Christmas Eve in Mauritius

And here was our outdoor Christmas tree.
Of course in Mauritius, you can have Christmas dinner outside!

in short sleeves!

And you get to have lots of fruit!

Beaches

On the 23rd, we visited various beaches around the island. These beaches are amazing, because you get natural shade from the trees near the water.

Then we decorated for Christmas! Here is our Mauritian Christmas tree.

Le Jardin Pamplemousses

We decided to visit the Jardin Pamplemousses to see some of the lush vegetation Mauritius has to offer. Though more than a bit taken aback by the fact that foreigners and non-residents pay EIGHT TIMES as much as Mauritian citizens or residents to visit, we paid anyway and did enjoy our visit.

We found all kinds of crazy things hanging around in the trees.

There weren't as many flowers as we expected; more plants and trees. And tortoises. And it was HOT.

Ile aux Cerfs

I did not see any cerfs (deer) at the Île aux Cerfs, but we did have an amazing day out! We started by taking a boat over to see waterfalls and monkeys.

Then we landed on the island. As soon as we got there, Sheila negotiated a deal for the boys to go parasailing. So Benjamin, Noah, Sheila, and I hopped in another boat that took us out to a floating platform.

When it was their turn, they and an instructor took off with this bright yellow parachute, pulled behind a boat.

After that, we lazed around the beach for a while, until the boat came back to take us to another island, where we had a delicious lunch of fish and chicken, enjoyed some live creole music, and then swam in the lagoon.

Then one last boat ride to take us back to the main island. I think I had enough boat rides in that one day to last me for a few years!

Day 2: Ready to Go!

After a good night's sleep, we were ready to go! Christian and Sheila played tour guide for us all week. We started with a grand tour of the island.

Frédéric started by learning how to drive on the right side of the car, and the left side of the road. We won't tell you how many times I accidentally tried to get into the driver's seat during the week.

Mauritius has a large Hindu population, so there are a lot of Hindu temples around.

We stopped at a few lookout points for photos.

At one of them, we stopped for some fresh coconut, too.

The scenery in Mauritius is fabulous. Fields of sugar cane, mountains, ocean....

We went to another beach where we had lunch, and then went out on a glass-bottomed boat. The guide told us all about the different types of coral, and the fish that live in the coral reef.

Then the kids went snorkeling with the fish!

After the snorkeling, the guide dropped us off on another island, where we played in the water or walked around until he came back for us later.