Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt
Monday 5th of August
08.43 The last week of traveling this summer has begun here at our accommodation Villa Elyza in Port Mathurin on Rodrigues, Mauritius. The night has treated us well. We have high hopes for this last week.
09.11 We still have to somehow arrange something to eat today. There are plans for how we will solve this.
09.50 Yesterday's leftovers in the form of pasta and sausages quickly became today's brunch. Is this recycling or what can you call it?
10.21 It's getting time to go out to buy what we need tonight and tomorrow too. There is a little bit of everything to buy. We will probably also take some groceries with us to the next accommodation where we will have a long way to a shop.
11.12 We went to Super Cash, a store that had been closed earlier during the weekend. The selection was not as good as we had hoped, but we got most of what we wanted. What we are missing, however, is bread for breakfast tomorrow morning. We have dinner bought for the evening of arrival at the next accommodation tomorrow. We Swedes are used to buying bread in regular grocery stores, but in many countries there is no bread there. We want to buy it freshly baked in other places.
11.57 We plan to have a late eleven o'clock coffee before we leave the accommodation for today's planned activities.
12.16 After coffee and biscuits with fillings, we will now head towards a beach to eventually both have lunch and be able to swim in the sea. We either go to a beach we saw last night or we continue if we can walk that far. Of course, by bus we can get even further, but we don't have the energy to figure out which buses go where and how often they go.
16.15 After reading further and in Christer's case also finishing his book, we will now turn back home. There was not much swimming. The beach was of questionable quality and the water was still cold.
20.46 We had another good dinner at the well-attended restaurant. When we left the restaurant, the sky had opened and the rain was pouring down. All we had to do was get under a roof and wait until the rain had calmed down a bit. The walk home through the city was dark and damp, but we are finally home.
Tuesday 6th of August
Port Mathurin, Rodrigues.
Johnston Street, Port Mathurin.
We have stepped into the cozy Café Rose.
The lunch menu.
Christer is waiting for lunch.
Peter leaves Café Rose.
Boats at Baie Lascars, Port Mathurin.
Peter writes in his journal by the roadside.
A crab came to say hello.
The first beach we found in Caverne Provert.
Peter has positioned himself at one of the stone tables by the beach.
Today's walk ends here in Caverne Provert.
Today we had dog company too.
A lovely afternoon by the Indian Ocean.
Peter disappears into the literature.
The cave in Caverne Provert.
A few goats appeared along our path.
The Wall of Gratitude. Port Mathurin remembers its celebrities.
Le Pecheur du Nord, Port Mathurin.
Peter watches his dinner.
Christer has dinner at Le Pecheur du Nord.
09.10 Once again, a stay is coming to an end. This morning we will leave the nice accommodation Villa Elyza. We are waiting right now and hoping that the small kiosk/shop Sailesh Boutik opposite the accommodation will open for the day. We want to buy bread for our breakfast.
09.20 This is not going so well. A note on the wall of the shop informs us that it is closed until August 25. We are not going to wait that long. Unfortunately, there will be no bread for today's breakfast. 11.05 Via the Yugo app we have tried to book a car to the next accommodation to avoid having to deal with the bus. It has not gone so well. They do not have a service here on the island of Rodrigues. The app only works on the main island of Mauritius. Instead, Christer has written the name of the next accommodation on a note that we can show to the bus conductor. We would like to be sure to get on a bus that passes where we are staying. 11.58 Our world and our home for the last three days are left behind us with a certain sadness. We want to move on but will miss this place. On the way to the bus station we have stopped for lunch at Ti Baz Meet & Chill. It is a simple pizzeria. If we had stayed in Port Mathurin a little longer we would probably have had time to eat at all the restaurants in town. There are not that many. 12.07 This is a simple meal. We are sitting in a warm room with the sun shining on us through the window. The pizzas are eaten straight from the boxes. 12.40 Food is good to have before a bus trip no matter how long the trip may be. This is especially true when you travel to a place that does not have a restaurant. After a little hassle at the chaotic bus station we have been shown to the right bus. When are we leaving? 13.04 We slowly drive up a steep hill out of Port Mathurin. The bus can barely make it. It's almost time to pay for this short bus trip.
Our local shop is closed for the holidays.
Peter visits Ti Baz Meet & Chill.
Pizza in a cardboard box, simple but delicious.
On the bus on the way from Port Mathurin.
We have got off the bus.
We have found our next home, Le Havre Gourmand.
13.11 I again lost some coins when paying. This time they were picked up by a fellow passenger, a woman, thank you! She is sitting behind me and gave the money to Christer.
13.19 The bus leaves us where we are standing by the roadside. That is good. We have got off the bus at a parking space near the next accommodation. This time we will stay at Le Havre Gourmand near the village of Citronelle. We are not too far from Port Mathurin either. Le Havre Gourmand together with Valérie's Confitures is a café and a bakery that also has a room with a patio that they rent out to people like us. The owners are Valérie and her French husband André.
13.24 We stepped through the door of the bakery. There we met Linda, a happy woman who smiled and spoke French to us. After a while she understood that we didn't understand anything she said and she apologized. After a while she got a hold of the owners who will help us check in. They also speak English. 13.32 We have arrived to our room, our apartment at Le Havre Gourmand. The room is small but well equipped. The view from the balcony is magical. We have been given information about how the kitchen and shower work. André had seen us in one of the shops in town and recognized us. The hostess Valérie has a small shop where she sells home-baked bread and homemade jam/marmalade. There will probably be some shopping there before we leave here. 16.03 It's a quiet afternoon. We've drunk the juice we were offered at check-in, sat on the balcony, read our books and most recently ate some fresh passion fruit that was included in the room. 18.00 We're still sitting on the balcony and studying the wildlife that crawls out at dusk. We've seen flying dogs circling in the air and geckos on the balcony's ceiling. We haven't seen flying dogs, which are a type of bat, since the Seychelles in 2016. Wonder if these are the same species we saw there? Geckos are more standard animals in warmer climates, but here there's a whole army of them that have arrived.
We have a wonderful patio.
Peter has found the WiFi network.
A view we are very happy with.
Reading time at Le Havre Gourmand.
The sun sets on Rodrigues island.
The army of geckos emerges after sunset.
18.37 The sun has set and the geckos have strategically positioned themselves on the ceiling and walls. One of the larger ones has settled inside the fluorescent light fixture. That's probably based on experience. Light sources attract a lot of insects.
19.05 This evening we're cooking our own dinner consisting of pasta and sausages we bought. Wonder how it goes and tastes when it's ready? 20.18 There was a bit of a mess during the cooking when we managed to spill both pasta and sausages all over the floor and behind the fridge, but we managed to put together a dinner in the end. 22.10 Now after dinner and evening coffee we've found a French TV channel that shows athletics from the Paris Olympics. Right now it's a bit of a mess. All we have to do is sit on the sofa and enjoy the sports entertainment. 23.01 There was no expected Norwegian gold in the men's 1500 meters. There was not even a medal for the favourite Jakob Ingebrigtsen. The women are competing in the hammer throw competition. As for us, we will soon be sleeping. I will sleep in the bed surrounded by mosquito nets and Christer will sleep on the sofa bed. There are not nearly as many mosquitoes here as the host couple warned us about. It will probably be a nice night, the first of two here.
A lizard has strategically positioned itself by the fluorescent tube.
Tonight we can watch the Olympics on a French TV channel.
Wednesday 7th of August
08.30 After another night on the island of Rodrigues, we will soon have breakfast here at Le Havre Gourmand. This time, someone other than ourselves will arrange it.
09.36 We have left our room and temporarily stopped to photograph and admire a large spider web. The large spiders are of the species red-legged golden orb-weaver spider or red-legged nephila. They can grow as big as a human hand and make webs so strong that even birds and bats sometimes get caught. 09.45 While we ordered our breakfast from our hostess Valérie, we talked about Armand Duplantis world record with a French lady who seems to be a regular guest or possibly Valérie's friend. Now we have ordered long, black coffee, healthy homemade bread and a selection of the house's jams. They are made from fruits and berries from the garden behind the house. 10.33 It was really good bread, brioche and tasty jams as side dishes. Afterwards we paid for the breakfasts, the transport to the airport tomorrow, bread and jam for tomorrow's breakfast and a few jars of jam that will be gifts for some relatives back home. 11.10 Now we are going out to get to know the surrounding area better. The program includes going to the neighbouring town of Mont Lubin to have lunch and buy ingredients for today's dinner. We also plan to visit the highest point on the island of Rodrigues on the mountain Mont Limon. 11.21 We have left the accommodation and are walking slightly uphill along the country road that yesterday's bus continued to drive on after we had been dropped off.
Large spiders in front of our accommodation.
Le Havre Gourmand, Citronelle.
Today's breakfast is of high quality.
Peter has breakfast at Le Havre Gourmand.
Christer behind the breakfast table.
Beautiful view from the highway.
11.36 We have arrived at Mont Lubin, the capital of the interior of the island of Rodrigues. We have seen a monument from 2018 that pays tribute to South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela. Here in Mont Lubin the road divides. We will eventually turn left to reach the mountain Mont Limon, but first we will explore the range of restaurants and shops.
11.42 We have walked downhill and found the Super Cash Xpress supermarket. The range seems meager but we will surely find something there on the way back. 11.55 Now we are finally here. I am exhausted and out of breath. We found a path that pointed towards Mont Limon and have slowly, step by step, made our way up to a viewing platform. We are 398 meters above sea level. 12.00 On a wooden stump up here someone has written information about what you can see when you look in different directions from Mont Limon. We enjoy the view and have photographed the island and the coast in different directions. 12.15 We are slowly making our way down again through the shady, cool forest. This is apparently a small nature reserve with remnants of the forest that once covered the entire island. Birds are singing and in the distance we can hear cars and a rooster. 12.37 Down by the main road again we have admired a system of spider webs that cover several square meters between some trees on the other side of the road. The creators of this masterpiece are the same species of spider that we looked at this morning. 12.48 It is lunchtime again, again at Ti Baz Meet & Chill. However, it is not the same restaurant that we visited yesterday. This is another branch in Mont Lubin.
We have walked to Mont Lubin.
A tribute to Nelson Mandela.
The walk continues towards Mont Limon.
Peter takes notes on the top of Mont Limon.
View to the north.
The reef off eastern Rodrigues.
13.19 Most of the people here, including us, are waiting for our orders, for the pizzas to be delivered. Some are going to eat here and some are going to take their food with them. It takes time for some reason. Many who come here are students from the nearby Mont Lubin College.
13.15 The staff has spoken to us and apologized for the delay. The problem seems to be a lack of cheese. Cheese is a central ingredient in a pizza. 13.32 That's it. Now the cheese has arrived at the restaurant and we have collected our pizzas at the ordering counter. They look delicious. 13.54 The pizzas were better and more filling than the ones we had yesterday in Port Mathurin. Next we will buy ingredients for dinner in the shop we passed earlier. 14.38 Before heading home, we did our shopping at Smart Cash Xpress. There wasn't much to choose from, neither in terms of drinks nor food, but we brought home enough to put together dinner tonight. 16.31 We're home again. A little afternoon coffee perks us up. It's lucky that the long trip is almost over, because the same goes for the coffee. 17.35 While waiting for the flying dogs to return at dusk, we take it easy out on the balcony.
Christer at the highest point on Rodrigues.
You can use a tree stump to find your way around.
Peter visits Mont Limon.
The way back from the viewpoint.
A break in the cool forest.
Christer in the Mont Limon forest.
18.20 There are no flying dogs in sight this evening. However, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the large bats and ordinary birds that flutter around.
18.39 The bats were missing but the army of geckos are dutiful and have placed themselves in the same place as yesterday. 19.58 Now we have started cooking for the evening. This will probably be the last time we cook dinner for ourselves on this trip. Just like before, it will be pasta with sausages. We were unable to find anything else in the store. 20.11 The food is served outside on our patio. The warm Pepsi bottles we bought in the store have become acceptably cool in the fridge and can be used as drinks to our meal. 20.56 It was simple but delicious. Now it will be Olympic sports for the rest of this evening. 23.19 While we were watching the athletics from the Olympics, Christer had a conversation on WhatsApp with the owner of the accommodation Artihost that we did not get into in Panevėžys, Lithuania. He wants Christer to remove the low rating they received from us on Booking.com. Christer thinks that not even being allowed into a room we paid for is worth a bad rating, but the owner says that it was all a human error and it is unfair of us to give a low rating. We will see how this ends.
Peter leaves Mont Limon.
We are waiting for cheese.
Now we're back home again.
We managed to put together some kind of dinner here as well.
Thursday 8th of August
08.02 Today is the real beginning of the long journey that, with a few stops along the way, will take us all the way home. It will take three days but we will soon be on our way.
09.03 Locally baked bread and homemade jam bought here at Le Havre Gourmand together with milk bought in Mont Lubin and coffee from our own jar. That was our breakfast this morning. Soon everything we are going to bring with us will be packed. On Thursdays, our café and bakery are closed. That is why we had breakfast in the room. 09.25 The transport we paid for yesterday consists of a ride to the airport in Valérie and André's car. Right now we are waiting at the closed bakery. 09.34 Our host couple will be driving us to the airport. The problem is that guests have just arrived here who didn't know that it's closed here on Thursdays. Friendly Valérie opened temporarily so that the French family with children can do some shopping. Soon we will be leaving, though. 09.50 We are on our way. Now we have stopped at a police checkpoint. The host and driver André have shown his driving license, both Mauritian and French. Everything is OK and we can continue. 10.22 The rest of the journey to Plaine Corail Airport was police-free and painless. We left a card with information about our website and hope that our nice hosts will see our pictures eventually. We said Au revoir to the host couple and went to check in our luggage. That also went smoothly. We received an offer and will fly on an earlier flight than the one we had booked. Now a plane lands, will it be ours? 10.58 The Air Mauritius plane was not boarded via a staircase but via a ramp. We are now seated in seats 9D and 9F.
Breakfast on the patio.
The view one last time.
We buy jam from Valérie's production.
We get to take an earlier flight.
On the way from Rodrigues to Mauritius.
We look down at Ile aux Cerfs off the east coast of Mauritius.
12.06 We have each filled out a health declaration and eaten a sandwich, Kitkat and drank juice during our flight west.
13.40 The approach took a little extra time because the pilot did not get the go-ahead to land due to heavy traffic over the airport. We flew around Mauritius a few times before landing and I guess I can see it as a little extra sightseeing. Now at least we and the backpacks are located at Café 8 at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport. We have ordered coffee, a snack. 14.04 It was a chicken baguette for me and a hamburger for Christer. It was just about enough food right now. Now we wonder if the upcoming accommodation is paid for or not and how we will get there, will it be a bus or a taxi? 14.20 It probably hasn't been paid for. In any case, we can't find any information about any such transaction. We have also chosen a taxi instead of a bus. The trip is almost over so we don't need to be stingy. 14.35 OK, it costs a little extra to take a taxi but we can afford it. We have gone from the airport to Mahébourg, a town just outside the airport area. Now Christer is filling in the information that our next accommodation wants. Soon we will be in the last room here in Mauritius. 14.45 The two of us are now in room 8 at Auberge Le Saladier (https://aubergelesaladier.hoteluno.top) in Mahébourg. It is a small but homely room. Our hosts are Younoos and Jill Modoolla. Since it is low season, we can have the room as long as we want tomorrow before we fly. Very good! Thank you.
Christer is having a snack at Café 8.
Auberge Le Saladier, Mahébourg.
View of the courtyard from our room.
Quiet streets in Mahébourg.
The restaurant Les Copains D'Abord lights up the evening darkness.
Empty of people but plenty of beautiful furniture.
17.02 After watching TV from the Olympics in the form of climbing and canoeing or was it kayaking (?) we go out into the streets of the town for a last shopping. Mahébourg is a nice town by the sea and has 17,042 inhabitants. The town was originally built by the Dutch during their short period on Mauritius. It was close to their landing port, had plenty of water from many rivers and streams and had a scenic view of the large bay area. After the French chose Port Louis as their main port, Mahébourg's importance declined and became a sleepy coastal town.
17.17 We have found our way to SaveMax Mahébourg. Here we are looking for drinks and maybe something else nice to buy with us from Mauritius. On the way to the shop we passed the church of Notre Dame des Anges but it was completely impossible to photograph, things in the way of it from all angles. 17.48 There were no large-scale purchases. But who needs that? We also have the opportunity to shop at the airport tomorrow. We want to buy a bottle or two of rum from Mauritius with us anyway. Now we are back in the room for a while. 19.01 After some relaxing in the room, it is now time for the last dinner in this country. 19.25 We are actually completely alone at the restaurant that we have read good reviews about online. Yes, there is of course staff here at Les Copains D'Abord but we are the only guests. The restaurant is located near the sea, a sea we cannot see because of the darkness but it is there somewhere. 19.36 Our food has arrived at the table. It will be chicken curry with side dishes. We drink beer with the food, Manawa IPA.
Peter is waiting for the food.
Christer is ready for dinner at Les Copains D'Abord.
Tonight's dinner has arrived.
Free rum and cake.
20.12 The service here is professional and good, present without being intrusive. Portuguese music is playing in the background.
20.48 To end the meal, the restaurant offered delicious cake and rum with a touch of chocolate and vanilla. Thank you! It was appreciated. Now we are home again and hope to watch athletics from the Olympics on the TV in our room. 22.29 On this last evening in the country, we drink evening coffee and watch athletics from the Paris Olympics, including the women's long jump, the men's javelin and soon it will be running, the men's 200 meters. 22.37 Letsile Tebogo from Botswana won Olympic gold in the 200 meters. We congratulate him. 23.42 There was another surprise. The Olympic gold in the javelin went to Arshad Nadeem from Pakistan with a new Olympic record, 92.97 meters. It is the country's first Olympic gold that is not in field hockey. Now it is time to get a good night's sleep before the real journey home begins tomorrow.
You can see 46 photos from August 5 in this photoalbum.
You can see 30 photos from August 6 in this photoalbum.
You can see 46 photos from August 7 in this photoalbum.
You can see 27 photos from August 8 in this photoalbum.