Much Mauritius to master

*Guest post from Will*

Again met Vinah after my Mauritian breakfast, this time for a tour of the western and central portions of the island. The focus was on pongamia as usual, but we also sprinkled in some visits to notable overlooks, historical buildings, and even a rum distillery. Mauritius has a long history of sugar cultivation, and has been using that sugar for rum production nearly as long as it is been cultivating it to begin with. Fun to speculate just how much influence the crews of sailors calling to port had as they likely “requested” that some sugar be diverted for their liquid enjoyment on return voyages.

At one of the cultural stops we visited a factory and gift shop for a tea plantation. Close by on the property, on the other side of the on-site miniature botanical garden, was a colonial house converted into a restaurant. Upon exploring, I figured out that the upstairs of the house was a semi-hidden exhibition space dedicated to a Mauritian specialty: replicas of famous tall ships from the past several centuries. An utter delight to discover, made even more so by the fact that it certainly was not advertised, and did not appear to be frequented by many people whatsoever given the thick layer of dust on many surfaces.

Tree tunnel!

Tree tunnels are always cool, no matter how many times you go through them; Kauai has best tree tunnel Erin and I have yet found

This place was great, I hope it survives lack of tourists

Architecture!

Yup, they built some decent looking buildings; hope locals are benefiting from new businesses

Cafe on patio of colonial house

Mauritian Lanai 

Attic was converted to museum, primarily for replicas of ocean-going sailing vessels

History of the HMS Bounty

Replica of HMS Bounty

Coastline was reminiscent of Turtle Bay on Oahu

Yet another colonial home converted to restaurant 

The grounds were quite large, but maintained only to a modest standard

Beautiful interior dining rooms

Unique spit of land offered extraordinary vantage point for picture

Bet the seaplanes that take off and land here offer some spectacular views