Tropical Paradise...

Okay, sorry about that silence....

 

In Mauritius I hopped on a bus with about a hundred other SAS kids and we drove for an hour on crazy roads with lots of traffic through what looked like townships from South Africa. Many of the buildings were made of Tin siding and the residents were struggling in poverty. It wasn't until about 45 minutes in and we turned a corner on the island (which is only 40 miles wide to begin with) that we saw the "resort" aspect with lots of grandiose houses on the beach. Gorgeous!

We were separated onto 4 catamarans and after everyone was lubed up with sunscreen and our shoes were stored away (along with our clothes, because who walks around on a catamaran in more than a bathing suite?) we took off into a bay where in less than 5 minutes we saw a pod of dolphins. They would all come up for 10-15 seconds several times then disappear and pop up in another random spot. After about 20 minutes there the crew started up the grills and the drinks were a-pourin'. They were making us what they called Jungle Juice which was rum (there are an astounding number of sugar plantations on the island so rum is plentiful) sprite, orange juice, lime stuff and vanilla stuff. It was good, I didn't have one though. I stuck with Coke-Light. :)

We went to another spot and parked it where we were handed fins, masks and a snorkel and told to explore. We were stopped over a coral reef and while it wasn't one of those immensely colorful reefs the colors on some of the fish were vibrant blue and yellow. There were a few yellow corals but for the most part there was brown. There was the occasional heart-wrenching bleached coral too. :( We got to swim around for a while and then the party poopers started getting out after about 30 minutes. I wanted to keep swimming. I barley got to explore the shallow corals (apparently there were sea urchins that I missed.) But we got out and salivated over the kebabs cooking on the grill. While on the move to the next stop lunch was served. Garlic bread, rice, potato salad, salsa and carrots (which we were told not to eat because it was washed in the water which is apparently a carrier of the "Traveler's diarrhea")  pineapple, chicken kebabs and grilled fish. I tried the fish, I ate the fish. I LIKED?!... THE FISH!? The salsas were SO GOOD. There was a red one that tasted a bit like tomato sauce that was a little spicy and it had some chunky v veggies in it. HOWEVER, the best thing at that lunch was by far this green chili paste/salsa. It looked like chopped green chilies, garlic and olive oil. My mouth has not burned with such deliciousness since leaving home. They hardly spice ANYTHING here. Its sad. :(

After lunch all four boats tied themselves together and we just had a ball jumping off the front of the boats and splashing around. Erin and I found that we were over some corals and sea grass and we got the masks back out and dove around. Its amazing how many different species of animals can live on such a sandy, monotone backdrop. There were several species of fish, crabs, and a relative of the sea horse that was mostly white and had gray/black spots. It was shaped like a snake but had the head of a sea horse. It was really fast and fun to chase. Another cool thing I found that was hanging around the coral the anchor was attached to was a small eel. It almost bit my finger... but to be fair I was going to poke it's tail. There were angelfish, damselfish and (DAD SHOUT OUT TO YOU!!!) a humuhumunukunukuapua'a. We saw several. They had bright blue faces and gray, black and yellow bodies. There were 3 small squid too. TO be honest, I think they were the same species that we dissected in zoology and biology. But that's okay. The water wasn't amazingly clear, that water was further around the island, but it was warm and a very cool "sea green" ... duh. hahah. The colors of my room were EVERYWHERE here. This island was absolutely gorgeous. I loved it. My tropical ecology teacher and her husband (a marine biologist) were there and I dove around and explored with her. For nerdy me, it was really fun and re-sparked my interest in marine biology.

After swimming probably for about an hour or more we were herded back onto the catamarans and we headed back to the shore. Another hour back to the port, then and Erin and I headed out in search of t-shirts to throw away for India. We were unsuccessful, but the pina colada and margarita (respectfully) we got at the bar we met everyone else, at were delicious. Also, on the boat they were having another BBQ so Erin and I went back for dinner expecting hamburgers and ribs like Neptune day... we were disappointed. Neither of either were served but they had BBQ chicken (and lets be honest the sauce is what makes it good) and "sirloin stake." Also, the corn bread we got this time was very, very good. Again with the amazing display of fruits and of course I stole like 6 pieces of fruit. YUM!

 

Today was Sea Olympics. FUN TIMES!!! Our sea, the Aegean Sea was Green and we had some AWESOME cheers. We got a lot of Bronze medals, a couple silvers (including for mascot and flag) but the kickers were GOLD in Volleyballs and and and SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING!!!! THATS RIGHT!!!! WE WON GOLD! It was awesome! We started with Thriller, went into Can't Touch This, then a song called I Touch Myself, followed by the Nutcracker Suite, All I Want For Christmas (by Mariah Carry) and we finished with Jaws and "Bye Bye Bye" by N*Sync. I had a ballet leg/vertical solo during the nutcracker. I even brought my noseclips and added those. It was so much fun. It was incredibly hot out and VERY humid (more so than in the Atlantic if that's possible). There were events all day long. I think highlights were volleyball, pictionary, tug-o-war, paper boat float, flag competition, mashed potato sculpting and synchro. Overall it was pretty good. Other than the fact that the pink team were cheaters and they won EVERYTHING and then they won over all. On medals alone we were supposed to tie for second but there were penalties for unsportsmanlike behavior, cussing and the like. Somehow we lost like 500 points. I don't know how but there are rumors someone in dodge ball accidentally kicked another kid in the face... oops. Oh well, second place doesn't get anything other than knowing they were second.

 

So funny this is happening to me. I've developed so many freckles on my face from being in the sun that when you see pictures of me there appears to be a band of darkness that's smeared from one side of my face to the other and over the bridge of my nose. Its like one big long freckle. Kinda humorous.

 

Hope you're all well.

Em