Mauritius! I went there!

I've been to some warm places before.  Hot places, even.  But Mauritius may win the prize for absolute hottest-with-highest-humidity place thus far.  

I mean, I would need to take a shower each day after eating lunch. Because my clothes were soaked through from the act of sitting quietly and eating.  I am not joking.

HOWEVER, if there's a place that warrants pushing through the heat exhaustion? Holy cow, it's Mauritius.



This is a public beach - as in, not a a resort - near Chris's aunt & uncle's house.  Like... anyone could just drive up to this beach at any time and go there.  


Seriously.  This is just, like, along the side of a public road.



We had just landed about 3 hours before this picture and hadn't slept in probably 40 hours leading up to this.  As you can see, we don't mind terribly.



I MEAN COME ON.

We're lucky we headed straight to the beach upon arrival, though, since the next morning dawned overcast and rainy: we had a cyclone a-comin'.


Looking out over the capital city of Port Louis, about to be stormed on.
An imminent tropical cyclone wasn't enough to prevent us from some sight-seeing, though!  Chris's fabulous aunt & uncle drove us down to the south despite the rain.  

(Incidentally, it's kind of hilarious when the entire country is contained on a small island, because road signs will say things like "Port Louis, 12 km" or just "The South [arrow]") 

(Speaking of Chris's aunt & uncle, they are the best. They generously housed us for DAYS, drove us all around the island, made us unreal amounts of delicious food, and in general made sure our trip was outstanding.  Also they are adorable:



So lovely. We owe them big time.)

Anyway!  Back to touring!  We first went to Grand Bassin. Legend has it that the god Shiva was roaming the earth with his wife, Parvati, with the Ganges river balanced on his head.  They came across the uninhabited island of Mauritius, which was so beautiful that they paused to look closer - and while doing so, some drops of the Ganges spilled and formed the crater lake there today.  Parvati was upset that some of the holy river was being left behind, but Shiva assured her that it would become a great Hindu pilgrimage site one day. It's considered the most sacred Hindu location in Mauritius today, home to a major annual pilgrimage, as prophesied by Shiva :)


Incense, fruits, and flowers left as offerings to Shiva
Apparently there are also usually a lot of monkeys around, but the rain kept them in the trees, I guess.

A quick stop along a beach on the southern coast, with a storm brewing over the Indian Ocean:



And then!  All the way at the very tip of Mauritius is a bluff called La Roche Qui Pleure (the Crying Rock). My guidebook claimed this was because if you stood in a specific spot (which we never found) the receding waves made it look like the rock was actually crying; Chris's aunt said it's because with the wind it sometimes SOUNDS like someone crying.


And holy hell, was it windy.


With the highly effective wind sail of a maxi dress I was wearing, being swept off the cliff by a particularly strong gust was a legitimate concern.


(Chris, of course, handled it far more stoically than I.) 


Can you imagine if it were actually sunny as well?? This place was unbelievable.


(This is mainly a photo of the hairs I would never be able to untangle again, may they rest in peace.)


My poor camera lens was covered in saltwater windspray at this point (which is why all the pictures from here look like i smeared vaseline on the lens first). 

The next day, back in Port Louis, we went to the famed Central Market, where I promptly fell in love and decided to live there forever and ever, the end.

YUM.

As awesome as the produce market was (which hello, AWESOME) even more, um.. vibrant, let's say? ..was the meat market, right next door.  

Each animal/meat type had its own entrance:


And then you walk in and OH HELLO ANIMAL PIECES.



That is an entire side of a cow hanging there.  Plus, you know, all of the inside pieces laid out on the counter.




The counter, mind you, is just a plain old countertop.  That hand on it in the picture above is a patron. In other words, anyone can go touch some giant cow ribs or sheep livers or whatever, or get too close to the counter and have blood smear your shirt, you know. 




May I remind you that it is SWELTERINGLY AND OPPRESSIVELY HOT there, and that these buildings have no form of air conditioning? 



The smell was.. palpable.

Um. I was going to end the post here but it seems sort of weird to leave off with several closeup photos of dead animals.  

So instead!  What do you do when a cyclone is finally imminent and bearing down directly toward your little island?

You invite some relatives over so Chris can give everyone ballroom dance lessons, naturally!


(That is really what happened, by the way. Some of the other relatives got stir-crazy while waiting to see if the cyclone would hit or go around the island.  They're very into ballroom dancing, and Chris is a really TALENTED ballroom dancer... so we had an afternoon of salsa classes in the living room.)

(And then the cyclone went around the island, sparing us! Huzzah!) 

(Part 2 to come.  One day.  Maybe.)