It's the Landscape

The beaches in Mauritius are beautiful. The water is clear and warm and the sand is fine. But they aren't any better than the beaches they have in Aruba or Bermuda. And, believe it or not, the Jersey Shore has some advantages over Mauritian beaches (nicer sand and longer wider beacher, waves, etc...). What really sets Mauritius apart from these places though is the landscape and the combination of the landscape and the beaches.

The green mountains, miles of sugarcane fields, and volcanic rock, often juxtaposed with the ocean, makes for some lovely, distict scenery.

I think the pictures below will illustrate my point (despite my limitations as a photographer).

Mauritius Food - 2

Continuing on about cheap Mauritian food:

Alouda is a cold, milk-based drink that has tapioca (similar to bubble tea) and a little bit of ice cream in it. When you order it at a stand in the market they serve it to you in a glass and expect you to drink it right then and there and return the glass. I wonder why they haven't started using disposable cups so people are able to take it to go. Anyway, a glass costs about $0.50 (15 Mauritian Rupees).


Next up are dhal puri and chana. Both are very simple foods. Dhal puri is a mixture of curries and chili served in a folded over flatbread. Chana is sort of a dough ball containing curries and chili. Both can be had from food stands throughout the island for a couple dollars. The picture on the left shows the inside of the dhal puri. The picture on the right shows the dhal puri folded over and the chana sitting next to it.

Open Architecture

I think a topic I touched on in one of my previous posts deserves some more attention; the architecture in Mauritius, like the architecture in Aruba, is very open (or maybe porous is a better word).

Take for example the windows in my bungalow. They are pretty much just large, square holes in the wall with shutters on both sides of the wall for when you want to "close" them. There is no screen on them. So really, there isn't much between me and the outdoors. I can hear the palm trees rustling in the wind at night. Usually this is pleasant unless it is really windy. I can also hear the dogs in the houses across the street whenever they bark at night. This is never pleasant.

Another example is the restaurant at my hotel. There is an open porch and the windows on the wall that separates the outside from inside are huge. There is no glass in them, only shutters for closing the windows at night. Geckos and bugs have no trouble passing from outdoors to indoors. The wind blows straight through the windows in the back of the building through to the front of the building all day.

Even when I'm indoors I only feel like I'm 75% indoors. It's kind of strange, but since the weather is so pleasant it's been easy to get used to.

Mauritius Food -1

So after the scenery, weather, and people my favorite thing about Mauritius is the food. There is a lot of good stuff available and most of it is very inexpensive.

Exhibit A:
In everytown you will find small stands selling small, fresh pineapples. The locals eat these pineapples with a red chili sauce and tamarind sauce. These cost about $0.33.

Exhibit B:

Briani (sp?) is a Muslim dish made with rice, a protein of your choice (chicken, fish, or beef), and all sorts of spices. I, and 3 of my coworkers, went to the local briani house for lunch this week. For 4 huge dishes of briani and drinks for the table the bill was about $11.50.

More to come on this front...

Nobody Gave Us Names

Dogs occupy a different place in Mauritian society than they do in American society.

Whereas the function of a dog in the USA is mainly companionship, in Mauritius it seems like the dog's main function is being a security guard for the home.

Also, seeing stray dogs roaming the streets is very common. A lot of times they'll travel in pairs - kinda cute. But, being one who isn't crazy about animal this was tough to get used to at first. Whenever animals are involved I am used to having them completely controlled (on a leash) or at least semi-controlled (with an owner nearby). So, at first, I was a bit nervous walking around with all the loose dogs around.

After a while, however, I learned that these dogs really aren't interest in me. They don't even stop to smell me, they just trot on by. Really they're just looking for their next meal.

At least that's what I thought until today when I saw and older man have fend off a pack of 3 or 4 aggressive dogs with the walking sticks he was carrying. But that's another story.

High Fructose Corn Syrup

We'll have absolutely none of that garbage here in Mauritius. Only the real deal for Mauritians.

I tried asking the locals if any of the soda here had high fructose corn syrup (aka maize syrup for my UK viewers) in it. They looked at me with blank stares. They had no idea what I was talking about.

I guess that is one benefit of basing your economy off of sugarcane for a few centuries.

But seriously the soda here is of a fine vintage. I'm not sure if it is the sugar or something special with the water. Also, it is often served in the thick, old school glass bottles of yesteryear, just like my dad likes:

Buuuuuuuuugs!

One thing that has taken some getting used to around here in Mauritius is the prevalence of bugs.

Check this out. As far as insects go, a typical day for me in Mauritius goes as follows:


6:30 am - wake up and see about 7 ants crawling on the wall about 1 foot from my head.
6:35 am - go talk to cait on skype and get a mosquito bite or two
7:10 am - swat a bug or two off of my towel before taking a shower
7:45 am - eat breakfast with some ant crawling across the table
8:40 am - get to work. ants crawling on my desk... sometimes in my laptop (the nerve!).

And so on... you get the point; there are a lot of bugs around. Even as I write this post a couple bugs flew into the screen.

It's strange because even with all of the bugs there seems to be no appetite for things like screen doors or screens on windows. Relative to Mauritian buildings, buildings in the USA are seem like they're air tight and very sealed off from the outside world.