Mauritius: It's always 5 o'clock

So, I am standing there in my state of admiration of all the island’s striking features, I am sending off wish-you-here vibes to my family and friends, and listing off the reasons I am blessed: this place, these people, this journey, these memories… as I am feeling the water I am tackled to the sand and called out of my own world by blaring techno music from the center villa where pong games had started. It’s always 5 o’clock Mauritius time.

We kayaked out to the coral reef where the waves were breaking a ways out. It was so fun! We had three kayaks we would take turns between paddling and riding on the back. Sean paddled a surfboard ou. It became rougher with every length we went. Our kayaks were flipping and it was a game to try to stay above water for an extended period. We boogie boarded and got tossed around as we rode the waves. Dark clouds were on the horizon so we paddled in, save Brian, Austin, and Johnny. We were grilling lunch as it started to drizzle. Then we were admiring a rainbow as the three boys lugged themselves up the beach. The rain had brought even rougher waves and had thrown them into the coral reef. Blood everywhere; we sent them to the emergency room. They returned bandaged up but in good spirits.

It is just impossible to capture an image of bright and clear constellations drawn out on an unspoiled ink black canvas and framed by the Milky Way. Besides- after a night swim, lit only by the pure crescent moon above the Indian Ocean, and collapsing onto the white beach- No one cares about the sand sticking to our salty bodies. No one considers moving from the comfort of good conversation. No one can bear to break away from the arms of a friend. And No One ever thinks about getting up to get a camera to capture the moment. The picture would not be able to do the moment justice anyway.

We tried our best to cook. Cooking was really an act of foraging through all of the villas for something that had not been eaten or destroyed by an inebriated thought process. We made hamburgers on coconut buns, someone grilled a steak, grilled cheese was a favorite until we ran out of bread and cheese, and we ate avocados on crackers, and then resorted to just Pringles. 

While I took a nap in a hammock (we all know how much I love hammocks!) Taylor had conjured up a small chocolate cake with sprinkles. And although our villa stopped its running water and we had been using Captain Morgan in lieu of water for pancakes, the cake was somehow delicious. It was a simple cake made wonderful by the people who sang happy birthday.  

The second night was just as beautiful. The boys had chopped wood in the morning and we dug a pit in the sand. Using eagle scouts as our resource, we successfully made a large beach bonfire. I know it’s corny, but we honestly sang and told stories around the fire. We sat on the beach until early the next morning.

On our last day, we did not waste any time- we were on the beach for as long as we could. Our bus came at noon to take us back into the city. But we didn’t immediately take the water taxi back to the ship. We went to a bar/restaurant ‘Keggers’ on the waterfront and told them it was my birthday. I was able to pick the soundtrack for our remaining hours on shore. All SASsers (as we call any member of our ship community) were returning to the port area and joining the crowd at Keggers. Everyone exchanged stories and had a great time before returning to the ship for our voyage to India.