Feb. 27
So today we had the pleasure of getting off the ship for about 7 hours, exploring a remote foreign country and then leaving. This blog post will be pretty short, because there simply wasn’t any time to do much of anything, so it won’t take me too much time to explain the one thing I did. So without further ado, the one thing I did in Mauritius was…. to go on a catamaran cruise to an island, swim around, eat lunch, and sail back to the ship. It was fun and relaxing, but probably not one of the more memorable things I have done so far or will end up doing. Literally about 200 SAS kids all were at the same island on about six different catamarans. It was funny because when we were let off the ship this morning one third of all the students got in taxis, drove to the north side of the island, got on a catamaran and all ended up at the same spot. When we reached the island, which was uninhabited and you couldn’t really climb the rocks to get on land anyways, all the boats tied up and anchored together and all the SAS kids spent a few hours swimming from boat to boat, jumping off the railings, eating the barbeque from the catamaran’s tiny grill and generally enjoying themselves. I had debated not going and instead exploring some of the capitol city Port Louis, but had a free ticket for the catamaran and had told some friends that I would be going, so I figured it would be worth it.
The experience of only being in port for one day was really strange considering we visit most other countries for at least 5 days. When we are in a country for a longer time like that, we all go through this process of preparation, adjustment and equalization with the local culture, and then the strange effect of being back on the ship. It is actually rather draining and requires a lot of someone. Today however, it really felt like a Saturday afternoon (it was Sunday to be technical), where a bunch of us just went sailing, for a while and then got back on the ship. No packing, no hotels or hostels, no getting lost, no finding a good restaurant that you want to go back to, just getting off the ship and getting back on a few hours later. I have heard this will be the last time SAS stops in Mauritius, mainly because there isn’t a whole lot to do in one day, and the SAS kids have a reputation of being raucous and drunk. On previous voyages, the ship had stayed overnight, but the Mauritian government was so upset by the damage done to the island that they were not cooperative and would not let us stay overnight even if ISE had wanted it.
Anyways, at least I can say I have been to Mauritius and it really was a beautiful island that I enjoyed immensely during my few short hours. However, the great land of India is less than a week away, and that is really where everyone'’s attention has been since leaving South Africa. I have a little bit of sunburn on my shoulders to keep me warm when I sleep tonight (even though we were only here for a day everyone is exhausted), but I figure it’s better than getting cold from the winter temps on the East Coast.
Enjoy life,
-Ben
So today we had the pleasure of getting off the ship for about 7 hours, exploring a remote foreign country and then leaving. This blog post will be pretty short, because there simply wasn’t any time to do much of anything, so it won’t take me too much time to explain the one thing I did. So without further ado, the one thing I did in Mauritius was…. to go on a catamaran cruise to an island, swim around, eat lunch, and sail back to the ship. It was fun and relaxing, but probably not one of the more memorable things I have done so far or will end up doing. Literally about 200 SAS kids all were at the same island on about six different catamarans. It was funny because when we were let off the ship this morning one third of all the students got in taxis, drove to the north side of the island, got on a catamaran and all ended up at the same spot. When we reached the island, which was uninhabited and you couldn’t really climb the rocks to get on land anyways, all the boats tied up and anchored together and all the SAS kids spent a few hours swimming from boat to boat, jumping off the railings, eating the barbeque from the catamaran’s tiny grill and generally enjoying themselves. I had debated not going and instead exploring some of the capitol city Port Louis, but had a free ticket for the catamaran and had told some friends that I would be going, so I figured it would be worth it.
The experience of only being in port for one day was really strange considering we visit most other countries for at least 5 days. When we are in a country for a longer time like that, we all go through this process of preparation, adjustment and equalization with the local culture, and then the strange effect of being back on the ship. It is actually rather draining and requires a lot of someone. Today however, it really felt like a Saturday afternoon (it was Sunday to be technical), where a bunch of us just went sailing, for a while and then got back on the ship. No packing, no hotels or hostels, no getting lost, no finding a good restaurant that you want to go back to, just getting off the ship and getting back on a few hours later. I have heard this will be the last time SAS stops in Mauritius, mainly because there isn’t a whole lot to do in one day, and the SAS kids have a reputation of being raucous and drunk. On previous voyages, the ship had stayed overnight, but the Mauritian government was so upset by the damage done to the island that they were not cooperative and would not let us stay overnight even if ISE had wanted it.
Anyways, at least I can say I have been to Mauritius and it really was a beautiful island that I enjoyed immensely during my few short hours. However, the great land of India is less than a week away, and that is really where everyone'’s attention has been since leaving South Africa. I have a little bit of sunburn on my shoulders to keep me warm when I sleep tonight (even though we were only here for a day everyone is exhausted), but I figure it’s better than getting cold from the winter temps on the East Coast.
Enjoy life,
-Ben
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