We arrive in Port Louis, Mauritius at breakfast hour. Mauritius is well known for being the scene of the demise of the Dodo bird due to the actions of the sailing ships and their crew having arrived at the uninhabited island around 1510. I think it took about 30 years to wipe the Dodo’s out. Mauritius has been independent since 1968, having most recently with the British as the overlords. French before that. They speak “Mauritian creole” which is unintelligible to folks like us.
Our excursion takes us across the island to the southeast shore where we head out to a small island, Isle des Deux Cocos, for an afternoon of snorkeling, buffet lunch and relaxing on the beach front. Transfer to the island was on a glass-bottom boat.Ravi knows how to take care of the guests!And then we’re off to Reunion, only about 300 miles to the west. Here’s a couple of sunset pics taken from our deck.The next stop is Reunion Island. Our guide pointed out that as a French territory, their capital city is Paris, and Macron is their President. Interesting. We tie up to our dock in La Port.Reunion and Mauritius are volcanic islands that were formed as the tectonic plate that they are on drifted over the “hot spot” below, such as the Hawaii story. Reunion being the younger island has higher and more active volcanos than Mauritius. Our Reunion excursion took us on a lengthy bus ride to view the active volcano and surroundings. Apparently it is one of the most active volcanos in the world and could erupt again any day. Last significant eruption was about a year ago. Unfortunately, we only had good viewing at one of the three spots on our agenda due to clouds and light rain. Here’s a few en route pics.Our pit stop and lunch venue was up at around 4,500 foot elevation – significantly cooler. The pyramid-shaped building behind was a Volcano Museum that we toured for about an hour – very well done.Here’s the one viewing spot that we were able to see. Apparently this was the least dramatic of the three target sites, so the others must be more impressive. The flora was also fun to see as it changed dramatically as we gained elevation with the upper elevations hardly having any plant life. Elevation here was between 5000 and 6000 feet.
Charlie and Marty’s World Cruise 