I booked an “Island Oasis” for today which consisted of an hour’s drive thru rural countryside to a tiny dock, then a little ferry shuttle over to a private island for a few hours of sun, swim, beach and feast.

We traveled winding backroads at speed, charging through small villages and fields of sugarcane on a minibus with springy shocks which made the trip feel like a low rent carnival ride: lumpy, bumpy, and twisty.

After lunch we had 2.5 hours to enjoy ourselves on the island. There were guys patrolling the sand hawking catamaran rides, trips to the waterfall, parasailing, sampling fresh sea urchins(!), etc but not at all in an pushy way so it was really very relaxing.

It was rather windy which kept the temperature from getting overwhelming but it also blew in the occasional storm cloud which produced a short drizzle but they passed by just as quickly.

At 3:30pm it was time to reverse our route and head back to the ship.

Traffic once we reached the outskirts of Port Louis was dreadful and it took us 1/2 hour just to traverse the city, not arriving back to the ship until 5:30pm. It was a bit of a push to make it to our 6pm dinner time but I was the first one there! The others didn’t even have time to shower or change, they came straight in from their tours.

We have another day on Mauritius tomorrow and I’m scheduled for an “Island Discovery” tour!