Week 30 - Mauritius

As predicted, we had a cyclone around over the weekend. It really wasn't bad at all, just windy and periods of heavy rain, but never long ones. We lost power briefly Saturday evening, but as C said, nothing like the power cuts in Lebanon. We're pretty sure a fence blew down somewhere, or maybe it was an electric fence that wasn't powered, because we heard cows mooing in the streets, though we're in a pretty densely developed area and don't regularly see cows roaming as we did in Kenya. We didn't actually see any damage. I went out walking both days, it didn't feel much windier to me than March in Ohio, but everything was closed. This would have been fine, except that Sunday was S's 7th birthday and we were planning on getting pizza. I guess a cyclonic 7th birthday is appropriate for a kid who decided to come into the world a month early during a blizzard. I had gotten some surprises at the store Saturday and he requested chocolate mousse instead of a birthday cake because it's so hot here, but pizza was certainly not happening. Neither was the pain au chocolat I wanted to get for breakfast. I figured out how to make chocolate muffins one at a time in a little souffle dish (the kitchen only has one for some reason) and he loved that breakfast treat. I then remembered we don't have an electric mixer and made chocolate mousse with a hand whisk and extreme humidity, made worse by the water I was boiling because we ran out of bottled. Not the easiest task, but it was ok.

He certainly didn't waste any. He had veggie dogs for both lunch and dinner and the kids stayed inside all day. His presents were new "Crocs" (knock-offs I got in Kenya) because he outgrew his old ones, balloons, a collapsible beach bucket, and a little blow up raft. I don't think I spent quite $10 total.

He was delighted and didn't even complain about no pizza. I'm pretty proud of how he handled it, and generally how both kids have been very reasonable about disappointments and things they like being unavailable in certain places. It's not that I want my kids to be deprived, but, well, I kind of do want them to experience what it's like to not have certain things they have previously taken for granted. They've been real troopers with positive attitudes pretty much so far. They get tired and cranky at times like all kids, but they've been really good with adjusting expectations. 

By Monday the weather had cleared up and we went out for pizza and then to the beach.

The waves were big and S had a really fun time riding them in on his new little raft and making a castle with his beach bucket.

Tuesday was schoolwork and the beach again. The waves were even higher and both kids tried the raft. We got knocked over a few times, but that's part of the fun.

Collin has started using the Nightingale Montessori algebra box, a hands-on material for introducing algebra concepts.

Wednesday we did our usual school in the morning and beach in the late afternoon schedule, but added in a couple errands, including picking up C's new glasses and a visit to a botanical garden with Aldabra tortoises and giant water lilies for science.

The cultural experience for the day was figuring out how to take the bus home, despite a very determined taxi driver trying to convince us it was a bad idea.

I had made a lot of food the day before so we were able to stay a little later at the beach and watch the sunset.

Thursday was a long tour day. We were supposed to take this tour Monday, but postponed it in case the cyclone was still sending rain. We actually ended up with a pretty rainy afternoon anyway, but the morning was clear and we still had fun. We first went to a volcanic crater, which is now a beautiful lake. After all the volcanoes we've seen, the kids are now experts at identifying volcanic rocks and types of lava. We hiked around the crater; it was cool up there and very pretty.

Next was a Hindu temple in a sacred lake for cultural studies. It was a holiday in honor of Shiva, so we were able to see pilgrims carrying shrines along the road and families placing their offerings on little altars around the lake as we approached.

Next was Alexandria falls and a lookout point where we could see all the way to the ocean.

We saw people picking tea in the fields on our way to Black River Gorges nature preserve, the last remaining rainforest in Mauritius which also includes the highest point in the country. The kids hadn't been in a tropical rainforest before. There are hiking trails, but excursions are only for kids over 12, so we got to look down at it from a high lookout point. We could see the canopy, emergent trees, and birds called pink pigeons, endangered and native to Mauritius.

We then went to Chamarel park where we got another geology lesson. There is volcanic soil there containing minerals that inhibit plant growth leaving it bare and exposed. The various minerals create bands of color and it's quite beautiful.

By then everyone was hungry and tired of getting in and out of the car and S faced another disappointment. He had seen a brochure in the house for another park in Mauritius that had multi-colored earth. This one showed a restaurant with a playground and we agreed it would be a good stop. We didn't realize we were going to a different park all together. It was also pretty much pouring by then, and we just had to forget about the playground idea. Again, he took it like a champ. The restaurant was a treat for the rest of us. S had his usual french fries and C had chicken tenders that he really enjoyed. For J and me they had two set menus, one vegetarian, one not, each consisting of about 12 small portions of various Mauritian dishes. There was evidence of both French and Indian influence, and use of many tropical ingredients. Every single thing was different from anything we'd had before and it was all delicious. We did let the boys split a chocolate lava cake for dessert, so S did get something special in the end. 

After morning lessons Friday, the boys and I got to go horseback riding. It ended up being another good botany lesson in addition to PE. We rode through agricultural fields and saw sugar cane, pineapple, avocado, okra, and bananas growing.

The cool ocean water sure felt good after that!

As usual, we're relaxing this weekend. We'll get caught up on laundry and planning and enjoy the beach in the late afternoons. Tuesday we move on to Reunion.