8th October 2015. Mauritius.

This is around the time of dawn, looking across the street from the window of my room in Mahebourg.

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My route was as intended for the previous day.  The map applies to both posts for the day.  Up the east coast and then back inland.

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Early in the morning I headed off to get some cash from an ATM and here are a couple of shots from the centre of town.

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People on the beach or fishing, just north of Mahebourg.

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I stopped again for a few images at Vieux Grand Porte.

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This one and the next two though, are further north at Bras d’eau National Park.

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These buildings are the remains of a sugar mill.

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There is not much left of the original ecology of Mauritius.  This national park is a rare pocket of forest that still has a few ebony trees and some smaller but still rare wildlife.

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We are now near the northern tip of the island, at or close to Grand Gaube.  The traditional boats are charming but much of the coast of the island in the north, is dominated by resorts.  They commonly take up large areas and try to prevent non-paying people accessing beaches and coastline.  Not peculiar to Mauritius, of course.  I saw some toxic examples in Hawaii, for example.  This is a modern form of economic colonisation (and applies as much to Hawaii which was after all, seized by force in the 1890s).  Given the extent of transfer pricing by multinationals, as revealed in the Panama Papers, it may be questionable how much Mauritius benefits economically.  Personally, I’d never stay in one unless there was no alternative.  What’s the point of visiting another country and not experiencing its culture or meeting its people?

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A bit further on, very close to the northern tip of the island, I came across some wind surfers.

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Takeoff!

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