Le Marres

Although we felt as if a whole day has passed, it wasn't even noon yet. As the sun would still get hotter, we decided to drive to the Peninsule de mangrove and take a nap at a completely empty beach. We were afraid that all the Le Morne hikers would take a break at this beach afterwards as well, but we were the only people there which was a great change to Flic en Flac. Later we were woken up by some dance music. We looked around and saw a big sign stating "International Elderly Dance Contest". That's fun, I thought and wanted to dance with them, however, my legs told me otherwise, so I was happy just watching them having their best time. After a couple of songs, we decided to make our way back home on the scenic route. First we drove by the Chamarel Viewpoint, which wasn't that special. Then we drove higher and higher until we reached the top and arrived at the astounding Gorges Viewpoint. From there you could look over the Black River Gorges National Park and in my opinion: That was a way nicer view than from top of Le Morne. The calm and serenity the whole place was quietly shouting... Amazing. Just stunningly beautiful the whole atmosphere. We watched some pretty fat monkeys going through the trast from all the tourists driving by here. One of them looked more like a fluff ball than an agile monkey, another one was playing with its gum like a human. These monkeys have definitely been around humans way too much. And as a tourist bus with twenty noisy phoneholders arrived, we not only knew how but also to get going. So we left the Gorges Viewpoint behind and drove to our final destination of the Scenic route: Ganga Talao. This is a hindu temple located at a holy lake called the Grand Bassin. Hindus believe that the lake is connected with the Ganges from India. There, the biggest hindu procession of the world (outside India) including 200.000 people, is held yearly. That explains the hundreds of parking spaces that were luckily pretty vacant when we took a short break at the lake. It was all calm and quiet, so that we could enjoy in piece.
After a few minutes, we jumped back into the car and drove back. The landscape changed from tea plantages to villages and finally the sea again. As usual, we were planning to go to Satishs', however tonight he promised me he'd share the secret of Baja with me. Baja is a formidable treat of cheese fried in oil. I am obsessed with it and I wanted to learn, how you cook it. When we arrived, he led me to the kitchen, put an apron around me and introduced me to Bandia, the cook. She showed me how to do Baja and although I could see that she wasn't happy about my slowliness in the kitchen, she showed me everything patiently. When the Baja was ready, I was able to serve my own made Baja (although Bandia did most of the work) and was happy like a child able to choose any sweets of their liking. Only the Baja would have been totally enough for me, however, Seb got a crab for dinner that was killed in front of our eyes (rather brutally, but I can't think of a better way). I got some veggie dinner as well, but after two bites I knew I wouldn't be able to finish it up, as the long day was haunting me now. I was so exhausted by all the physical work for Le Morne, the early wake up and the long hour drives, that I felt sick. The Dopamin rush from the Baja cooking fading away wasn't helpful either. So, Seb and I cut the night short and left with a full stomach and a new recipe for a guilty pleasure. If you want to have it as well... I think you gotta fly to Mauritius and earn it for yourself :)Read more