WELCOME TO MAURITIUS - WE SEE LAND Thank you Gilly. It is indeed hard to believe that we have been on Serenity for 69 days. Time does go fast. This was the second of the last two days that we ate in our room due to appointments that Anne Marie had before we normally dine and we had during and after we dine. We had small window to eat. We will share some details from our two day experience in the coming weeks. We ordered two course to keep things simple. We had Caesar Salad from the room service menu and Broiled Fresh Ahi Tuna Steak from the Crystal Classic Waterside Menu. The restaurant menus from Waterside are included below the photo. Last Evening's Entertainment included a variety show with two performance from Comedian Jeff Stevenson and Vocalist Toni Warne. Live music was performed in the Crystal Cove, Palm Court, Avenue Saloon and Stardust Club. A special Crystal Chorus Concert was held in the Crystal Cove at 5:45 PM. It was led by Reverend Ed Voosen with Richard Pucci on the Piano. We got to sleep later than usual as we have the past three nights. Thankfully we turned the clocks back one hour before going to sleep as we did the night before. We appreciated this. We began the day as you all know so well. An early morning visit to the Fitness Center for Keith, including a workout on the Elliptical Machine along with using the step with weights, the kettle ball and some additional cargo and weight exercises. We enjoyed coffee followed by breakfast in the room. Each guest was assigned a group number for the mandatory inspection which was held for our visit to Mauritius. The face to face inspection was not much of a face to face session. We entered the Palm Court and a member of the Crystal Team swiped our room card to verify that we had checked-in. We turned in our passports and completed paperwork to another Crystal Representative. At another table local authority personnel stamped the passports for those who had already had their passport collected. We wanted to share some information about Port Louis, Mauritius. This is our third visit to Port Louis having visited the area in 2014 and 2015. On our first visit we did a private Crystal Tour. Our tour included a visit to the Tamil Temple which is one of the oldest Temple’s on the Island. We visited Chinatown which is relatively small and La Citadelle which is a former British Fortress. Port Louis is the Capital City of Mauritius. Unemployment on the Island is relatively low at 5%. If you want to work you can. Much of the work centers around tourism. Major exports do include sugar and textiles. Labor is relatively cheap. Tourism is very strong, although very few cruise ships sail to this location. The vast majority of tourism comes from tourists who visit here by airplane. There are several Markets around town which locals frequent to purchase spices, fruits and vegetables. Plentiful fruits which are local include bananas, watermelon and dragon fruit (first time we ever had dragon fruit was on board Crystal Serenity in 2008) and many vegetables that are local can be found at the markets. In addition, they import fruit and vegetables from South Africa, Italy and Pakistan. One of the photos below shows a vegetable which is called Pulkin. Another site located around thirty minutes from town is the Eureka Colonial House, which is one of the most historic colonial houses found on this island. It was built in 1830. Additional highlights of Port Louis include: Caudan Waterfront is the first shopping mall on the island. The waterfront includes shops, banking facilities, casinos, cinemas, restaurants, a marina and luxury hotel. Photography Museum which is located in a French Colonial Building constructed in the 18thcentury. The museum features a collection of cameras, projectors, scrips and photos which dates back as far as 1840. Central Bazaar which has been in use since 1833. The bazaar has three main areas; fruits and vegetables, meats and crafts. La Citadelle which was built between 1834 and 1840. When it was in use it accommodated officers, up to 200 men and provisions that could last up to three months. When we arrived to port there was a beautiful Rainbow. For those who were not on tour some people we know went to the beach and/or a hotel on the beach. The heat can be a bit too much for Anne Marie after awhile and given that we have toured the Island two times already we thought it made more sense for us to stay on board the ship other than a short visit we made ashore today. We were in the same "boat" with some other guests we know who decided to make today a sea day. We do have tours coming up in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town and our touring will increase in Europe. We got in a long walk after returning to the ship this morning. There is a tribute to Rogers and Hammerstein this evening and we listened to part of the practice session. The songs are beautiful that we heard. We enjoyed lunch at Marketplace and in the afternoon, We both enjoyed another long walk and are enjoying the rest of the day on-board Serenity. While this segment of the World Cruise goes from Fremantle to Cape Town at some point it was subdivided into two segments. About 50 guests boarded today and will take the segment from Mauritius to Cape Town. As guest boarded they were offered flutes of Champagne and Violinist Irina Guskova was on-hand playing beautifully on the electric violin. This evening we return to Waterside for dinner where we will dine with two friends. After dining in our room for two nights we look forward to our dinner at Waterside. Todays' daily Reflections Program follows. Cheers Anne Marie & Keith
1 Comment
Catherine
2/28/2019 05:59:28 pm
Stunning picture of the rainbow! What kind of camera do you use?
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