Travel Log, Part Two
So far, I do not have malaria.
The adventure continues as our intrepid explorer braves the wilds and then attempts to actually do some work.
1 January:
Everything, unsurprisingly, was shut down for the holiday. The hotel managed to arrange for a taxi to take us around and see some of the sights of the island, which was very nice of them. Here's a quick summary:
Curepipe/Trou Cerfs- A tremendous volcanic crater, probably dating back to when the island was formed. The crater is completely filled with trees and vegetation, indicating that this thing hasn't been active for centuries. Also got a good view of several other mountains around the area, including the tallest mountain on the island.
Did not fall into crater. Did almost get attacked by wild dogs.
Grande Bassin (Ganga Telou)- A sacred Hindu lake, surrounded by shrines and temples. The island has a large Hindu population, and they routinely make a pilgrimage here. New Years is apparently a major holy day, so we saw dozens of families and individuals making offerings to shrines and gods and stuff. It was actually quite fascinating, and I managed not to be my usual desecrating self and took pictures from a distance. Except for the monkey god, because, come on, he's a monkey.
Alexandra Falls- I like waterfalls. They're soothing. This one was nice, off in the distance, falling off the forested mountains in a long thin trickle. I believe it was part of the Black River water system, but don't quote me on that.
Black River Gorge- The Black River continues winding down the mountains and carves a gorgeous valley in its wake as it- HOLY SHIT, MONKEYS!
We're standing at the railing looking down into this gorge and a family of monkeys emerges from the bushes next to us and saunters across the railing to the trees on the other side. They were eating fruits and berries and playing monkey games and, really, just monkeying around. So of course we had to get pictures of us with monkeys.
Chamoral Falls- What I said about waterfalls above still holds. This one was bigger.
The Earth Of Seven Colours- You know, I was skeptical about this one. The driver kept talking it up, saying that the earth was multicoloured and a real natural attraction, and I was thinking "Seven colours? What do they mean? After all, the dirt is brown in Africa. Everyone knows this." But colour me seven colours of surprise; the earth is truly seven distinct shades, and not just browns. Yellows and bluish-greens and reds, oh my!
Also, there were giant tortoises nearby.
Now I'm curious about the Twenty-Three Coloured Earth that they recently discovered...
Le Morne- A pinnacle of rock that dominates the southwestern corner of the island, surrounded by beaches and plantations and clear ocean water and all sorts of shiny pretty stuff. This is also where you realize that, all prettiness aside, this is a third-world nation.
Hopefully sometime in the future we'll be able to visit Le Jardin des Pamplemousses, the Botanical Gardens, the north shore, and some other vistas that were mentioned to us. Hopefully also I won't die from some tropical disease. Or heatstroke. Damn, it's helluva hot down here. Tropics indeed!
The adventure continues as our intrepid explorer braves the wilds and then attempts to actually do some work.
1 January:
Everything, unsurprisingly, was shut down for the holiday. The hotel managed to arrange for a taxi to take us around and see some of the sights of the island, which was very nice of them. Here's a quick summary:
Curepipe/Trou Cerfs- A tremendous volcanic crater, probably dating back to when the island was formed. The crater is completely filled with trees and vegetation, indicating that this thing hasn't been active for centuries. Also got a good view of several other mountains around the area, including the tallest mountain on the island.
Did not fall into crater. Did almost get attacked by wild dogs.
Grande Bassin (Ganga Telou)- A sacred Hindu lake, surrounded by shrines and temples. The island has a large Hindu population, and they routinely make a pilgrimage here. New Years is apparently a major holy day, so we saw dozens of families and individuals making offerings to shrines and gods and stuff. It was actually quite fascinating, and I managed not to be my usual desecrating self and took pictures from a distance. Except for the monkey god, because, come on, he's a monkey.
Alexandra Falls- I like waterfalls. They're soothing. This one was nice, off in the distance, falling off the forested mountains in a long thin trickle. I believe it was part of the Black River water system, but don't quote me on that.
Black River Gorge- The Black River continues winding down the mountains and carves a gorgeous valley in its wake as it- HOLY SHIT, MONKEYS!
We're standing at the railing looking down into this gorge and a family of monkeys emerges from the bushes next to us and saunters across the railing to the trees on the other side. They were eating fruits and berries and playing monkey games and, really, just monkeying around. So of course we had to get pictures of us with monkeys.
Chamoral Falls- What I said about waterfalls above still holds. This one was bigger.
The Earth Of Seven Colours- You know, I was skeptical about this one. The driver kept talking it up, saying that the earth was multicoloured and a real natural attraction, and I was thinking "Seven colours? What do they mean? After all, the dirt is brown in Africa. Everyone knows this." But colour me seven colours of surprise; the earth is truly seven distinct shades, and not just browns. Yellows and bluish-greens and reds, oh my!
Also, there were giant tortoises nearby.
Now I'm curious about the Twenty-Three Coloured Earth that they recently discovered...
Le Morne- A pinnacle of rock that dominates the southwestern corner of the island, surrounded by beaches and plantations and clear ocean water and all sorts of shiny pretty stuff. This is also where you realize that, all prettiness aside, this is a third-world nation.
Hopefully sometime in the future we'll be able to visit Le Jardin des Pamplemousses, the Botanical Gardens, the north shore, and some other vistas that were mentioned to us. Hopefully also I won't die from some tropical disease. Or heatstroke. Damn, it's helluva hot down here. Tropics indeed!