When Neptune Doesn't Cooperate

We've been ready to leave for a couple of days now. All the essential boat chores and repairs were done. We'd seen pretty much everything we wanted to see on the island. The boat's ready. We're ready. BUT Neptune is not ready and therein lies the problem. There is no wind. Not even a little bit of a breeze is forecast for the next few days. Okay, I'm exaggerating … 3kts with gusts to 4kts. This is not good news for a sailboat.  

Delays are always an issue for sailors. We get psyched up to leave and then we wait, and wait, and wait. The frustration level grows and that's when many folks make mistakes. They get tired of the endless waiting for a reasonable forecast and they just take off. Some have schedules to meet; others just can't handle the waiting game. There are not many boats left in the marina. It's definitely time to go, but we've certainly learned the hard way that patience invariably pays off. It's just not easy.

The delay has also posed another issue for us. Mauritius granted us a 14-day visa when we arrived. Our 14 days is near expiration and these couple of days delay will require a short extension to the visa. If we're lucky, we'll either get a free extension for a couple of days OR the forecast will change a bit.

So … what to do while we're waiting. We're down to the B-list places to visit, too. We take walks in the morning just to get out and exercise as long as we can. We've visited the free Seashell Museum, upstairs from the Mikado jewelry store. It's a one-room affair with a pretty good display of seashells actually. We did find out that one particular species of harp shell (harpa costata) is native to the Mauritian waters. This carnivorous gastropod (think sea snail) has the ability to self-amputate a part of its foot, kind of like some lizard can do with their tails. Even after wowing about this new tidbit of information, we made it through the museum in about 15 minutes.

We decided to buy a few souvenirs from the crafts market rather than the retail stores along the waterfront. Many of the reasons we liked Mauritius when we first arrived are the very same things that are driving us crazy now. The heat and crowds and closeness of the market and the accompanying stench of rotting produce and human sweat about knocked us over. We climbed the stairs to the souvenir vendors and walked the gauntlet to a fellow who sold t-shirts we liked. We wanted one. “Look, a kasmir/pashmina scarf for you, madame.” “No, thanks, just a t-shirt.” “Look, madame, a fine table runner for your table.” “No, thanks, really, just a t-shirt.” “Spices, madame, every women needs spices for her cooking.” “No, thanks ….” Bargaining is part of the game here and David's good at it. I just walk away and let him do his thing. We got the t-shirt (and only the t-shirt) for a reasonable price, but it was hard work.

We've been writing up a storm. We're ahead on some blogs for Gentry to post while we're at sea and David is working on a couple of articles he promised to Good Old Boat. I'm working on an article for SSCA and another for Cruising Helmsman. The website needs updating. There's enough to keep us busy if we're ambitious enough.

So … what do we do when Neptune doesn't cooperate? We busy ourselves the best we can. In the past we've waited up to two weeks or more for a weather window. Don't fret if there's nothing you can do to change things. We try to remain patient ... and we wait.

Provisioning in Style - Bagatelle Mall of Mauritius

The market is absolutely great for freshies, but we were in need of some other staples … and a few treats. We've found a couple of small grocery stores in town ... a ShopRite and a Winners ... both within walking distance, but both tiny and lacking in stuff we wanted. We haven't quite decided if we'll stop in Reunion yet, but whether we do or don't is irrelevant since prices there are very high and we're better off provisioning here. We'd heard of the Bagatelle Mall of Mauritius, which is a bus ride away, and purportedly had two large hypermarkets. We decided to head out on a foraging expedition.  

Sure enough, the bus let us off right in front of a modern, rather large mall. We're talking Tommy Hilfilger, Ralph Lauren, Hugo Boss, QuikSilver and a multitude of other high end stores we weren't interested in, plus two hypermarkets and veggie store. We walked through MonoPrix first ... okay, but not great. We checked out the other grocery store next, Intermart, and it had pretty much everything we wanted at reasonable prices. It was bustling with people. The aisles were jammed and the check-out queues were long.

Like most modern malls, Bagatelle had a large food court as well as some nice restaurants. We opted for lunch before shopping for three reasons. First, it's always better to shop on a full stomach. Second, it was lunchtime and we were hungry. Third, the name of the restaurant we chose was called The Flying Dodo Brewing Company. How could we resist?

We had a fine lunch with a Dodo beer and returned to Intermart. Since we were transporting all of our provisions in shopping bags and backpacks and needed to be able to carry it all, we were quite conscious of how much we could buy. We opted to take a small shopping cart and when it was full, we called it quits. We just managed to fit all of our purchases in the bags we had. We tromped back to the bus station laden down like mules, rode a jam-packed bus back to Port Louis, and walked from the Victoria Square bus station back to the marina, sweating and lugging our groceries through the crowded streets. Back on Nine of Cups, we got it all unloaded and stowed. We'll head back one more time for a second load. This foraging stuff is hard work. Whew ... time for a beer.

Tea for Two - Bois Cheri Tea Factory

Before we headed off on our accidental tour of the national park, we had intended to visit the Bois Chéri Tea Factory, the first tea plantation in Mauritius, dating back to 1892. We were obviously sidetracked, but we decided to make the one-hour bus trip again, now that we had the route figured out. We were advised to visit early in the day as most of the “action” takes place in the morning when freshly picked tea is brought in, machines are in operation and the workers are busy doing tea processing things.

We arrived around 0930 and joined a tour immediately. The entry fee of 500 Rps ($17 ea) seemed a bit steep, in our estimation. The guided tour lasted about 20 minutes and provided information about tea processing from picking to withering to cutting, fermentation, sorting and packaging. It's a small operation and although machines are used, the processing is still extremely labor intensive.

There was a small one-room “museum” which offered a bit about the history of tea and its arrival in Mauritius. There used to be several plantations, but now only a couple. Mauritius can't compete with world markets. What they grow now is primarily for domestic use and small export quantities to Reunion Island and France.

We always learn something new though. For instance, the Chinese are credited with discovering and developing tea as a beverage as early as 3000BC. Originally used as a medicinal drink, tea later evolved into a culture all its own. Lu Yu, is considered the Sage of Tea, having written The Classic of Tea (in Chinese Ch'a Ching – really?), around 760 AD, the first definitive work on cultivating, making and drinking tea. The Portuguese picked it up while visiting China and they brought it to the UK. Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world next to water and the Irish are the biggest tea consumers per capita in the world. An Irish-American, Thomas Sullivan, is credited with inventing and patenting the first tea bag.

The highlight of the tour was supposedly the tea tasting in the tea room which happened to be about 2km from the factory along a beautiful country road, lined with trees and flowers. The tour guides were rather perplexed that we arrived by bus instead of with a tour group or taxi and were on foot. We happily walked to the tea room. We passed by several tea fields. Tea pickers, women stooped over and intent, were still at work, choosing only the tiny, tender tea leaves for picking.

The tea bushes were so close to the side of the road, it was easy to examine them pretty closely. We observed the flowers and the seeds as well as the lush, shiny green leaves themselves.

We always see so much more when we walk. Waxy red, pink and white anthurium bloomed in the damp glades. Ornamental pineapple, pandanus palms and fern trees lined the road as we got closer to the tea house. We saw a herd of deer, lazing and grazing in a meadow. The smell of gardenias and jasmine perfumed the morning air. It was delightful.

We turned a corner and the lake and the tea house came into view, a lovely sight despite the overcast sky. They claim in ancient times, this was a volcanic crater.

Once we reached the tea house, our vantage point from the top of the hill allowed us to see for miles in all directions.

The tea tasting was great. Twelve teas were set out on the table and hot water was brought in a tea pot to our table along with sweet biscuits (cookies), milk and raw sugar. It was a lovely presentation. We tried plain black tea, then vanilla flavored, coconut flavored, tropical fruit (yuck), bergamot (Earl Grey) and a myriad of green teas. We sampled most of them and paid later on in the day when we needed to pee every half hour. Not good when you're traveling on a local bus.

The restaurant at Bois Cheri is just lovely. The food is gourmet and they utilize local produce including tea as inspiration for their culinary creations. I had crevettes (shrimp) in a traditional Mauritian red sauce served with a hearts of palm salad and saffron rice with pine nuts. Delish! David had medallions of roast duck with a honey tea sauce, salad and a potato puree that was out of this world. We tried the specialty ti punch made with local rum, cane sugar syrup and limes. For dessert, we had bananas flambee again with local vanilla bean ice cream. The waiter brought us a sample of the local vanilla rum as a complimentary after-dinner drink. A most memorable meal.

After such a great meal, the 2km walk back was most welcome. We chatted amiably, holding hands as we sauntered along the road, taking in the views and watching the world go by.