Down the Horizon

Mauritius again and probably again

Jean-Pierre is welcoming us at the entrance after a rough and fast ride with the sleepy and crying baby of ours. I feel sick from that taxi drive and want to vomit so bad but I need to get inside the room. It’s around 19h but it feels as if it’s midnight since the Sun sets early on the island. I guess Jean-Pierre, the security, didn’t expect that one mother would be angry at the fact that there was no hot water or the baby cot prepared after a tough flight and a ride even though she had traveled a sky and the ground. The room, or better said- the loft -had only hot water available in the shower and that’s it. Thankfully the kettle was big and worked fast so I could prepare the bottle and put my child to finally sleep without interruption. JP and I quarreled a bit but it was as if we knew each other from before …and the day got finally- finalized.

Chirping of the birds, fresh unpolluted island air and the strong early morning waves of the majestic ocean woke us up at 7am. Bububau woke up earlier but she spent some time wondering where she was at. My little cub smiled at me as always and we cuddled with her for a while until she started crying for food and milky milky coconut.

And there she was standing still like from some movie. In the old school cooking gown gazing at the sea. Mama creole I will call her. Big mama creole cooked many nice things for breakfast and all tourists gathered next to the stone wall overlooking the ocean.

Yellow, orange, blue,bright red birds gathered around us, so near and so frightless. Lovely birds were amusing my cub and her smile was of course bringing other smiles upon her and everything felt right. The beach was stunning, music from the locals was calling you to blend in and forget about the real busy and stupid world. We were on Mauritius.

The nights were filled with the gentle raining and the mornings faded from the misty darkness into the sunny warmth. The transition was slow and full of different purple nuances. Gentle singing of the gardener and other approaching staff was appealing.

Native music, drums on the beach invited for a dance while people were all smiling at each other and starting spontaneous conversations without any obvious point. Children are getting together, Phoenix is chilling the throats, beach goes alive and we all go into One. No religion, no color of the skin, no rank, position matter. We are One with the Mauritius.

Fresh air made us sleep 3 times a day and the octopus curry again was on the menu just like 2 years ago. But it was all much more pricey. The accommodation, groceries, restaurants- all went very high up. The capitalistic vibe also started to ruin the easy going lifestyle of the locals. The massive spread of the fast and soulless capitalism started polluting this island, too. So many hotels that ruin the natural look completely, the malls, traffic, simply do not belong to the island.

My last day and I’m gazing into the ocean. Gazing for a long time with fear.