I was wide awake at 5 this morning and lay in bed until the sun started to brighten the room. It was still early so I worked on a crossword puzzle and didn't get very far so I just went to breakfast instead. I tried the local special, which is smoked marlin. Its okay. Not tasty like a smoked salmon. Most of the local shops were still closed at 830am, but one across the street rents scooters for $20/day and I quickly singed the form to hop on a Chinese made black scooter to peel out of town. It took about a half hour to get the capitol, Port Louis. Its a dramatic little city packed in between the bay and the looming mountains. The country put a ton of money into redoing the waterfront so its spiffy with lots of tourist and shopping diversions. Sometimes they get cruise ships calling, so there would be plenty for ship folk to do. I grabbed an americano and brownie at a swanky Italian place and wrote a bit. I walked through the local market and tried to snap some candid photos of people and the sights.
Then I was back on the highway headed south to the national park and a waterfall. I passed lots and lots of sugarcane fields. The wind was blowing and the fields swayed and undulated in the breeze. The fields sloped down the hillside until they ran to the sea. And then the deep dark blue ocean goes on and on forever until it starts to blur with the clouds. I rode and rode and stopped to take photos of the green, jagged mountain peaks and the rode up the side to the Tamarin waterfall. It was windy and cooler up there, maybe at two thousand feet. At the dirt parking lot for the waterfall, I was approached by a local on a bike and smoking a cigarette. He started to talking to me and telling me all about the Falls. He said there was a path to the top where you could look down on the Falls. The current vantage point was from across the valley. I followed him reluctantly and then down a path which looked like something I shouldn't be doing. But then two other tourists came walking up the path and I realized it was the right way. He told me more stuff and I gave him some money for helping me out. On the way back to town, I was pulled over by local police. But they assured me it was just a local and random check (like additional TSA screening?) and asked for my license and the scooter registration. They were real nice and then sent me on my way, I didn't even have to brib them! Back in Port Louis, I checked with British Airways about their flight on Wednesday to Johannesburg (my next destination) and they said it had 15 seats open, so hopefully I will be on that flight because I don't have a hotel reservation in Mauritius after Wednesday. I was very red and full of sun at this point, after having riden around for two hours on a scooter and popped into the only McDonald's on the island. And they had a veggie burger, so I ate it and got an ice cream too.
It was a great day and I think I have some good photos from the countryside and the waterfall.
That's all for now.
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