Last Days At Sea And A Bit More Mauritius
Just me and a Moray...
Finally got around to completing my record of this trip. Firstly I will show you this:
Yes, that’s me… and a colossal Moray eel. I will come back to that later in the post, but you’re hooked in now right? :p
April 23rd
Getting information around here has been difficult sometimes. The language barrier has caused me to miss a few notifications, and then there are just some times when they just forget to tell me things! For instance, I knew that I had to submit a report to the Seabed Authority once the cruise was over, but nobody told me (until yesterday) that I had to submit one here (to the chief scientist) as well!!! Luckily I had made a start on the other report so I wasn’t caught with my pants completely down. Also, I just found out in casual conversation a couple days ago that we actually get moved to a hotel when we get back to harbour until we leave. Yeah!
Grr… found out that I still have duty somewhat even though we’ve completed the prescribed work. I don’t have to be physically in the dungeon all morning anymore, but I’ll still have to come down here and record. Also, we still have to stay on the ship till the 30th, as opposed to moving to the hotel on 29th when we dock. *sigh*. Not to mention, we’re actually getting back a day early, but we can’t dock till the 29th. So we’ll be able to see dry land, but won’t be able to get off!
April 25th
In the afternoon we took a lot of group photos up on deck.
Scientific Staff and Officer Corps aboard the 4th leg aboard RV Da Yang yi Hao’s 2015 cruise
Later in the afternoon we had fun making hundreds of Chinese dumplings which would later serve as dinner.
Making Chinese dumplings
The problem was, I’d noticed that cabbage was one of the things that caused my tummy some trouble, so I had been avoiding even smelling it. The main filling in the dumplings was chopped cabbage with garlic, and then shrimp as the meat. As such I decided to only eat a few so that it wouldn’t cause me any problems. Dumplings were the only item on the menu for dinner that night. My friend Cou, one of the senior engineers, took pity on me, and that was how I ended up at a private party! I had no idea it was even going on. In another dining room the captain, chief scientist, and most of the other senior people on the ship were present. They had a whole feast going on with about fifteen dishes or so. Everyone was interested in having me try various Chinese wines, and then there was all the toasting- even I gave one. I think I may have had a wee bit too much to drink. Let’s just say I had a very deep sleep that night.
April 28th
When we could finally see Mauritius again it was such a pleasant sight. When we got close enough to get a cell signal it was like Christmas on board. Data! Internet!Calls! The isolation was finally over!!!
April 30th – Wreck Dive!
We finally got to dock on the 30th, having sat out in the harbour for nearly two days. So near and yet so far. I spent a lot of that time fine-tuning my reports. As soon as I got back my passport from the captain (he had had them for the duration of the cruise) I was off that ship! Off and on to a scuba adventure.
I nearly got myself in some trouble with the chief scientist over this scuba trip. The main issue is that I planned to go alone while they preferred that we travelled in groups. I can understand that as at the end of the day they would be in problems if something happened to me. One of the concerns was that Mauritius was “not safe”. I had to control myself in order to not burst out in laughter. Did they remember where I’m from? Having travelled solo through several countries and based on my observations in Mauritius before, I just needed to be savvy (as with anywhere else) and there shouldn’t be a problem. Not to mention based on the racial composition of Mauritius, I was able to blend in rather than stand out as a tourist/target.
No one else was dive certified and I wanted to do a dive to depths that non-divers would not be able to do, so I was perfectly happy about going alone. Not to mention I had to give myself enough time between a dive and my flight, and everyone else was more interested in shopping that day anyway. The dive instructor had said that if I wanted to dive once I got back, I should call him and we work out something. So I must admit, I was somewhat defiant and went about my business. I took the bus to Trou aux Biches and he picked me up from the bus stop.
I’m so glad I followed my gut as I would have missed out on an awesome experience! The instructor surprised me and took me on my first (ship) wreck dive! The first thing I saw as we approached the bottom was my very first sea snake! Not an eel, not a long fish, but a bonafide sea snake! I then had an awesome time following the instructor and exploring the wreck bit by bit. It was eerie at times, but so beautiful. I was completely enthralled. That is until I saw this:
Gasp!
I swear to you I may have skipped a heartbeat when I first spotted it. The photos do it no justice. This Moray was bigger even than ones I usually see to TV. However the instructor signalled to me that it was fine and that there was no need to worry. Timely, as I was ready to panic! However I kept cool and this even happened:
I’ll just share a few more pics from the dive. Unfortunately the camera we were using doesn’t work below certain depths, so I can’t show you some of the amazing things I saw. I’ve decided I need to get myself a GoPro.
The instructor was true to his word and gave me a good discount as a return customer. He even treated me to lunch again. I had the same thing as I did the first time around: Fried noodle with octopus. Yum! I then asked the instructor to drop me off at the beach where I spent a few hours relaxing. This was very nice except for the interruption from a man of seemingly unsound mind who came and sat near to me. Not quite mad, but clearly a few screws were loose. Asking me a lot of (sometimes very strange) questions and then going on to tell me he’s 34, and never had anyone in his life before, and he can’t understand why …Lol. Out of everyone on the beach it just had to be me!
May 1
After a wonderful day of freedom out, we were cooped up on the ship all of the next day while the disembarkation procedures were sorted out. It wasn’t till nighttime that we were finally on a bus to get us to the hotel.
A full sized shower! Hot water! A real bed! The things we take for granted eh? We just had enough time to throw our things down as we had to go back out for dinner with the captain (who would be staying on board for the next leg.) They took us to…. surprise surprise… a Chinese restaurant. It was “proper” Chinese (Cantonese) food though, which I was so happy for, and after weeks of sketchy eating I was all too happy to dive in!!
I was to leave Mauritius the following night, so in the morning I decided to go for one more shopping stint. In particular I really hoped to reach a pearl dealer that I had found before. The same guy I bought the first string of pearls from that I mentioned in a previous post. Now at the end of the trip I knew that I could splurge a little bit. Luckily he was there (it was actually a public holiday so I wasn’t sure) and he gave me some super discounts (especially for returning and spending with him again) on some gorgeous pieces. I was very happy :). After picking up a few more things at the market, I headed back to the hotel just in time to catch the bus that would take us to lunch…. at the same Chinese restaurant we had been to the previous night. We also went to dinner there that night right before I left for the airport (the organisers really seem to like that restaurant).
Journey home
On my way back to Jamaica, I had a 27 hour layover in London (yikes!!!!). The prospect of spending that time in the airport (especially on the heels of a 12 hour flight from Mauritius), was quite unpleasant. So I crossed my fingers asked the organisers if it would be possible to put me up in a hotel near the airport for the duration. Turns out that this was no problem at all. I was even asked if I would prefer to stay in central London, or near the airport. I didn’t even expect to have an option!
I almost gave into the temptation of saying yes to central London, but then good sense won over in the end. *sigh*. For one, Gatwick is a bit far out of London and I really didn’t want to have to deal with getting back out there the next morning for my flight. Maybe had it been Heathrow instead, and an afternoon flight to boot, then I may have run with it. Also, the family members I was hoping meet up with would have an easier time getting me by car from near Gatwick than London. Of course, I probably could have just taken the train from London centre to where they are since I know the way well, but why add stress to the proceedings? I decided to keep it simple.
That turned out to be the correct decision. I was pretty tired by the time I got to London and so a night in the centre would have been pretty much wasted. I spent a great day with my lovely cousins and then they dropped me off at the hotel. Then it was on to the final leg of my journey in the morning. I got to the airport in good time and things were going smoothly. That is until were delayed on the tarmac for over an hour; turning an already 9 hour flight to 10. To say I was getting restless at this point would be an understatement.
Then before I knew it I was home again, and walking out the airport into the arms of my boyfriend and family :).
Well that’s it for this trip guys. Thanks for keeping up with all the posts. I hope you enjoyed them. I’m thinking of keeping this blog up for future travels, so I hope to be up and running with posts again soon enough 🙂 .
