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| After months of preparation, the day of my departure finally arrives. To get to Mauritius from Chicago, I leave O'Hare around 5:00pm (1700) on Tuesday, November 12, and after two successive overnight flights (the direct flight from Paris to Mauritius takes eleven and a half hours), I arrive in Mauritius at about 7:00am (0700) on Thursday, November 14, where the expedition vessel, the Akademik Shokalskiy, is scheduled to depart Mauritius Harbor at 4:00pm (1600) the same day. |
Quick Facts about Mauritius: discovered by the Dutch in 1505, later a French and a British colony,
attained independence in 1968; population 1.2 million; area 1860 sq.km.; of volcanic origin; climate subtropical.
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Around 0700 local time, Thursday, November 14: my first less-than-flattering view of the island (but notice the ocean in the distance and morning showers over the sea), from the customs hall at the international airport while I wait for my chance to present my passport and enter the country of Mauritius.
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My hotel in Port Louis, Mauritius, where I dare not
sleep (for fear of not waking up in time) but do enjoy a tepid shower and a pleasant
breakfast beneath palm trees next to the swimming pool (in an interior courtyard). The Mauritian flag
flies above the entrance.
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A jagged peak looms in the distance; the French Embassy lies behind the wall on the right side
of the street (near my hotel in Port Louis).
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A narrow one-way street in Port Louis; the church on the right is l'Eglise Immaculee Conception.
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A passenger boards the Akademik Shokalskiy, the ship that will be my home for the next thirty days.
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A view of the harbor in Port Louis as the Shokalskiy pulls away from the dock,
as scheduled at 4PM local time on a lovely tropical afternoon.
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The rugged skyline betrays the island's volcanic origin as we leave the harbor.
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As we enter the beautiful deep indigo blue waters of the tropical Indian Ocean, this will be our last
sight of land for six days.
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