The ship docked at Port Louis. We were here for two days and day 1 we explored the city by foot. Port Louis, surrounded by a mountainous backdrop, is the capital city of Mauritius, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. The city features a blend of French Colonial buildings, modern infrastructure, and vibrant markets.

The Citadel (Fort Adelaide) sits halfway up the mountain backdrop and the views over the city and harbour were worth the trudging climb up. I couldn’t talk Ruthie into doing her best Cher impersonation with the cannon….. this time. The walk downhill was easier and we encountered Chinatown and the Mosque area.

The backstreets were ablaze with colour as shop front markets abounded. The first area were stores with every type and colour of rolls of cloth and material you could imagine. A seamstress paradise!

Over the next intersection, the markets changed to clothing and souvenir type items and all seemed reasonably priced. Then came hardware shops, one after another. One day someone will combine them all to form a Mauritian Bunnings!

Just when you thought there can’t be more, we landed in the Central Market. The vibe here was amazing! Fresh fruit, vegetables, spices and the vendors using their loudest voices to spruik their wares. As chaotic as it was, the sounds evolved like a market symphony and I enjoyed watching the interaction between the vendors and buyers.

Ruthie headed for the fish market. I thought “really, must we?” But being indoors it felt cleaner and fresher than some of the others we had seen.

Just to top it off, there was a multitude of market type shopping in the indoors modern harbourside part of Port Louis. I’ll call this “upmarket” as the prices here were certainly “up”.

A couple of museums, a view of the Champ de Mars, the oldest racecourse in the southern hemisphere and day 1 required some serious onboard recovery. We walked just 12 kms which we used to do so much easier in our younger days. We’re blaming the heat!

Actually, we got a second wind and headed back Harbourside and enjoyed a cold local ale in the balmy night. The city certainly looked different all lit up.

We needed a beach fix! The next day we hired a taxi and the driver drove us North to a beautiful beach named Trou Aux Biches. Here he said we could snorkel with the turtles. Furthermore, to save 20 Euro each, he encouraged us to swim out to the turtles rather than take the boat. His view was that all Aussies can swim and when we agreed, we were committed to swimming the 150 metres or so out to sea! When we finally got to the reef area, the water was murky, stirred up by the boats and crowd of snorkellers. Not a turtle to be seen but we did see a multitude of fish on our way from and to the beach and thoroughly enjoyed our swim. This beach backed onto the luxurious Beachcomber resort, with a security guard walking up and down the beach path. Our beach towels were blue and everyone elses were green supplied from the resort so we didn’t risk taking a deck chair.

A quick visit to another beach where the local families congregated and picnicked gave us another viewpoint of this tropical paradise. Much more relaxed with music and dancing happening under the swaying palm trees. Our walk to the waters edge interrupted several soccer games but the locals didn’t mind. If we’d had the energy and the youth I’m sure we could’ve joined in!