9th October 2015. Mahebourg and Ile aux Aigrettes, Mauritius.

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I woke up early and wandered down to the Mahebourg waterfront at dawn.

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A couple of cottages in the streets on the way back.

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Later in the morning I had an appointment at the Ile aux Aigrettes, just offshore from Mahebourg.   I probably took this from the boat on the way over.  In a different era one might have wondered whether Bob Marley was on board.  Even a skull and crossbones at the stern.

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The Ile aux Aigrettes is the Island of Egrets but the Egrets are long gone.  Edith Piaf lived a life with no egrets (“je ne egrette rien”) so maybe she would have liked it here.

The island is a nature reserve, sheltering the remnants of Mauritius’s wildlife.  There were a couple of species of giant tortoise on Mauritius but they have been extinct for centuries.  This is an Aldabra giant tortoise.

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The rare pink pigeon.

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Telfair’s Skink (surviving in the wild only on the small Round Island off Mauritius)

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Day gecko.

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The dodo is commonly thought to be extinct but I was lucky enough to encounter one.

This is the rare brass subspecies, known for the slowness of their movements.

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Black-spined flying fox.

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I was waiting on the wharf for the return journey to the mainland.  A couple of boats sped past.

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Looking past the edge of the island to waves breaking on the distant reef.

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It looks as though Bob Marley may have a speedboat as well

(though the name is not so clear unless you click on the image to expand it).

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My lift to the mainland is going back to the island.

I had paid a little extra for a personal tour, and my guide (whose name I now forget) is on the left.

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