March 2, 2020 - Monday

Azamara Quest Cape Town to Athens 

Cruise Day 12 - Mauritius

Pictures to follow with better internet

This is a bonus day in Mauritius due to the elimination of our stop in Madagascar. We were disappointed by that deletion, but we are delighted to have another day here. 

Today we will visit the south and central portions of the island. After a drive along the coast south of the port we turned inland. We started to drive up the mountains to an area in the national park known as Chamarel. Here we visited waterfalls cascading soon the sides of a caldera. Then we checked out the 90 year old land tortoises before viewing the 7 colored earth.

The waterfalls were across the gorge from us, so the roar and spray could not be enjoyed. They were pretty to look at. Binoculars would have helped.

The tortoises were busy feeding on grass around their enclosure while trying to stay out of the sun. There were 5 of these. They have been brought here from other places. This is not their natural home. They are very large and very old. Seems similar to some of our passengers.

Across from the tortoises was a large fenced area of small hills with multicolored soil. The minerals created in the ancient eruption that created the island have caused different shades of red and brown in the soil. It really is a very pretty site, but we wish there had been something to describe what we were actually seeing.

Our driver continued to navigate the myriad switchbacks as we motored farther up the mountain. We would stop at a viewpoint to look across a valley at the highest peak. Below was a lazy caldera that has not seen an eruption for thousands of years.

We started to work our way down out of the mountains. On the way we passed the largest fresh water reservoir. Last year it was down to 25% of capacity due to lack of rain. Now it was back to 100%

We were continuing on our way to the Holy Lake. This is a Hindu holy place. Last week 400,000 pilgrims visited here. Today we were part of a group of about 100 tourists. The temple here is very simple. Around the lake are many statues of gods contributed by grateful worshipers. We enjoyed the stop and boarded the coach in a light rain. This was our final stop before returning to Quest. We arrived at the gangway at 4:30. All aboard was 4:45 with departure at 5:00.

This had been a hot, humid and rewarding day of touring. We were ready for showers and dinner. Both were very good and very welcome. Dinner in particular was very special. We both chose surf and turf for our main course. I added brussels sprouts from the venison entre. The medium rare filet mignons melted in our mouths. They were cooked to perfection. The half lobster tail was not in the least bit chewy or tough. My brussels sprouts were perfect. This meal was better than any surf and turf we have had on Holland America. Kudos to Azamara.

We managed to stay up for the 9:30 show featuring the solo talent of cruise director Stephen. He was very good. His voice has a broad range and he employs it with great versatility. We look forward to his next show before the end of the cruise.

Our 11:00 bedtime was the latest for this cruise. It came at the end of very nice day and an excellent visit to Mauritius.