"Your passport does not have ECNR, and hence, you would not be able to board the flight", was what the airport officer at the Air Mauritius check-in counter told me. I was shocked beyond words. All the excitement and positive anxiety of visiting a new country had turned into frustration. The feeling of sheer helplesness was creeping in. Never in my wildest dreams had I thought that my passport would be rejected, and that too at almost the final stage...at the check-in counter. But it happened...and we had to look for a solution for the same. I asked him the way out, and he calmly replied that it was not a big issue, and I can easily get it stamped the next morning at Santacruz. The next morning! Hell, how can I get it stamped the next morning, when my flight was supposed to leave at 4:30 AM??? But there was no other choice...
We called our travel agent at 2:00 AM and blasted him for not informing us of this procedure. He tried to console us, but in vain. Finally, he asked us to submit our passports to his employee based in Bombay that night, and promised us to get the ECNR done the next morning. So I found myself sitting in a Toyota Qualis...heading back to Pune, when I should've been sitting inside the plane, heading to Mauritius. We handed over our passports to the agent at Dadar (a suburb of Bombay), and highly disappointed, headed back to Pune.
Anyway, things brightened up later that day, and we got the ECNR done, booked new tickets for the next day (for 5th May 2005, on paying 1500 extra per person, we got our tickets converted from 'Waiting' to 'Confirmed'), and were back in the Qualis to Mumbai International Airport. Things were much smoother then, and at 4:15 AM, we had just passed through the main door of Air Mauritius, looking for our respective seats. We had three windows among 5 people, and in aonther 40 minutes, I was taking pictures of South Mumbai from over 20000 ft above sea level.
We were served some kind of a sandwich in the plane, along with some orange juice. The sandwich made me feel sick, and the lights went off...no, it was not a power failure in the flight, but they were switched off, as the movie 'Musafir' was gonna be played on the common
screen. Three hours later, on waking up (obviously, I went to sleep...anytime better than watching a Hindi movie on a flight to Mauritius!), I found that we were floating above the clouds at more than 35000 ft above sea level, and were just about an hour and a half away from Mauritius. We were served breakfast, which was also kinda wierd, but the coffee made me feel better.
Blue, green, dark blue...these were the colors of the water that we could see from the flight...'Ye Jo des hai tera, Swades hai tera', was the song that was playing on Channel 3 in the flight! We could also see small islands, mostly uninhabited, but forming a pretty picture from above. In a short while, a large island came into view, covering the window completely...no need to guess which it was. We could see small buildings, and green mountains. It was a beautiful and welcoming sight! In another 15 minutes, we were reading the board...'Mauritius madhye aaple swaagat aso!' Actually the welcome board at the airport had welcome messages written in many languages, and Marathi was one among them. And it was not long before we were sitting in a Toyota Hiace, cruising towards our resort at Tombeau Bay, which was located at the North-West, a distance of around 60 km from the Airport, located at the South-East.
The road that we traveled on was very smooth, almost like the Pune-Bombay expressway, but smoother, as it was a tar road, as opposed to the expressway, which is concrete. Everyone followed the rules on the road, which was a sign of Mauritius being a rather developed nation. Although there are no industries worth shouting about, Mauritius has grown really well on the tourism front, and also generates revenue through sugarcane and tea. All vehicles that we saw on the road were imported from various countries, as there is no manufacturing done over there. Mostly the cars were imported from Japan and Germany. On the way, we crossed Port Louis, the capital of the Republic of Mauritius. There were many signs of further development here, with shopping malls at the Waterfront, and big commercial buildings in the city. It was a pleasant surprise to see an LIC building at a prime location in the city!
Soon, we were unpacking our bags in our room. My dad, mom, and I were in one room with 4 beds, and my cousin and aunt were in another double-bed room. The resort was nice, though a bit small. The backside of the resort opened in front of the sea, which was calm and placid. The overall environment was very calm and relaxing. We immediately had our lunch in the hotel itself, and were relaxing in our air-conditioned rooms. At around 5 PM (Mauritius Time, which is 1 hr 30 min less than Indian Standard Time), our travel guide in Mauritius, Ms. Mantee, gave us a visit to guide us on what all we can do in the country. In the evening, we just relaxed near the swimming pool, and had an early dinner. Food was a bit of a problem for us, as all of us are vegetarians, and you don't get much variety in veg food out there. But anyway, it was bearable.
The next morning (6th may 2005), we left for Port Louis exactly at 9 AM, in another van, similar to the Toyota Hiace, but this one was a Nissan. We reached Port Louis in less than half an hour, and my dad and I went to the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce for some work. Later, we
just roamed around the city center, saw the House of Parliament, and crossed the pedestrian subway (which was also well maintained) to get to the waterfront shopping complex, near the harbour.
After having fresh juice at a stall, we did some window-shopping. We didn't find any windows to our liking, so we decided to buy them in India itself (sorry for the bad joke!). Anyway, after that, we were back in the van, proceeding towards the Black Gorges River & National Park (BGRNP) in the South-Central Region. On the way, we ate some guavas, which looked more like berries, and had a sour taste. At the BGRNP we saw a beautiful water-fall, and a huge valley, with the sea at the horizon...it was a wonderful sight.
After that, we went to the Chamarel district, which houses a peculiar natural phenomenon, known as the seven-colored earth. As the name suggests, there is a seven color formation on the earth, but is quite dull.
Nearby was a sand pit, in which there were a few giant-size turtles, with their shells almost upto our thighs. This ended our 'planned' tour for the day, and we still had some time to go. I was yearning to see the ocean in its full splendor (translate this as the sea with large waves), so we went to Le Morne, where the sea is said to have big waves, and is a favorite among wind-surfers. On the way to Le Morne, we caught a beautiful sight of the sea from the hill road. On the left side of the horizon was blue and green colored sea, and on the right side, was bright, golden sea, with a dazzling reflection of the late-afternoon sun. And in between, was a beautiful melding of the two, forming a wonderful picture overall. On reaching Le Morne, we instantly realized why it was a favorite among wind-surfers...it's a breezy place, with a rough sea, and a seductive mix of colors, which would make anyone fall in love with the same. After spending some quality time at that beach, we started the journey back to our resort.
It was around 4:30 PM and we had already crossed Port Louis, so we decided to spend some time shopping instead of going back to the resort. We asked Muthuswamy (our driver) to leave, and We went to a huge shopping mall - JUMBO - (actually it was a hypermarket), had some pizza over there and did some shopping, mostly snacks for the next day, till late evening. I also bought...hold your breath...a boat! It's a rubber boat, which can seat 2 people, and I immediately felt like buying it. Although my dad wasn't two happy with my hasty decision, he did allow me to buy the same. Later, as our resort was close to the place (or so we thought), we decided to walk down. It seemed like an endless walk, as there were no lights on the road, and very few vehicles. But finally after around 40 min, we managed to reach our resort. Late in the evening, my cousin and I decided to relax a bit in the pool, and so I changed into my swimwear, and after considerable amount of indecision on the banks of the pool (mostly due to the cold weather, and colder water), dived straight into the pool. Later, I didn't feel like having dinner, and went directly to the cosy comforts of my soft bed and warm blanket.
"Rs. 500 extra per head for the speed boat, but as you have paid Rs. 100 towards the ferry, we would charge you only Rs. 400, and as we are having a discount today, the net amount payable by you is only Rs. 350 per head!" What a way to convince the client! That Rs. 350 per head was
for one seat in the speed boat to go to the island of Ile Aux Cerfs, the name of which would help understand the title of this post - Wild Romance. So having paid Rs. 350x5, we 'boarded' the speed boat, and were zooming away in the sea, on day 3 of our trip (7th May 2005, also, my parents' wedding anniversary!). Initially, we went to a small waterfall, and then were off to the island. The boat driver even agreed to let me drive the boat, so I took the controls (the accelerator in my right hand, and the steering wheel in my left), and off we were in the blue sea!
Ile Aux Cerfs is a small island on the East Coast of Mauritius, famous for the variety of water-sports available, with para-sailing taking the cake. On reaching the island, we immediately found ourselves (Baba, Neha, and I) sitting in another boat and heading towards a wooden raft
in the middle of the blue sea, giving in to the temptation of having a bird's eye view of the island. We were the first (among many other tourists) to reach the island, and hence, were the first to be 'launched'. After wearing the life jacket, and getting secure by strapping the belts of the parachute across our body, we were off in the sky! To say that it was an amazing experience would take the whole fun out of it. The view was indescribable. I just wished I had my handycam with me...but it was with my dad, who was capturing the whole thing from the raft. Then after having a nice swim in the sea, we were back in our van, returning to Tombeau Bay. On the way, we stopped at an Indian restaurant, and had relatively good food.
Going to the sea-bed, and watching the underwater life in it's true splendor! Well, what could have been more tempting than that? That's what we were going do on the fourth day. After having registered our names at the reception of the Blue Safari Submarine office, we were on our way to the sea again, to catch a ferry towards the ship, from where we were going to be transferred to a submarine, and then down into the deep sea! It took around 15 min to reach the ship, aftre which, we were immediately heading towards the submarine, which had surfaced just beside the ship. The inside of the submarine was quite cosy and posh, with comfortable seats (although less leg-space), and well equipped with life saving equipment such as life jackets, oxygen supply, and food to cater to all passengers. The captain informed us that the submarine was well equipped to stay underwater for three full days catering to the needs of all 9 passengers on board, as well as the captain. Hmmm.
Initially, the submarine had to proceed horizontally towards a yellow colored buoy, from where it would start its journey, vertically downward. On reaching the buoy, the captain informed us that we would be going 35 meters deep in the sea, and we could actually see the submarine sinking from the camera on the top of the submarine. Within some time, we were at the sea bed, and didn't see any fish, or marine life. I was excited about being at the bottom of the sea, but a little disappointed on not seeing any marine life. Just then a fish passed the window on the right side (I was at the left). I jumped next to that window, trying to capture it on my handycam...and then it started...a school of fish came in next, and what followed was the most magnificent sight anyone could have seen. There were so many fish, and of all sizs and hues, some looking at our window, some hurrying by, some digging into the bed (or so it seemed), some just going along with the school...well, it was a fantastic experience.
We then proceeded horizontally on the sea bed to catch a glimpse of an old ship-wreck. The name of that ship was STARHOPE, and the captain informed us that it was not an accident, but was deliberately sunk, as it was too old. It was sunk sometime in 1998. It was a huge ship, and it took quite a lot of time reaching from one end to the other. But was again a great sight. Almost like the pictures of Titanic that we see on Discovery Channel.
Well, almost after spending 45 min under the sea, we were on our way back to the surface. And in a short while, were aboard the ship from where we had boarded the submarine. We were served Pepsi, and were given certificates of diving, which also stated that we participated in the site discovery of STARHOPE!
Later, back in our hotel, we went to the beach, and found 2 large size fish...one 10 kg, and another 25 kg...just took photographs, and got acquainted with the girl holding the same. Her name was Caroline Duvivier, and she was staying just beside our hotel...here's a pic...
All in all, it was a most memorable experience, not just the submarine, but our whole vacation in Mauritius.
