Port Louis, Mauritius

Port Louis is a prosperous, bustling city. It took most of the day to clear into the country. After the formalities, the crew of the Marcy felt like this stone lion. The paperwork was formidable - all of the officers were friendly but very thorough.





Once cleared, we moved Marcy to a small basin where most of the yachts are tied. It was very convenient to just step ashore anytime we wanted, but it took some time for us to get used to the gawkers. We lived our daily life in a fishbowl, every evening a parade of families walked the quai walls.





We were in the shadow of a big hotel, unfortunately making radio communication with our friends that were still at sea almost impossible.



Our neighborhood was a shopping village done in faux “old Europe” and developed by a South African company. It was an attractive environment, full of restaurants, shops, and happy pedestrians.



To explore further afield, we teamed up with Swedes Christina and Jan, hired a taxi, and spent a day on the road. At our first stop, we saw land turtles and water features.







We stopped at a Tamil temple with wonderful painted statues and designs.









We saw monkeys at the Hindu temple on the hill with the gigantic statue of Shiva.









We stopped at a ship model manufacturing shop, one of the island’s signature cottage industries.







On the drive back to the boat we were treated to views of the landscape and ocean.



Exhausted, we made plans to head out to sea the very next day. We missed having our daily chat on the radio net and needed to get moving again. Destination, Madagascar: land of lemurs, vanilla, and rum.