Mauritius - Port Louis
Mauritius was the half way point for us on our way to South Africa from India. Unfortunately, due to some incidents with students on past voyages at this island (300 plus students getting drunk tanked and SAS having to use our largest lecture hall as the drunk tank & six students almost burning down a hotel) we only stopped at the island for 12 hours to refuel. We were also only allowed off the boat if we purchased a field program through Semester At Sea or had a field lab for one of our classes. I had a field lab for my Intro. to Oceanography, where I was able to go to a Mangrove restoration that was started by the women of a small coastal village and a coral reef restoration NGO that is being funded by the United Nations. I wasn't able to spend as much time experiencing the diverse culture the island had to offer but it is hands down the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The beach to mountain contrast was breathtaking and I really hope I will be able to travel back there at some point in my life.
(Mauritius is covered in the these open fields of sugar cane which are planted everywhere throughout the island because it is one of the few crops that withstand the severe storms that constantly hit the island due to its location in the Indian Ocean.)
(This is one of the few mangrove restoration areas scatter across the coast line. The mangroves are those tiny little tree like plants sticking out of the water. They help stop erosion of the shoreline by collecting sediment washed in by the tides.)
(One of the many beaches that make up the sandy coastline of Mauritius.)
Mauritius was the half way point for us on our way to South Africa from India. Unfortunately, due to some incidents with students on past voyages at this island (300 plus students getting drunk tanked and SAS having to use our largest lecture hall as the drunk tank & six students almost burning down a hotel) we only stopped at the island for 12 hours to refuel. We were also only allowed off the boat if we purchased a field program through Semester At Sea or had a field lab for one of our classes. I had a field lab for my Intro. to Oceanography, where I was able to go to a Mangrove restoration that was started by the women of a small coastal village and a coral reef restoration NGO that is being funded by the United Nations. I wasn't able to spend as much time experiencing the diverse culture the island had to offer but it is hands down the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The beach to mountain contrast was breathtaking and I really hope I will be able to travel back there at some point in my life.
(Mauritius is covered in the these open fields of sugar cane which are planted everywhere throughout the island because it is one of the few crops that withstand the severe storms that constantly hit the island due to its location in the Indian Ocean.)
(This is one of the few mangrove restoration areas scatter across the coast line. The mangroves are those tiny little tree like plants sticking out of the water. They help stop erosion of the shoreline by collecting sediment washed in by the tides.)
(One of the many beaches that make up the sandy coastline of Mauritius.)
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