Semester at Sea: Spring Break in Mauritius

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Before reading the itinerary for the Spring 2010 voyage of Semester at Sea, I had never even heard of Mauritius. Once I looked it up online, I quickly began looking forward to visiting this tropical paradise hidden away in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Madagascar! Since we only had a couple days in this tiny island nation and it was near the middle of our voyage many students were considering it a spring break in Mauritius.

I continued to learn about Mauritius on the voyage, for example a fun fact is that Mauritius was the home of the long extinct Dodo bird. Yes, that ridiculous looking creature that is so famous long after it ceased to live, was only found in Mauritius. The reason it’s extinct? Because the traders who discovered the uninhabited island thought it was fun to hunt. Mauritians are very proud of the Dodo bird, and even feature it on their coat of arms.

Gloomy Arrival

When we first arrived, everyone was really disappointed that it was raining since the beach was part of many people’s plans. Luckily, the rain quickly cleared and it was sunny by the time we got through customs and immigration.

Money Matters

I walked into Port Louis with some friends in search of an ATM so we could get some Mauritian Rupees. Since we didn’t have clear directions, we asked people as we walked. One lady was kind enough to walk us all the way to the ATM so we didn’t get lost. She didn’t speak very clear English and none of us spoke enough French to understand her, but we managed to communicate as we wound through Port Louis in search of an ATM. The ATM was located at a bank branch, which I recommend looking for when traveling as they’re usually considered safer than ATMs in less monitored areas. You can read more of my travel money tips here.

After much confusion about how much money to take out with the exchange rate, we headed to a small cafe where we got some drinks and snacks. Feeling more energized, we walked over to the market to pick up some souvenirs and explore. It was hard to shop in the market because everything was much more expensive when compared to our last few stops to India, Vietnam, Cambodia, and China.

Onto the Next Adventure

From the market we headed back to the ship since some of the girls I was with had trips through Semester at Sea that they needed to be back for. While back at the ship, I met up with another friend who had been on a field program with Semester at Sea for the morning. She and I were going to visit Chamarel, an area in the southern part of the island known for seven colored earth.

Mini Road Trip to Chamarel

My friend and I caught a taxi into town whose driver agreed to take us all the way out to Chamarel and bring us back as well. Since my friend had some family in France she spoke enough French to carry on some conversation with the driver in his native tongue. The ride was about an hour long, but it was through very beautiful scenery so it was worth seeing. 

Between the waving fields of sugarcane, volcanic mountains, and gem-like Indian Ocean, Mauritius was definitely one of the most beautiful places we had visited on the voyage. Our driver was really nice, answering any questions we had, and even stopping to get us water and snacks. The little bags of Twisties he brought us were a delicious mix between cheese puffs and Cheetos.

The Seven Colored Earth

The Seven Colored Earth in Chamarel was really interesting. Located on a private estate, the soil is literally seven different shades: red, brown, violet, green, blue, purple, and yellow. The colored earth was created when the lava forming the island cooled at different speeds. Over time the basalt rock formed by the lava eroded into clay and eventually into the sands we see today. As a bonus the owners also have giant tortoises on site that my friend and I had a great time watching try to escape from their pen. 

Once we finished exploring the area, we hopped back in our taxi for the drive back to Port Louis where we had dinner at the new Waterfront that they had recently developed. More fellow Semester at Sea students joined us while we were eating, and when we’d all finished, we headed back to the ship together. After dropping all our bags, we re-grouped and headed up to Grand Baie to hang out with our friends who were staying in that area for the night. 

Sun, Sand, & Sea

The next morning we awoke to a beautifully sunny day so my roommate, myself, and a few friends decided to go to Flic en Flac Beach for the day. We managed to get an awesome cab driver who had a much nicer car than most of us did. When he dropped us off, we got his business card so he could come back to pick us up later in the afternoon to go back to the ship before our on-ship time. 

The beach was absolutely beautiful with powdery white sand and crystalline blue water. We slathered on sunscreen and set out our towels to enjoy the sunshine, but soon jumped in the water to cool off. We made friends with a couple of locals who were really friendly and fascinated by what we were doing this semester. This happened a lot when we explained the Semester at Sea program to people in the countries we visited, and actually still happens when I explain to people what my study abroad program was.

Snacks & Skilled Driving

Eventually we decided to wander into town near the beach to find some snacks. After finding a grocery store and doing a little grocery shopping, we called our taxi driver back who had stayed in the area to head back to the home, sweet MV Explorer. We actually got really lucky that we had found such a good driver because there had been an accident on one of the main roads into Port Louis that was delaying traffic. He managed to get around the area that was all jammed up and get us back to the port in time for on-ship time. Some of our shipmates weren’t so lucky.

Never Enough Time

We only had two days in Mauritius, but that was enough to convince me it must be among the most beautiful places in the world. I loved the short time we had there because it was so nice to relax a bit after the crazy traveling I had been doing in some of the other countries. We all thought of it as a weekend spring break in Mauritius since it was in the middle of our semester.

I wish we could have had just one more day there, but it’s ok because all my friends and I decided Mauritius would be a great honeymoon spot in the future! (My husband and I actually ended up honeymooning on a road trip through the Florida Keys, but I hope to get him to Mauritius eventually!)

Read more about my adventures on Semester at Sea!

Have you heard of Mauritius before or even visited? Tell me in the comments!