Welcome back to yet another post of Miss Adventurers! This post will be different for two reasons: one is that this is a brand new continent (sort of) that we miss adventurers had never been to, and two, my mom gave me the assignment of not making it day by day!

Our journey this summer started in Mauritius, which is an island 1,200 miles off the coast of Africa. If you don’t want to be a dodo (😝), here are some facts for you. A long time ago, when the Dutch discovered this island, they also discovered these birds. Unfortunately, along with the Dutch came some naughty rats aboard their ship, and these rats ate the dodo birds’ eggs… so now dodos are extinct. Another interesting fact about Mauritius is that they don’t speak only one language; they speak 3-4! Mauritians speak English, French, Creole, and sometimes even Hindi because Mauritius is a big melting pot of Chinese people, Indian people, and African people that the Dutch and French brought over as slaves.

Mauritius is known for its many beautiful beaches with white sand and turquoise water. Unfortunately for us, June is winter in Mauritius, and the water was very, very, very cold. However, our villa had its own mini pool that was definitely way warmer than the ocean. Once, we stayed in for 3 hours! There was also an amazing-looking pool in the middle of the resort, but unfortunately, part of it was an adults-only section, so we had to stay in the shallow and buggy part (as Mia claims).

Beyond the sandy shores of Mauritius, there are also many small islands in the surrounding lagoon. One day, we went on a tour around these islands and tried them all out. The first island, Île de Cerfs, was nice and shelly. Mia found all the shells she wanted to keep, including some interesting sea urchin shells (wait for it), which she put in her pocket. Off the second island, we went snorkeling. I wish we had some sort of underwater camera or phone bag, because there were thousands of colorful tropical fish just swimming around! From the top of the water in the boat, it looked like there were maybe 2 schools of fish, but from underwater, there were so many! We even saw a bright rainbow fish and a very long, skinny one. We went to two more islands after that, one that had ruins of a lighthouse, and another one where we ate lunch. On the way back to the dock, my mom accidentally sat on my sister’s jacket… goodbye sea urchin shells, hello crumbly pieces.

Another great thing we had in Mauritius was Mr. Neel, our tour guide/driver for the rest of our trip! He shared some interesting stories with us, including one about a man named Pieter Both who fell asleep, but woke up to music that led him to find angels dancing. When the angels realized he was watching them, they made Pieter promise not to tell anybody. In excitement, he shared this news with one of his friends, and his friend followed him to the angels. The angels got mad at Pieter and turned him into stone. There is now a mountain on Mauritius named Pieter Both, which looks like a body with a head-shaped rock at the top. Another thing Mr. Neel shared with us was that when he went to China “way back when,” he encountered an old man who told him how to find his lucky number. The first step is to find the day you were born. For example, if your birthday is 11/11/2011, you add all of the digits together to get 8, so your lucky number is 8! If the sum is double digits like 13, then you add 1+3 to get 4. You then use your lucky number for anything, like if someone says, “pick a number between 1-10!”, always pick your lucky number. Mr. Neel also has a ring that has gemstones that represent the 9 numbers.

Mr. Neel took us on a hike at Le Mourne Brabant, which is a biggish mountain on Mauritius. Unfortunately for us, though, we could not actually hike to the top because half of our family is under 13, and you need to be at least 13 to go to the top due to some scrambling. We got a nice view anyway, and we could see basically the entire island from 2/3 up the mountain.

On top (or at least the closest we could get to the top) Le Morne enjoying the view and eating some cookies! Also it was very sunny… so don’t judge our smiles

On another day, we went on a tour of the north side of Mauritius. In addition to dodo birds, the island is also known for their sugarcane production. We went to an old sugar cane factory that was transformed into a museum and learned a little bit more about all of this sugar. They had a scavenger hunt in the museum, and let’s just say that it took us way longer than intended to go through the museum… (the prize was worth it though! secret: it is a box of sugar). On the same day, we also went to Fort Adelaide, which is in Port Louis and Mon Choisy beach. The water there was also cold, though, so we just hung out on the beach, drank smoothies, and collected shells.

As our trip was ending, on the day we were leaving Mauritius, things cleared up and started to look beautiful. We went to the beach at our hotel one last time and actually went into the water (although we didn’t swim, we just waded)!

Mauritius staaaaaats!

Best food: dinner at Mamie Sophie Table D’Hôte

Best shopping: we didn’t do much shopping here

Fun fact: Dodo birds were the first animal to be found on Mauritius, and Mauritius is the only island they have ever been found on.

Best things to see/do: hiking Le Morne Brabant

Where we stayed: LUX* Belle Mare

How 2 pronounce: more-rish-iss

Don’t be a dodo!

Mauritius staaaaaats!

Mission: Inslothable