One of those last days on Mauritius, Sneža and I used the afternoon beach break (neither she nor I like to be out in the open when the sunrays are strongest) in order to pop over to Port Louis for a speedy shopping. Namely, a few days earlier at the central market there I bought some dresses made of very light and even more colourful materials (floral patterns) for my mom and her friend. When I got back to my room and tried one on, I thought it looked lovely. So, I had to buy a couple more for myself and Sneža also wanted to join. These dresses were not the typical goods sold in the shops for tourists that existed near our hotel, so there was no other way but to go to Port Louis again. Since I’m already talking this much about the dresses, here is a photo of one.
A dress from Mauritius
The rest of the days I continued with my morning walks along the beach, but on the last couple of days I brought the photo-camera with me also when I went to the beach later in order to swim and sunbathe there. Bearing in mind that I started my days very early, after which I had breakfast (also early), a logical continuation was that I was also one of the first visitors to the beach for the day. And this was quite fine with me.
View to the right when I’m sitting on the Trou-aux-Biches beach
View straight when I’m sitting on the Trou-aux-Biches beach
View upwards when I’m sitting on the Trou-aux-Biches beach
View straight when I’m about to lie down on the Trou-aux-Biches beach
When I’m on a beach, I practically never lie down for long in order to sunbathe. The main reason for my coming to a beach is to go swimming, and getting out on the dry land and sunbathing are there only for me to dry a little before going back into the water. Both my brother and I adore water and when we were children we gave headaches to our parents since they had major problems getting us out of water even when our lips were blue, for we never went to tropical beaches as kids, going instead to the (certainly very beautiful) Adriatic Sea, but the water in it is colder for sure, especially if you stay in for longer. Also, as a child I always used to go to pebble beaches and perhaps this is the reason why to this very day I continue to be fascinated by sand beaches. But, in order to get an idea about the fine, soft sand on the Trou-aux-Biches beach, here is a photo of my feet.
View at my feet covered in sand. Like flour, isn’t it?
As the day was passing and the Sun was going up towards its zenith, the colours were becoming even more intense, while the clear water on this beach was becoming more striking.
Shallows on the Trou-aux-Biches
Shallows on the Trou-aux-Biches beach, view to one side
Shallows on the Trou-aux-Biches beach, view to the other side
Sneža came soon after, so I asked her to take a photo of me. The enjoying was passive, but very intense.
Shallows on the Trou-aux-Biches beach
Then Sneža also recorded by my video-camera my swimming and enjoying in the wonderful waters of the Indian Ocean. Perhaps this is a little too personal, but so is the rest of the story.
After this I took my photo-camera again and continued to take photos hoping that in this way, through the photos, I could preserve the intense feeling of enjoyment and happiness caused by being surrounded by beauty.
Trou-aux-Biches beach
My favourite place on the Trou-aux-Biches beach
While standing in the water and taking photo of the place where Sneža and I regularly stayed in the shade of the palm trees, I managed to catch an elderly woman who was passing by there selling different trinkets for tourists.
Vendor of bead necklaces
Although I was personally not interested in these necklaces, by the time I got out, I could only see that the vendor had already gone further down the beach.
Trou-aux-Biches beach
Generally speaking, sellers of different things that may be of interest for the visitors passed frequently along the beach. Most of them sold beach pareos, but there was also a woman who regularly sold fresh peeled fruits, as well as simple cocktails she made on the spot. For instance, she would put rum into an open coconut that still had its green husk and was full of coconut water, and that was very tasty. I tried it the first day and it made me quite tipsy. Later I refrained from consuming alcohol during the day, so I rather opted for pineapples which she peeled for her clients extremely skilfully.
This day was absolutely glorious and sunny, with the hottest part of the day starting around noon. Even the colours were most intensive at the time. That’s why I took advantage of my camera to take photos of this as well.
Noon on the Trou-aux-Biches beach
Noon on the Trou-aux-Biches beach
But, in addition to the colours, the heat, as well as the strength of the sunrays were most intensive around noon, especially when not cloudy, so Sneža I soon withdrew to the pleasant shades of our hotel and our balcony.
Courtyard of our hotel
Later we went to the beach again and had nice and long swims up until the sunset. It was interesting to watch the Sun setting behind the horizon line while I was in the water and thus that line was at the level with my eyes.
The following morning – again getting up early, but this time instead of the beach I took photos of different birds and it was indeed a lovely morning – a lot of bird songs and silence of the civilization.
Common myna on a wire (Acridotheres tristis)
Red-whiskered Bulbul in the middle of its feast (Pycnonotus jocosus)
There were also village weavers that seem to work continuously on improving their nests. If one looks more attentively, in the following photos it is possible to see how a village weaver (Ploceus cucullatus) is holding in its beak a blade of grass which it skilfully builds into its nest.
Hard-working village weaver
Hard-working village weaver
Hard-working village weaver
The rhythm of this day was almost the same as that of the previous days: early morning walk, breakfast, going to the beach in order to swim... The only thing that seemed somewhat different to me was that the water on this day was particularly clear and only tiny ripples splashed the coast, while there was not a single cloud in the sky.
On this day I talked nicely again with a couple of French people that I regularly met there. They had their restaurant somewhere in the south of France, but the restaurant was closed during winters, so they used this work break to come to Mauritius. Luckily, in some period of their life they lived and worked in South Africa and they spoke English, for that certainly facilitated the communication.
As they had been coming here for the last 16 years, it was precisely Philippe who told me about the snorkelling on the Trou-aux-Biches beach. He said that in the past it had truly been a snorkelling paradise, but over time this underwater beauty had been completely devastated on account of the intensive speedboat rides on the surface above and he thought that by indulging the whims of the visitors the local people were cutting the branch they were sitting on. He should have known that, for he regularly went snorkelling and hunting for different sea creatures which he later prepared as food. As a memory of our short and casual talks, as well as of our talk about snorkelling, he gave me a delicate test of some underwater animal which he had found in the water and for which he could not tell me what it was. I had to pack it extremely carefully in order for it to survive my flights back. Once in Belgrade, I consulted with a friend who is admittedly an ornithologist, but who “knew people” and so they told him that this was most likely Brissus latecarinatus, a type of sea urchin that inhabits the Red Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean.
Since I’m mentioning my consultations with biologists, let me also say that during those early morning walks of mine in the part of the beach with broken shells and corals I often came across some pieces washed ashore by the ocean that I found interesting. Thus, for instance, I chose a few nice pieces of coral stones which I believe are quite suitable as stones for exfoliating feet. But, I also found two pieces of something that looked like some petrified filled-out tubes. I had no idea what this could be, but I certainly brought them back to Belgrade and showed them to my biologist friend.
It was clear to him at once and he simply said: “These are teeth of a ruminant.” I could not believe this. I brought from another continent teeth of a cow! But, Sale told me that I could leave these with him and he would ask his colleagues. The next time he told me what he had found out. The smaller pair of these teeth was “more recent,” some 50,000 years old, but the other pair of teeth was not interesting to any serious biologist either because it was “only about a million years old.” Well, I could even less believe this! In MY personal world of a total biology layman, this was as if I were a second Darwin. I have no idea where the ocean brought these teeth from which it eventually washed ashore on Mauritius, but I was very proud of my discovery. So much so that it took me a couple of years to find the right “vessel” in which I could display my beach memories from Mauritius, but then I finally succeeded. Since I also brought back with me a small quantity of beach sand, I could create a perfect “souvenir” that is standing beside my computer monitor and so every day, if not consciously then certainly unconsciously, I remind myself of a stunning tropical beach on Mauritius.
Tiny piece of a beach from Mauritius: two pairs of some prehistoric “cows” and a test of a sea urchin
Tiny piece of a beach from Mauritius: two pairs of some prehistoric “cows” and a test of a sea urchin
In addition to this urchin’s test which Philippe gave to me, his wife Marie also gave me a gift. This was the Eye of St. Lucia, which is in fact a lid for the shell of some molluscs that most often live in the waters of the Mediterranean, but there are also some tropical versions and then this lid is called the Eye of Shiva. The Eye of St. Lucia is used in the production of some pieces of jewellery and it is also considered an excellent amulet which brings luck. When she gave me the Eye of St. Lucia, Marie told me that I should carry it in my purse, because this would ensure that I always have money. These two French were truly and outstandingly nice.
Later during that penultimate day I took the photo-camera with me, because the beach deserved to have photos of it taken when it was lit by the afternoon Sun.
Trou-aux-Biches beach in the afternoon
Lazy afternoon on the beach
Even when I lay down on my towel I could not stop taking photos.
Look to the right while lying down on the Trou-aux-Biches beach
Look upwards while lying down on the Trou-aux-Biches beach
And then a curious common myna came there to keep me company.
Common myna
As we knew that this day would be the last one when we could look at the sunset from the beach and we also were in no hurry whatsoever, we stayed on the beach for as long as there was any light. We did not regret it in the least. Although they were different every day, the sunsets were fabulous almost every time and this time around they were spectacular. At least to me.
Sunset on Mauritius
Sunset on Mauritius
Impression, Sunset
Impression, Sunset
Impression, Sunset
Although passive watching of a sunset in the shape of a short video sounds monotonous, there is something in that serene end of the day and the shadows of families that enjoyed those moments which I find truly reminiscent of some paradise we have lost in the meantime.
The last day I did not go for my early morning walk and I spent the entire day quite lazily, mostly on the beach, since we had a late flight to Paris in the evening. Both Sneža and I were very content with our stay and although we both managed to get a good rest, it seemed to us that it would be very good if we could stay some more. Perhaps in order for the two of us to regret the return less, the nature arranged it so that the last afternoon it drizzled. But, even that was not enough to send us away from the beach. Moreover, I took the opportunity and went for a swim. Somehow I always wanted to get a good chance to swim while it was raining and the chance here was perfect, for regardless of the clouds and the precipitation, the waters of the ocean were quite still, while the temperature of the water and that of the air were wonderfully warm.
For me, the stay on Mauritius was the perfect remedy for all the problems that I had gone through in the previous years which culminated the autumn before. During those two weeks I spoke with my mom only a couple of times and both times very briefly and from a public phone, while my mobile phone was off all the time. Also, I checked my electronic mail only sporadically and was not interested in any news, either from Serbia or from any other part of the world. Perhaps this was the reason why this vacation of mine was so good and thorough.
No matter how this was mostly a passive holiday, we still went several times to see some other parts of the island, but for us it was best to stay “at home.” On the other hand, Mauritius can also offer some other very interesting things and not only beautiful beaches. There is a spectacular botanical garden which is the oldest one in the southern hemisphere, the Black River Gorges National Park with numerous hiking trails, Camarel Park with its clay soil in seven colours at the same place, numerous waterfalls and smaller islets around the main one. I did not see any of this during this say so I kept thinking that perhaps I could go there again some April when allegedly Mauritius is at its best. Why not?