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| Jeremy and Kathy at Mahebourg |
When we left Grand Baie, we returned south to Grande Riviere
Noir, staying at Tombeau Baie and Tamarin Baie for one night each. Our friends,
Eric and Cathy, on “Erica” had gone on ahead of us and had kindly filled our
cooking gas bottle while they were in Port Louis. It ran out on the evening we
had invited them over for dinner. Fortunately, we had a spare. While we were
anchored at Black River we had a day out by bus. Erica and Cathy came with us.
We changed buses at Baia du Cap and Riviera Galets, arriving at Maheborg in
Grande Porte about two and a half hours later. The lagoon is beautiful, but the
entrance faces into the trade winds and the swell. The weather conditions were
not suitable for sailing there. Apparently it is the site of the only naval
battle where Napoleon’s French beat the British. After lunch and a quick walk
along the waterfront we boarded a bus to Port Louis and then another one back
to Black River. It was a good way to see the island.
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| Coloured earth at Chamarel |
The next day Jeremy and I caught the bus to Chamarel and
walked to the attractions of the coloured earth and the waterfall. We arranged
for Baboo, a local French speaking taxi driver, to take us to the start of a
walk in the Black River National Park. A man who works at the Citronelle
Restaurant translated for us. We agreed 600 rupees, about £12, for the taxi
fare and looked forward to seeing Baboo the following day. Jeremy felt his ankle
was up to a 10k walk, so we met Baboo as arranged and he dropped us off on the
top of a high ridge at the start of the Macabee Trail. The first part was easy
walking on a fairly flat wide track. Then we started our descent. Steps, cut
like a staircase, on a narrow, near vertical path fell away in front of us.
Down we went picking our way over tree roots and sliding over rocks, using the
trees on either side to steady ourselves. Soon the path opened out again and
the rest was an easy, but steep downward walk to the Black River Visitor
Centre.
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| Kathy on the steep part |
After two nights in the lagoon at Petite Riviere Noir, we
motorsailed to Port Louis and tied up in the yacht harbour. I made use of the
hot showers and coloured my hair. It said auburn on the pack but something went
wrong and my hair is now dark brown with purple or puce coloured highlights!
Thankfully, it’s a colour that washes out after 30 washes. Jeremy says grey is
preferable.
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| New batteries fitted |
We collected two new batteries on Tuesday from Rey and
Lenferma in Port Louis. Jean-Marie, who is in charge of the battery department
took us back to Sal Darago in his 4x4 vehicle and came on board. I think he
realised why we had to be so precise about the dimensions of the batteries when
he saw the space under our pilot berth where they are situated.
Both Mauritius and Rodrigues have been lovely islands and
the people have been very friendly.
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