Our second full day on Mauritius was a bit more planned and scheduled, or so we thought. We booked a half-day tour of our area of the island knowing full well the kids’ stamina wouldn’t last a full day mission. After a quick breakfast we were off in a slender tour van with our new tour guide friend, Coco.

While Coco was nice enough, his pre-rehearsed dialogue didn’t prove flexible to spontaneous banter (and I’m a chatter). Veering off course to a tourist shop rather than to a legitimate “sight” made us cringe and I knew then our adventure would need to be altered. After awkward viewing of a model boat store with factory onsite (yes, still kinda’ neat) I politely mentioned our desire to change course. Cultural enlightenment would have to wait.

It seems my plea wasn’t completely necessary to voice as the kids got groggy/pale as we drove higher into the mountains. The winding roads, altitude and increasing humidity was getting to all of us. Coco couldn’t deny our wavering stoke so he agreed to drop us of at the Pamplemouse Gardens (which was set to be our tour-climax). We opted to head back to the resort after wandering the gardens, much to our relief. Our afternoon and evening slid nicely from hasty forced tourism to a relaxed pace on our own terms and speed.

– Jimmy

British colonialists said that if Mauritians ever achieved independence this mighty boulder will fall. As you can see it remains atop the mountain in spite of this claim:

Root structures like this provided a nesting locale for the Dodo bird. Extinct partially due to this easy accessibility for their prey: