A mixed bag of Mauritius please!

13th-16th April.

After the capital's culture shock, we urgently need something beautiful to reconcile ourselves, especially Ida, with the island. Our landlords recommend Balaclava for snorkeling. The underwater wonder world starts just two meters away. So, we lazy ones don't have to waste any calories before we can admire the fish and the fish can gaze at us. We like that. Overall, a splendid tip: enough sunbathing area under the trees for us northerners, a meadow almost to the water, and shaded parking spaces. And once again, we are almost alone and are delighted with the clear water like a Cheshire cat.

Only the Boom-Boom Box in boombox size under the tree next door, which blares penetrating booty-shaking music into the idyll, really annoys us.

In the evening, we are invited to our landlords for a small drink. We dig deep into our pockets, bring a South African rosé, and chat for a few hours about everything under the sun.

A good day; the mood is back on track.

For the next day, we have already booked a kayak tour in the mangrove forests of the east coast around Ile D'Ambre in Frankfurt. We have to get up at half past six, but both the alarm clock and the long journey will be worth it!

Because our mobile navigation system apparently wants to have some fun, it leads us completely through the Mauritian Pampa on the way to the meeting point! Where asphalt is in short supply and the "road" has trees in the middle. At a, let's call it a crossroads, we want to turn around when a completely toothless scooter rider appears from the undergrowth, carrying ten bags of luggage, and signals to us that we do not need to roll off in the direction he came from. To our astonishment, he asks about our destination and leads us out of this predicament. Although we still have to drive through deep craters and over meadows for a short time, thanks to his help, we actually arrive at the meeting point on time! The people here are really great!

After a short briefing, we immediately get into the kayaks with life jackets. Ida and I share a double kayak, while Lena, the only participant in the entire group, gets to ride alone! I think she is extremely grateful for that...

The group is completed by a four-member French family and another four-member family from Bad Vilbel. The world is sometimes a small village. Although we always want to stay for ourselves on vacation and find this "looking for other people" really unnecessary and annoying, we get along very well with Eddy and Lene and their children Leni and Fridi. Just the bastardization of names immediately makes us like them!

So, together with our guide Patrick, we head out into the mangroves. He explains to us after a few strokes through the somewhat calm water that they are essential for a coastline as they protect against floods and possible tsunamis and also serve as a retreat for fish. Unfortunately, there were only 40 hectares of mangrove forest left out of the original 10,000 hectares! In contrast to many other displacements and destruction of nature here, however, this is a success story, as the area of mangroves is now back to the level of long ago!

Somehow, since the first settlers 400 years ago, Mauritius has been taken apart overall. The dodo is gone, the mangroves were hardly available, and most of the components of flora and fauna have invasive origins!

Nevertheless, we want to enjoy the excursion and after a short snorkeling break near a small school of fish, we continue along the coast to Ile D'Ambre.

Here, a French family settled almost 280 years ago to operate a lighthouse on the northeastern edge of the island. This became necessary after the "Saint-Gerain" shipwreck in 1744, in which 191 people lost their lives. Even today, you can explore the paths and remnants of the settlement!

On the way back, we stop at a tiny island in front of the main island because Ida wants to go in the water again and Patrick wants to make that possible for her!

Back on land, we say goodbye to our Frankfurt neighbors and our guide and make our way home.

Since the day started at 6:30 a.m., the afternoon is only good for a quick swim at the house beach and a mandatory game of UNO. Tired and exhausted from the oppressive weather, we go to bed early!

Saturday is almost completely dedicated to the round leather. Our bucket list for every vacation is to attend a game of a popular or national sport in the respective vacation country!

In the case of Mauritius, this seems to be indisputably football. Although we would have expected cricket due to its proximity to India, the last match day of the "Mauritian National Super League" suggests itself!

During the evening with Louis, his wife (name forgotten), and daughter Carole, we already learn that our selected match between Savanne SC and Le Cure Silvester SC will not take place in Savanne as expected, but in the 16,000-seater Anjalay National Stadium. We are excited and expect a full house and corresponding atmosphere in the stands due to the precarious situation for both teams, as the loser of the game will be relegated to the depths of the second (no longer "Super") League. Feels familiar to my Schalke heart right away...

Louis also gives us hope, describing the football fans as loud and enthusiastic! In retrospect, we suspect a blatant misunderstanding of language on his part... or he has not watched a single game in his 20 years on the island!

Fact is: the game starts at 3:30 p.m.; my plan as an experienced football goer to arrive at the stadium at 2 p.m. due to the certainly crowded stadium is being sabotaged by my travel companions, so we "agree" on arriving at 3 p.m.!

Upon arrival at the stadium, our first thought is that the game is not taking place here, but indeed in Savanne. There is no sign of traffic congestion or parking lot overcrowding anywhere!

So, we can drive directly to the main grandstand through the large entrance gate and find a parking space in the shade next to the 10 other cars...

Skeptical and confused, we climb up to the stands without encountering any ushers or ticket collectors or whatever. At least when we look into the vast round, we are calmed down by seeing two teams warming up. So we are in the right place after all!

While only five football enthusiasts have taken a seat in the lower tier next to us, the upper tier of the main grandstand is completely full... and so overrun by pigeons that one might think Hitchcock's "The Birds" is being remade here!

So, to the amusement of all of us, eight fans are in the stadium 15 minutes before kick-off. Out of interest and some amazement, we ask two young fans if this is the Mauritian version of "Candid Camera" or actually Mauritian everyday football life.

The young woman first tells us that the stadiums are allocated for the matches because not every club in the 10-team SUPER LEAGUE has a fairly suitable venue. Normally, there would be more people, but there is not much to expect at the upcoming game, to be honest!

All right...

Just before kick-off, the stands fill up a bit more, so there will probably be around 100 spectators who have found their way here.

Upon closer inspection of the stadium (which "more resembles the Villa of Shambles," Ida quotes) we are honestly relieved that there are only the said 100 crazy people who have gathered here. Looking at the main stand and the surrounding stands, one would rather not imagine how this bowl is supposed to accommodate 16,000 spectators. On the way to the restroom, Ida even tears out one of the seat shells with a loud echo, just because she leans on it!

HOORAY, HOORAY, the Schalke fans are here!

The game itself is of district league level, as impressively demonstrated by the two goals in the first half. After a looooong clearance by the Le Cure defender, both the entire defense and the Savanne goalkeeper run under the ball... 1-0 to the loud cheers of the Le Cure fans, among whom we are apparently sitting!

Not even two minutes later, the defender, who just cleared for 1-0, sends a high ball back into his own penalty area, where the striker, who resembles Ailton, is lurking/pumping for air and scores on the second attempt to make it 1-1!

To cut a long story short, we are horrified and amused, but decide, in order to avoid the probable rush to leave, to head to the nearest beach after the first half! The game itself ends 2-1 for Savanne SC, securing their position in the league and certainly aiming for the upper third of the table next year. But we will probably never find out.

The beach visit is a total failure as the chosen Mont Choisy Beach is hopelessly overcrowded on weekends and there simply are no more parking spaces available! So, we retreat back home, have a quick swim at home, and sit on the terrace!

Sunday calls for more activity on our part as we have planned a hike in the Chamarel National Park for today. After a long search for a hike that is doable but not too easy and therefore too boring for Ida (it should be steep, climbing, and over rough terrain), we decide on the ascent to Little Black River Peak! The starting point is at the Black River Visitor Center, which resembles the scenery from Jurassic Park - The Lost World! Overgrown huts and overgrown paths adorn the theoretically open center, but both the information point and the toilets are closed!

Doesn't matter, let's just go. The only orientation for our way is to follow small yellow flags up the mountain through the prehistoric wilderness around us! First, we cross the same river three times, unfortunately, twice through the water rather than over it, so our shoes are already wet at the beginning!

But that doesn't matter much, as the path is partly so difficult and the humidity is so high that the sweat is already in our socks in no time!

But we are in one of the most beautiful areas of the country with wonderfully diverse fauna, huge trees, and seemingly endless aerial roots on our way! It also goes along a stream similar to the hike to Le Pouce up the mountain!

In between, steep cliffs force us to pull ourselves up the mountain using chains attached to trees. Ida rates the hike at 12 out of 10 at some point, which reassures and makes us happy!

When we finally reach the top (or at least we finish the ascent at a decent altitude at a viewpoint), we enjoy the view to the sea and on the other side deep into the Black River Valley. After an equally strenuous and sometimes critical descent over muddy and slippery ground, we take a well-deserved cooling bath in the Black River and have to constantly remind ourselves in between that we are taking a bath in a mountain river in the Mauritian jungle in a national park! Insane...

On the way home, we want to make a detour to Flic en Flac beach since it is on the way!

Despite a mighty thunderstorm over the sea and rain from above, we enjoy the crowded beach and the cool water!

Because today is also a weekend, Flic en Flac is rightly besieged by locals!

Satisfied and exhausted, we end the day with a Thirsty Fox beer and listen to the distant thunder while, as it should be, we throw UNO cards at each other!