Port Louis, Maruitius

To your relief, this should be a short one. Before I start, when writing this post, I wanted to let whoever is reading this know about the great time we had, but not have it come off as bad as it could potentially sound. Just keep that in mind while reading. Exaggerate what you want, ignore what you don’t. Either way, keep an open mind and use your imagination how you see fit. Mauritius is known as the Spring Break of SAS, and that’s exactly what we needed and what we did.

We were only in Mauritius for a few hours and in that time we didn’t exactly get to explore the island. Being a Sunday, pretty much everything was closed. Not that that really mattered because we had all pre-booked Catamaran cruises. When we finally got cleared, we went out on the landing area to wait for the rest of our group. We had 30 some people in ours, and as the ship’s computers crashed, it took a while for the whole group to sign out. Once we had everyone, we boarded some busses and drove about 45 minutes to the place where we met the catamarans. There were multiple bus loads of kids, and about 6 catamarans all waiting for us. We got on and immediately started having a good time. Let’s just say we had to pack a week’s worth of spring break activities into roughly 6 hours on the cruise.

The water in the mooring field was gorgeous. It was the most brilliant turquoise blue I have ever seen in water. We thought it was super clear until a couple of the guys jumped in and you couldn’t even see their feet below the surface. I’ll have to ask in Oceanography why that is. Once we got a little further out on the water, you could visibly see the line where the turquoise water and darker blue deep water met. It was like the meeting of the waters in the Amazon, only with blues instead of black and brown. A little prettier this time around.

We cruised for a little bit and then all the boats docked together off this rocky island so we could swim and socialize to our hearts content. They had a barbeque for us too which was really good. We hopped from boat to boat and jumped off the sides all day. The water was so clear you could see the bottom maybe 25-30 feet below. It was so beautiful.

But, we couldn’t stay out there all day and eventually had to get back to land. Once on shore, it was a free for all to get on a bus back. On the way there we had organized services with the names of the group “leader” posted. The way back however was a different story. We all just climbed onto whatever mobile thing we could get into, hoping to make it back before on ship time and avoid dock time in India.

Our original group got a little separated but as far as I know we all made it back okay. Brittney lost her ID and Hailey couldn’t find some of her items, but we made it on without a problem and just in time for dinner.

That night was rough to say the least and I was thankful to just lay and in bed and watch a movie with my roommate Ali. The next day was soo funny though. Everyone was just dead. We all looked like we’d been though the ringer and just passed each other in the hall with that look of sympathy and understanding. Due to previous voyages, SAS isn’t welcome to spend the night in Mauritius anymore and after that day, I can honestly say I’m glad we weren’t allowed to. We had a great time and probably could have learned a lot more educationally about the island, but with only a few hours, what can anyone else expect from us. We all wanted and needed a break and that’s exactly what we got. The stories will be comical at the very least to retell, but the pictures…well, those just might have to be kept private for a while. 









As a side note and with a more somber tone, we did have to leave someone in Mauritius. As far as we know, he’ll be okay, but after some “medical problems “(as we’ve been told) he had to be hospitalized. Hopefully he’ll be able to come back, but that’s up to the faculty at this point. We had an all community meeting about responsibilities and expedition behavior to reinforce core values. They just wanted to remind us that while we’re encouraged to have a good time, we need to be responsible for ourselves and look out for our friends. Alcohol was a factor with this incident, but not the only cause. We just need to be aware of our actions and how we conduct ourselves in port. For our own safety, the safety of those around us, and the reputation of the program, we need to act as adults and keep control. I, and the rest of us on the catamarans all had a great time. We might have gotten a little wild and finally let loose, but everyone made it back safe and sound save for the inevitable headache and misplaced items. It’s too bad that the poor decisions of one person can have negative repercussions on us all. With that being said, I hope he is okay and will be able to come back. Like I said, alcohol was only a minor factor in what happened that day, and to have the trip of a lifetime be cut short because of what could be considered chance would really suck.