More from Mauritius

3/2

On Sunday we walked to the covered market where everything from fresh fruit and dried octopus, to cashmere shawls and tourist items containing images of the poor defunct dodo bird (remember from Alice in Wonderland?) were available to be haggled over. Jim had broken his watchband on the mountain the day before, so treated himself to a $4.00 replacement watch, which is still running! The negotiations in the market are tough – for a $5.00 item ($1 = 27 rupees) they start by asking $50.00 and you have to walk away in disgust and wait for them to run after you with a reasonable price. The process was tiring, and Jim says it will get worse next week in India…

3/3

Today we signed up for a tour of the native flora and fauna, and got treated to a close-up view of the annual Shiva festival that the Hindus who honor Shiva are celebrating this week. Mauritians of Indian descent from all over the island travel on foot to the Shiva temple, many of them wearing or carrying elaborate shrines to Shiva on their shoulders. Some of the shrines are so large (sort of like parade floats) that groups of four or more have to push them down the street. There are rest stops every so often on the side of the streets for the festival-bound to stop for free refreshments. While very festive and colorful (some include recorded music as well), the festival-goers caused terrific traffic jams on many of the roads, which enabled us to get some great pictures of the goings-on.

How are the Mauritians restoring their native flora, you might ask? They are pulling out everything that isn't native (in the national parks) which is just about everything. Personal opinion: they are pulling out the pretty stuff – the native plants just aren't so hot! And the fauna? It's way too late for the poor dodo bird, but the conservationists managed to bring back the pink pigeon, which was down to one nesting pair not too long ago, and now has 500. They've gone to neighboring islands to import tortoises and skinks that are pretty close to the ones that went extinct here, but many species are just gone for good.

3/4/08

For our last day in Mauritius, we visited a nursing school, an Ayurvedic hospital and a Chinese medical shop to learn about different medical practices in a place that supports four cultures living in harmony. The Mauritians are very proud of the peaceful way in which they coexist, with no racial or religious prejudice.

The highlight of the day was lunch, which was held at a restaurant that is in the home of a Mauritian family. We were served out in the garden in traditional southern Indian style. Instead of plates, the food was served on a banana leaf, and instead of utensils, it was eaten with the right hand. (Culture lesson: you only touch food with your right hand, whether you are right handed or left handed. Can you guess what the left hand is used for?) The kids really enjoyed themselves, and ate everything that was served, very little of which I could identify – there was green stuff, orange stuff, yellow stuff and white stuff, with generous helpings of naan (fried bread). Delicious!