Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt
Thursday 1st of August
09.08 A good night's sleep in our apartment at Pingo Studio in Coteau Raffin and a breakfast have started this first day of August. Now we will read in our books out on our patio and will wait for our host. He will be paid for our stay here. After that we plan to go to a beach. It will be another nice day here in southwest Mauritius.
10.02 Sometimes it feels quite good not to have any direct plans and musts. When this day gets underway in earnest, however, there will be a lot to do. Above all, there will be a lot of walking to get to the beach we want to visit. The plans to rent bicycles did not materialize, partly because we had not heard anything about such offers and partly because of the traffic on the narrow country roads.
10.35 No host has yet appeared. How long will we wait? It is a good distance to the beach and we plan to walk there today.
11.14 The wait is over. No host has been spotted. Before the break, we drank coffee and shared the last of the cake with some birds. Now we will begin the long walk to the sea.
11.29 Change of plans. The host/owner, Ben, is finally here. Christer is paying him for this now. Our host has also offered to drive us to Le Morne where the beach is located. Perfect!
11.39 In a hurry we were brought to the restaurant Wapalapam Island Eatery (https://wapalapam.com), a sister restaurant to the Wapalapam restaurant we visited in Port Louis. We will have lunch here before continuing our walk towards the beach.
15.22 We finished our beers and the restaurant closed. Now we are back on a bench and are getting ready for the sea. Further out the waves break against the reef.
16.37 Christer also thought the water was unexpectedly cold. It's easy to forget that we're actually in the winter months right now here in the southern hemisphere. Now we've moved away from the sea. We're sitting and drying ourselves. It's lovely to swim in the sea, but all the salt and sand that sticks to our bodies is the sour that comes after. There is also no water in the taps in the toilets here at the beach. Now we await the sunset which should be just over an hour away.
18.22 The walk home has begun. The first stretch is to take the back track along the country road to the lunch restaurant Wapalapam.
Friday 2nd of August
A new month and a new morning begin at Pingo Studio.
We were given a ride to the restaurant Wapalapam.
Our view from the lunch table.
Monaco in our glasses.
Lunch has been served.
We follow the road and the pipe to Le Morne.
We have arrived at today's destination, Le Morne.
Le Morne Public Beach.
In the shadow of Mount Le Morne.
Slave Route Monument.
Le Morne Cultural Landscape.
Christer is drinking Flying Dodo in the sun.
Travel journal notes and good beer.
The Indian Ocean.
Footprints in the sand.
Christer on the beach in Le Morne.
Peter and the light of the setting sun.
Just before dusk, some fishing rods were brought out.
The sun is sinking below the horizon.
The sun has finished shining this day.
We have now walked 5 km.
The evening is rounded off with evening beer.
08.36 Goodbye night, hello morning. Christer has just sent a request for a taxi on the Yugo app that we used when we traveled to Grand Baie. If all goes well, we will leave here shortly after 11.00. My simple arrangement with a tap in the catheter has apparently worked. It will be nice to get rid of it when I get home eventually.
08.47 A driver has accepted our request and says that he will arrive at the desired time. This day has really started well. It is worth paying for private transport instead of jumping on board at least two different local buses with uncertain departure times to say the least. 09.39 With a few species of small birds as company, we have had breakfast on the patio. The birds have pecked at the leftover bread that we put out. 10.09 Soon everything we want to take with us on our further journey will be packed in one of our backpacks. 11.05 We have said goodbye to the singing birds and the accommodation. It has been a really good accommodation here in Pingo Studio. Now we will wait for our taxi. Just to be safe, we have parked right next to the sign with the street name Rue des Manguiers on it. 11.18 Our recently arrived driver was just wondering about our names and our homeland. Is it so obvious that we are not part of the local population? His knowledge of Sweden was that the sun does not set in the summer. That is true, at least in some parts of our homeland in the far north. 11.47 It is convenient to have your own driver and your own vehicle. We have passed Le Morne and Baie du Cap where we would have had to change buses if we had chosen that option. 12.15 Our driver asked a few questions to people on the street and then dropped us off at the gate of Kowlessur Residence in Surinam. No, we are not in the small country in northern South America. We are in a town in the southern parts of the island that is also called Suriname. There are 10,621 inhabitants here. Two of these are our host couple. They are the hostess Aleksandra and her husband Akash. Incidentally, he was standing in a large birdcage when we arrived. We have also met their dog, Misha. Now we have settled into a smaller space than the one we have been living in for the past few days, but the price is also much lower.
Peter has checked out of Pingo Studio.
Waiting for today's transport.
In the new room at Kowlessur Residence.
Lunch at 44 Spice & Wok Fusion Cuisine.
Christer is eating lunch in Suriname.
A shortcut to the sea.
12.31 Enough of home time in the room. We have to go out to get something to eat and drink. We need lunch.
12.59 Now it was time to speak French when ordering today's lunches. We are at 44 Spice & Wok Fusion Cuisine. It is not a restaurant of the dignity we have been spoiled with lately. It is more of a neighborhood restaurant. However, it is nice to visit a completely ordinary town in Mauritius, a place that has not been adapted to tourism.
13.45 Sure, it was a bit simple, but it was also tasty and at a good price. I ordered shrimps and Christer had lamb. This came with rice and vegetables. 14.21 We have taken a shortcut from the main street Royal Road down to the sea. After a stop at the quiet Kwikmart store for shopping, we have now reached the Riambel Public Beach. We are sitting at a table. 14.33 We take it easy, drink from the drinks we bought and read our books. Two dogs have come to us at our table, a black pregnant female dog and a black and white male dog. Now they are resting. 15.25 Now it is time for us to take our books with us and to leave the beach and the dogs to themselves. 15.44 We navigated our way home easily and smoothly. Neither Misha nor the host couple are in sight here at home. 16.21 The next accommodation has contacted Christer. He is now working on clarifying and translating what is in the message. It is written in French. 16.48 The e-mail was about an offer for transportation from the airport. While Christer sent a request for a price, I arranged for us to have coffee. Now we are working on a financial plan.
We have found the sea again.
Riambel Public Beach.
Away from land there is a coral reef.
Literature and drinks at a beach table.
New dog friends in Surinam.
Important to close the gate so that no dogs escape.
17.33 Tomorrow's accommodation announces that they are sending a driver. He will be at the airport with a sign with the accommodation's name. In the Olympic table tennis, it seems that Sweden will be in the final. Our problems for tonight are about food. What should we buy for breakfast and where will we eat dinner? There are not many restaurants here in Surinam and some of the ones that do exist are small or closed.
18.38 The shopping was a disappointment. The selection was meager at SaveMax. We haven't been able to get any bread. It also looks dark when it comes to restaurants. All we've seen is a small hut. According to Google Maps, there are other restaurants further away in town. At least we've met a friend of Misha's. It's a reddish-brown dog who also seems to live here. 19.19 What a start to the evening it was! We were going to leave the accommodation to go out for dinner. When we were going to go out through the gate onto the street, Misha and the reddish-brown dog ran out after jumping up at us. Luckily, the two cowardly dogs came back after a short run along the street and we went on to the restaurant Pôt Au Feu. This is where we're going to order tonight's dinner. 20.30 We were served decent portions of Asian food and my meat was more tender than what we ate yesterday. We then managed to get back into the accommodation without letting any more dogs out. 20.55 The Yugo app we were planning to use to get to the airport tomorrow wants to pay in advance. We don't want to pay before we even know if a car is coming. It seems that the rules are slightly different for trips to and from the airport. 21.26 We chose to leave my card details on the app. That seems to be enough. Hopefully nothing will be deducted from the card until the trip has been completed. They haven't fully confirmed the booking, they only said they received it. 22.26 Now we have also received a transport confirmation from a driver. We are going to wait for a red MG from 2024 with a license plate that also ends with 2024. So a brand new car will come and pick us up tomorrow morning. 23.25 It's time to end this Friday with sleep. During the coming weekend we will change islands.
St. Joseph Church, Surinam.
Dusk in Surinam.
Dinner at Pôt au Feu Resto.
Saturday 3rd of August
08.03 Today is a day for various transports and exchanges. We will be transported to and from airports. We will also be transported to and from accommodations. The most important thing, however, is that we will be changing islands.
08.37 The breakfast we tried to buy yesterday consisted of yoghurt, juice, coffee and sponge cake. Now we will prepare for the first trip today. 09.03 Most of it is now planned. Now it just has to go as we hope. A lot of unexpected and unforeseen things can happen. 09.27 The ordered red MG car with us as passengers is now on its way to the airport. The Yugo app is really easy to use and valuable when it is a bit unclear when the buses leave and where they stop. 09.59 The journey goes slowly past the countryside and through various small towns with heavy traffic. At times there are several vehicles close to us. Right now we are passing a sugarcane field. 10.20 The transport stopped at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport where we arrived in the country a little over a week ago. We unloaded our bags and said thank you and goodbye to our transporter. Unfortunately, it seems that we are being let off at the international part of the airport. We are going to fly domestically. This needs to be investigated. Problem two is that the network (WiFi) is having problems. 10.33 It was the right building we were in but the wrong floor. We went down one floor, found the signs for the special check-in for domestic flights and are now getting ready to check-in. 10.53 The positive, check-in and passport presentation went just fine. The negative, despite intensive planning regarding our finances, we forgot to withdraw money from an ATM, sacre bleu! Incidentally, it feels a bit strange to have to go through passport control when we are going to stay in the same country, but there must be a reason for that. 11.36 While waiting to board the domestic flight from Mauritius to Rodrigues, we bought a tasty baguette and drank good coffee. The cost was only 135 rupees.
Dropped off at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport.
We found the check-in for the domestic flight to Rodrigues.
We are waiting for the flight on colourful seats.
We have landed at Plaine Corail Airport.
We have moved into our apartment at Villa Elyza.
Outdoor kitchen at Villa Elyza.
11.52 Some have started walking towards the gate to queue. Most of us, including us, are still sitting in our seats. They don't seem to be leaving us.
12.11 The Air Mauritius ATR 72 is being filled with fuel. As soon as it's ready, we enter the runway. With their help, we will change islands from the main island of Mauritius to Rodrigues 620 kilometers east in the Indian Ocean. 13.15 During the flight, we had fun filling out two different documents for arriving in Rodrigues. We also enjoyed some coffee, sandwiches, juice and Kitkat. Once again, we are flying domestically on our travels. 14.17 The flight went well and we landed at Plaine Corail Airport in western Rodrigues. Another thing that went smoothly was all the airport exercises. We left the arrivals hall and met our driver. Now we are going with him to our accommodation here on Rodrigues. We are going to the capital, Port Mathurin. The island of Rodrigues has 43,650 inhabitants. About 6,000 of these live in Port Mathurin. 14.50 The pleasant and chatty Auguste Glover drove us and told us about everything we passed. He also found an easy shortcut up a very steep hill. Finally we arrived at the accommodation Villa Elyza on the outskirts of Port Mathurin. Here we were shown to the apartment that we have as our home for the next three days. A young woman, Aurélie, welcomed us and seems to be the one who takes care of most things here. 15.49 We are not the only guests here, but we are the only guests who are now going out to look for food for tonight and also for breakfast tomorrow morning. 16.15 After a bit of fiddling with a few ATMs, we have gotten 5000 rupees each. No ATM liked my card but Christer arranged it all because his card was accepted. 16.31 We find no open restaurants or shops in the center of Port Mathurin, but we have been accompanied by a black male dog with white paws.
Outside Villa Elyza is Sailesh Boutik, which has the most necessary things.
Villa Elyza, Port Mathurin.
Quiet and deserted in the center this Saturday.
We have walked to the sea.
The bridge from the bus terminal to the market.
La Résidence, a building from 1897, is said to be one of the oldest buildings in Port Mathurin.
16.50 We have not yet found any restaurants or shops in the city. The dog, whom we have begun to be tired of, follows us everywhere. Hunger is starting to rumble in our stomachs and we are starting to get irritated at not finding anything. It is a bit ironic that we have managed to withdraw a lot of money but we cannot use it.
17.13 We are back home without food, dinner or dog. Christer has contacted the hostess Aurélie via WhatsApp. Apparently the restaurants only open at 6:00 PM this weekend. There is hope. We won't starve to death. 17.33 The hostess sends tips on restaurants via WhatsApp, both near and far. We thank you so much! 18.22 The little blue store, Sailesh Boutik, opposite the accommodation, across the road, opened. We went there with our shopping bags. There wasn't much there but we bought a few evening beers, breakfast juice and a baguette. Hardly cheap but now we have some kind of breakfast anyway. 18.38 While the purchased food cools in the fridge, we will try our luck again regarding dinner. We will head to central parts of the city. 19.14 It is difficult to understand what is about to happen. At L'Atelier Gourmand we will finally have dinner. We ordered hamburgers from a king-size slate. Another thing that is difficult to understand is the music that is playing. It is a woman singing a version of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean.
Finally we found an open restaurant.
We have sat down at the table.
Christer is enjoying eating again.
Peter is eating hamburgers at L'Atelier Gourmand.
19.22 L'Atelier Gourmand is located upstairs in a building near the river that runs through the city. We are sitting outside and feeling really good. We have talked a little with the owner who wondered about our origins.
21.03 We are back home and are significantly more satisfied and full than four hours ago when we were mostly tired, discouraged and irritated. The burgers were superbly good. Now we will gather for a first night on this island. 22.14 This day is taking shape, developing. It looked dark for a while but now things are starting to feel really good. Evening coffee is coming soon here in our apartment. It is a little later than the classic 10pm when we usually drink the black drink. None of us are of the type who sleep poorly after drinking coffee. 23.48 This long day ends with evening beers from Phoenix. These are the beers we managed to get our hands on at Sailesh Boutik.
Sunday 4th of August
08.30 Sleeping in the apartment at Villa Elyza has been very good. We each have our own bedroom and plenty of space to move around. There aren't many Sundays left on this trip. In fact, we'll be home next Sunday.
09.20 As I said, there's plenty of space and floor space in this accommodation. We're now enjoying our simple breakfast at the kitchen table. 10.11 After breakfast, the trip home I just mentioned comes to mind. We've been offered and accepted to be automatically checked in on the flight from Riga to Stockholm. 10.35 It's hopefully time to go downtown and buy some groceries. What's open in a place like this on a Sunday? According to Google Maps, there should be a shop that's open for a few hours. We hope that's true. 10.50 We have once again made our way to the city centre on foot. Even today the streets of the city are very quiet. 11.27 The Fruit Lovers Supermarket was open and had everything we needed except bread. There is no danger on the roof, there is bread at Sailesh Boutik. 11.40 On the way home we did not meet many people but we did say hello to some neighbours in the form of a hen and her chickens.
Fruit Lovers Supermarket was actually open even though it is Sunday.
We walk towards our home.
Peter is preparing Sunday's lunch.
Simple but delicious, pasta and sausages.
The bus terminal in Port Mathurin.
They're playing football here.
12.23 I've gone across the street to Sailesh Boutik, which had matches. Now we can start the gas stove that we'll use for our lunch. They also had bread. We'll buy that later today.
12.35 No matches were actually needed to start the gas stove. It was an unnecessary purchase. The flame was lit with a spark when I turned the knob, the button. 12.57 The pasta is cooked and the frozen sausages we bought are microwaved. It's time for a home-cooked lunch in all its simplicity. 13.25 There was nothing wrong with the lunch we ate outdoors. A little has also been saved for future meals, maybe a little extra for an upcoming breakfast. 14.01 The food we just ate or the leisurely pace of the day has made me tired and sleepy. I fall asleep every now and then. Soon we'll have to fill the rest of this Sunday with some meaningful activities. 14.31 Far away from us, the summer Olympic games are taking place in Paris. Before more things happen here, we'll keep us informed about the latest results and medal standings.
Baie Lascars, Port Mathurin.
Once again we have been accompanied by a tired dog.
Christer in front of the Indian Ocean.
The road to Anse aux Anglais (English Bay).
We have walked along this road.
Sunset in Anse aux Anglais, Rodrigues.
15.03 A little afternoon coffee might get me going. We'll at least try it by having a cup each before we eventually leave home for a while.
15.56 I've finished reading yet another book on this summer trip. The calm permeates the day. 16.32 We can't stay here and get overgrown with moss. We have to get out and move around. The plan for the evening is to go to the neighbouring village of Anse aux Anglais (English Bay) where some of the restaurants we've been told about are located. It will be a nice walk and hopefully we'll see the sunset too. 17.11 On our walk through the city center towards our destination, we passed a reddish-brown dog and we were immediately joined by its company. 17.33 At Anse aux Anglais, another sunset was captured. This one was one of the best we've photographed. A man who had come here with an expensive camera that he had set up on a tripod also thought so. Right now I'm sitting on a wall by a cemetery, Cimetiere Anse aux Anglais. At least we're more alert than those behind me. 18.20 We continued our walk to look for possible beaches for tomorrow. We turned back when we reached the Cocotiers Hotel. After that it was a steep uphill climb. On the way home, we stopped at the restaurant Le Marlin Bleu, which opened at 6 pm. We're now sitting at a table on the outdoor terrace.
A lonely boat and the setting sun.
The sun's light lingers for a while.
Christer has received tonight´s dinner.
Le Marlin Bleu in Anse aux Anglais.
Christer ordered a fish dish at Le Marlin Bleu.
18.45 The restaurant we sat down at is popular and it is starting to get full at all the tables. It is a fish restaurant and Christer has actually ordered a fish dish, tuna. Luckily there are other dishes for me who is allergic to fish.
20.08 We had really good food, good service and the prices were quite okay. This was one of the restaurants recommended by the accommodation and it was a good choice. It is now time to walk home in the dark, first into town and then further home to Villa Elyza on the other side of Port Mathurin. 21.11 At home in our apartment, various evening activities have taken place. We have made a detailed plan for tomorrow. We have also updated ourselves on news and sports results. There have been Swedish medals in the Paris Olympics. Truls Möregårdh won silver in table tennis and Sarah Sjöström swam home her second gold in these Olympics. 22.44 It is calm and quiet here on Rodrigues island. That is what you would expect and what we were looking for on an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. However, we would like to have a little more life and activity than now during the weekend when the streets were empty and most things were closed. Tomorrow is Monday and we hope for a more lively city.
You can see 74 photos from August 1 in this photoalbum.
You can see 41 photos from August 2 in this photoalbum.
You can see 34 photos from August 3 in this photoalbum.
You can see 51 photos from August 4 in this photoalbum.