Mauritius

We leisurely taxi tour in Mauritius. The town was pretty dingy, but we enjoyed the local market.

Larry bartered long and hard with the man you see in the photo. They were having a good time, though, and other shopkeepers were chuckling over the intense negotiation, as well.

I got a kick out of the “hipster Shiva” t shirt. There’s quite a mix of cultures here, since after slavery was abolished in the 1800s, many folks came from India to work the sugar cane fields. (Of course, even though they were not technically slaves, the conditions weren’t exactly great, either.)

The market smelled of curry and fresh fruit. Dodo birds were a common design motif here, since this is where they once thrived.

In fact, as part of Larry’s wheeling and dealing, the shopkeeper gave us some Mauritian currency featuring a dodo bird.

After the market, our cabbie took us to a beach that locals enjoy. We had it all to ourselves because it was a weekday.Read more