Monday, January 21, 2008

Lots of waiting, but at least I'm in Mauritius

I'm going on 4 days in Mauritius now, and I haven't gotten much of anything done. I did go to the University today with Yasmina, and she introduced me to some faculty, and students working in the lab. The University of Mauritius is situated a nice little campus with regular bus service, so I should have no trouble getting to and from campus when I actually have some specimens to do some work on. Tomorrow is a public holiday, for some religious celebration, but I don't know what it is. This means that everything except the busses will be closed (maybe not the restaurants, I hope), so I have yet another day to kill before any real work can get done. The good news is that I'm in Mauritius, and killing time is relatively easy. I took the bus back from the university today, so now I've been introduced to the way it works. There are like 4 or 5 different companies running busses, and the fare is different on every bus (but not by that much). Anyway, it is really quite cheap (maybe 12 rupees for a short ride, where ~30 rupees equals a dollar), and very simple (routes are labeled on the bus like in the states). Tomorrow, I'm thinking of taking he bus to the SW corner of the island, where there is a small mountain called La Mornes. There are supposed to be Coffea growing on the slopes of this mountain, and I thought it would be a nice day to hike around and look for it, then when I'm finished for the day, perhaps make my way down to the beach, which is walking distance from the foot of the mountain. Ok, I'll let you know how it goes.

2 comments:

Michael said...

Howdy Mike,

Mauritius sounds like a place I would like. I imagine the combination of those cultures has made for a very interesting mix of customs and perhaps architecture? I wonder what it is about Indian culture and their love for KFC. When I was in Bangalore, my Indian friend took me there and wolfed down 2 chicken sandwiches. I passed, preferring to eat local cuisine instead. Have fun! I'll be reading your blog from now on. Thanks for sending out the link.

-Boom

holidayexpert said...

Yeah, Mauritius is a very lovely place with great sceneries. It would be okay to wait for hours when you get to see those beautiful views.

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