Jewel of the Indian Ocean

"You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first and then heaven, and that heaven was copied after Mauritius..."
~Mark Twain

Check out some of the photos we've taken!
http://photos.yahoo.com/vampalcyone/

Pereybere Beach, Grand Baie, Northern coast Mauritius

Michelle & I have spent almost three weeks in Mauritius now! I can hardly believe it. This island seriously has the best variety of beaches in the world! And because of the huge unbroken coral reef that surrounds the 330km of coastline, the beaches are shallow, silky smooth and white. Amazing!!! We've divided our time between visiting Michelle's dozens of relatives (every Chinese person in Mauritius knows each other...) and lounging on the beaches.

If you're looking for a place to go for your honeymoom (ha ha), try the Maritim Resort. The service and food are equally ridiculous! I tried windsurfing and waterskiing for the first time too. So much fun! And since the sugar industry is king in Mauritius, the rum is verrry tasty. :)

Michelle & I also visited the neighbouring island of Rodrigues. It is a very rustic & relaxing place. The weather was working against us, but we spent plenty of time at the pool! They have also never heard of vegetarians...so I ate some calamari curry. It was tasty! But then I got hives...argh! Thankfully, they weren't itchy. Ha ha, Michelle can testify that the mosquito bites are more deadly! *no malaria...lol*

Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, is quite hectic, and takes some getting used to. The locals drive like madmen, serpentining and braking around throngs of pedestrians and mopeds. The shops are mostly family owned, with the exception of a few budding costco-like grocery chains...ha ha, SPAR bought out Michelle's family's land a few years back. There is a HUGE Indian population in Mauritius (60% or something) and we've had lots of delicious Indian/Mauritian food. Dholl Puri is this flatbread that is really good with marsala (curry) and gateau piment are fried lentil balls with some hot peppers.

Michelle heads back to Calgary this Friday, and I am on my way to Singapore...I started mentally preparing for the humidity already. Looking forward to more tropical fruits!

You'll want to go to SA!

Here are some pics from our trip! The First few are of some signs and stuff we found in SA. It's too bad we didn't get one of the "hi-jacking hot spot" road sign. I hope you understand.

http://photos.yahoo.com/vampalcyone/

http://www.livejournal.com/~blue_squishie/

We're in Mauritius right now and it has been SO awesome! Michelle's relatives are super friendly, and everyone greets family and friends by "kisses" on the cheek. LOL, and if you don't know, the number of people Michelle is related to is innumerable. We walk down the street in Port Louis, and bump into people! haha, I'm loving the tropical fruit, and the pretty beaches.

And although I am not the reading machine that is Michelle, I finished another couple of books: World of Suzie Wong (read it! Hong Kong in the 50s...) and The Romanov Prophecy (Made for Russian history buffs). Tomorrow, we're going to stay at Grand Baie in a bungalow closer to the beach...mmm...mmm...

South Africa is super lekker!!

Today our first day in Cape Town by ourselves. It was super foggy this morning! Couldn't even see table mountain from our hotel (ooh, so swank! nice after the camping/cold cold nights at the inns...ha ha), which is on St George's Mall. But eventually, the mist subsided and just now, the table was almost laid! That's the postcard worthy instance when the clouds look like a table cloth, over the flat summit of table mountain. So cool!

Last night, we went to Mesopotamia, our first Kurdish food experience. No, we did not go crazy in the Shisha lounge....it was really good! We sat on the floor and listened to crazy vibey tunes and enjoyed some kebabs and stuffed aubergine. No belly dancers last night though.... it was our first night without our dear tour guide, Otto. Ha ha, the deserted streets were a bit unnerving...and Michelle & I are oddities here...racially speaking. Man, we get weird stares everywhere!

Here's a quick run-down of the best things in SA:

Joburg: gold reef city is a lot like heritage park!
Pretoria: huge voortrekker monument, the university scene was cool
Kruger National Park: Awesome!! Saw the animals in their natural environment. We saw 4 of the big five! Leopard was evasive.
Durban & east coast: BEAUTIFUL crashing waves from the indian ocean. We saw the moon rising on the horizon, that was so cool. Dolphins surfing! So neat!
Drakensberg: The mountains are specatcular & great hiking!
Karoo: Desert- like, awesome sandstone formations...kinda like arizona - the most beautiful sunset ever
Garden Route: Knysna was cool - saw the humpback whales!!
Cape Town: Table mountain...nice killer 200m vertical ascent. But the views were worth every minute! Beautiful waterfront to run along, awesome food... wine region was fun! Cheese tasting was great...there's one called "La Beryl"!! Haha, so pungent.

Ok, will report more later! bye bye!