start a new business.

This is a working Rum Factory but it sits idle for 6 months while the
sugarcane is maturing

This factory is only one of three in the world that double-distills its Rum

This is where the raw cane is brought in from the field, cut up
and crushed to extract all the cane juice.

It is really a nice looking factory but it is apparently unbearably hot
when the factory is producing rum. They burn the by-product
of the sugarcane to heat the distilleries.

It was steaming hot at La Rhumerie and we had reached the highest point that we would on the tour at about 700 meters above sea level. We were now going to look down over the southwest corner of the island. And then we would be descending down onto the coastal plain and driving back past the airport to the District of Flacq, and our home at the Four Seasons. However, we had one more stop so we could see the only spot where the island had no fringing reef and at the same time visit a place where our driver could have a rest stop before the final 2-hour drive back to Flacq.

Looking down from the highlands to the coastal plain

You can see the fringing reef in this picture

There are some nice resorts in this area including the Oberoi
which is highly rated

Mrs. Gym now posing down on the coastal plain in front of the
area where there is no fringing reef. Note the massive waves

The author attempting to fly to Antarctica

Just before we arrived back at the hotel, Aswan invited us to his village, not far from the hotel, to meet his family. How could we say no? He took us to his parents home first where we met the folks, the mother-in-law and his beautiful daughter who stayed with her grandparents until her parents got home from work. Then we toured Aswan’s house. He and his parents were so proud of the fact that he had taken the plunge and bought some real estate. We have yet to meet Aswan’s wife but we know that she is also a Four Season’s employee and we will try to locate her in the days ahead.