Soudha's Travel Log 1: Let's Hit The Beach!

Hey guys! As announced in a previous post, today I'll tell you a bit more about my home country. Mauritius is a small island in the Indian Ocean. To tourists and visitors, this usual evokes images of white sandy beaches, blue lagoons and picturesque nature spots. As you'll be soon discovering though, the island is also home to a culture melting pot, wide expanses of sugarcane fields, rich historical sites, remnants of past colonial times and even an extinct bird. Ever heard of the dodo? Like the one in Alice in Wonderland? Yep, that bird was Mauritian. 

In each post in this new feature called Soudha's Travel Log, I'll take you on a virtual trip of that particular day's location. I'll then show you the book(s) I'm currently reading and which I brought with me on the trip. Then, at the end of the post, I'll show you the memorabilia I collected during my trip. I thought it would be nice to pick up some souvenirs each time I go for one of these trips. I'm actually pretty excited to be playing the local tourist! I hope you'll have as much fun reading these posts as I'll have making them ^^

Since this is the first post in this feature, I thought I would start with the tourists' favorites: the beaches! 

Let's Go To The Beach!

Today is Saturday the 22nd of August and we're going to the beach of Flic en Flac, in the West of the island. Get ready for lots of places with funny names because as you'll find out as I make more of these posts, Mauritius has lots of places with French and Creole names. My dad is tagging along, with me not having my license yet and all of that. We leave home at 2.00 pm and hit the road. Although it's winter here right now, we're lucky to have selected a particularly sunny day for this trip.  

After driving for about 20 min, we finally reach the coastal road. This road crosses through coastal villages and touristic shopping spots. A few minutes after entering the village of Flic en Flac, we decide to stop to snap some pictures.

I spot a postcard rack and decide to grab one for my souvenir collection.

Time to take the road again. Now we're finally approaching the beach. Since today is Saturday, there are plenty of people already here. We find a nice spot and I get to work taking some pictures while my dad goes to hunt down the nearest ice-cream van. 

It's 3.30 pm and I'm starting to feel a bit hungry. My dad and I decide to walk along the beach to see what we can find. At the beach you'll usually find stalls offering local fruit salads and juices. There are also people selling coconut water, fresh out of the coconuts. If you've never tried it, I promise it's as delicious as it sounds. 

It's now 4.00 pm and we decide to head back home. Along the way, decide to stop at the nearby fishing village. In most Mauritian coastal villages, the main activity is fishing and the fishermen usually occupy a part of the beach where the water is too deep and tricky to swim in. Since it's afternoon, we find the spot empty as most fishermen go out at sea very early in the morning. As the waves roll in the distance and a gentle sea breeze sweeps across the beach, we enjoy the tranquil sight of the fishing boats docked for the day.  

What I'm Currently Reading 

Now let me show you what I've been reading. I'm actually reading a few different books at the moment but the one I brought to the beach with me is Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee. I've recently read To Kill A Mockingbird and absolutely loved it and while I would have been fine without a sequel, I am too much of a curious person not to read Go Set A Watchman.   

Reading about an adult Scout in the first few pages was a bit weird for me but as I'm reading, the book is slowly growing on me. I'll keep my thoughts on this book for my wrap-up though.

The Souvenir(s)

I bought this lovely postcard at one of the little tourist shop we visited on our way to the beach. I love the colors and how it screams sunny days and good times. The picture on the card was taken at La Pirogue, a four star hotel found in Flic en Flac. I actually did spend a week there with my family two years ago, so I was happy to find a postcard with a picture of the hotel. At the back of the postcard, I wrote the date and the purpose of our trip. I also decided to have the people accompanying me in my trips add their names and signatures at the back of the postcards and other memorabilia I'll be picking up. One day, I'll look back on all those souvenirs and remember the fun trips we had together while we played the local tourists. As my dad jokingly said to me in the car, "Along with your readers, you're also discovering Mauritius!" 

So this was my first post in the Travel Log series. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Let me know your thoughts in the comments! And now I'll leave you with shots of this exceptional fail XD

 

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Cover Art by Of Stacks and Cups via Pagemodo