Mauritius lies to the south-west of Madagascar, and is an overnight cruise from La Reunion.
Mauritius has a fascinating history – colonised by the
Dutch, French, British at various times, and with a history of slavery, it is
now one of the multi-ethnic places I have visited. The primary races here are Chinese, African
and Islamic – with French being the primary language, and adhering to the English education system in schools, so most
also having no trouble with English after I’d exhausted my extensive French on
them (Pardon, parlez vous
anglais? English… English…. merci
beaucoup, au revoir).
As we awoke for our first day in Mauritius, the majority of the ship disembarked on excursions. Mum and I had nothing booked that day but mum woke unwell, with shivering and I thought, a slight fever. After just getting dressed exhausted her, she asked me to bring her some fruit from breakfast, although she really had no appetite. I thought we better get her tested for Covid so we went to the medical centre on deck 7. I asked them to do a RAT test as Mum was showing signs of Covid I thought. They tested me also (negative). As they prepared the paperwork, Mum asked me to go back to our cabin to get her medical paperwork to show the doctors what meds she was on. When I returned Mum's RAT test had been done and Mum was back sitting in the medical room reception. The doctor said to me “don’t worry she is negative”. “Oh thank goodness” I said. The test was on the desk and after confirming it was Mum’s, I picked it up and took it under the light where it clearly showed two lines!
I took it back to the nurse saying “this is a positive test – there are two lines – please look again”. When they did, they conferred and mucked about and were very vague and non-committal about the whole thing. They eventually admitted it was positive… but they were extremely blasé about it all. I don’t think they wanted to acknowledge cases of Covid on-board – for one thing it costs them to quarantine someone in a separate room. There were others coming in and out of this tiny room, no masking and all staff quite relaxed. I was asked to go back to our cabin and pack some things for mum for at least three days, which I did. When I returned, and we led to the 9th floor by two staff. Mum was even more wobbly on her feet than normal and really wasn’t very well. They had assigned Mum a very nice room with a balcony, fully stocked mini bar she could help herself to, as well as several lots of meds – paracetamol, a throat spray and some throat lozenges. Once she was settled in, I called Mary, Rona and Richard to fill them in but also to tell them not to worry. They would be taking good care of Mum and if anything she was better off there than at home as was fully isolated with a balcony room, daily phone calls, daily rat tests every morning and me doing hallway visits as often as possible. She was told to dial 99 for anything she desired and all her meals were brought to her after she’d selected what she wanted from the menu. After she got herself settled in, I returned to the medical centre to enquire if they had anti-virals but they did not and seemed to think I wouldn’t be able to get them ashore either. Hah – they don’t know me.
Thus began a rather long isolation period, during which Mum missed Mauritias and most of the Seychelles, which was disappointing. She did have fatigue and a fever for the first two days, but was not extremely sick. The cough came a bit later, or it could be her normal cough, it is hard to tell.
About midday I finally made it off the ship and into Port Luis, the capital of Mauritius. It took me right back to my backpacking days and although extremely hot, sister Mary had sent me on a mission to find anti-virals for mum so that was my focus. After a half hour walk in the general direction of what I presumed to be the city, I came upon absolute chaos. Narrow streets crammed with people from many different backgrounds. I found Chinatown, Little India and lots of street markets.
There were Muslims, Chinese, Africans, Indians and a small number of Europeans. All had colonised Mauritius at some point in history, with the French finally taking control in XXXX. The common languages were French, English and Creole – a type of French spoken on the Indian ocean islands.
The shops all reflected the mix of ethnicities. Streets and pavements were very uneven with
cobblestones and trip hazards everywhere.
Add in the noise, traffic and extreme heat and humidity and I really
don’t think Mum would have coped well anyway.
Fortunately there were pharmacies everywhere so I entered the first one
I found and asked for either Paxlovid or Molnoprivar. They
had Molnoprivar and I had to explain that it was for my mother on the ship that
just docked, that she had tested positive for Covid that morning and had tried
to get antivirals before leaving home but they were not able to be
prescribed. Technically I also needed a
script but after much patience and producing a credit card the pharmacist did
sell them to me.
I then made
my way to a Chinese restaurant I spotted down a side street. Menu was in French and Chinese so it pretty
much a case of point and hope for the best. Very busy with locals so that’s always a good
sign. Managed to order a diet coke and
some dumplings with rice.
Back outside to the extreme heat and I asked a lovely young woman for directions to Victoria Market I had read about. She said to just keep walking in that general direction. I came closer to a few skyscrapers and then spied a back alley with a lovely beer garden – a little oasis. Popped in for bear and another rest – the heat is so oppressive and not used to it. Then back out and eventually made my way to an inner city sanctuary with enormous towering trees and large fruit bats flying around nesting at the top. Several degrees cooler in this garden but eventually made my way to Victoria markets which was a group of upmarket shops, cafes etc. and then discovered the waterfront with some lovely bars and canals.
Made my way
back to the ship to give Mum the antivirals and meet up with Jon and Victoria
for dinner. We then decided to go out on
the town for a drink at the waterfront, which would not have looked out of
place in Melbourne or Wellington.
Another trek in the heat but worth it – had the best Mojito and then schlepped
it back to the ship…. managed 30,000 steps that day!
Next morning Mum still in iso but claiming to feel slightly better and was surprised at how fast the anti virals were working. Jon, Victoria and I all on the different excursions. My coach took us all over the island. We visited a Hindu temple where locals were busy completing several rituals.
Tourists welcome to take photos and videos, so felt a little intrusive,
but it was a very peaceful place. A
visit to the seven sands, mysterious
area of land in the middle of the forest where no plants grow. Scientists have studied the soil but they cannot
explain the reason for the aridness.
Then to a stunning beach with shaded trees above white sand and crystal-clear
turquoise water, at bath temperature.
Time for a quick dip and some lunch pilfered from the breakfast buffet.
Back to the
ship and a hallway visit with Mum.
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