060 – Mauritius – Squeezing Every Last Drop

With only a few short days until our departure, and our supply of post-confit leftover duck fat running out,

(Do you know what you can’t cook in duck fat?

Me neither.)

We knew it was no time to rest on our laurels; we had to get out there and make every minute count. 

After twenty-eight days of walking past saying  “We should get a picture of those dodos statues”,

We finally got the shot.

Taz squeezed in a yoga class on the beach.

“Chaturanga!”

And, at long last, we tracked down the Red Fody that repeatedly taunted me by strutting around our patio and then hastily retreating every time I reached for the telephoto lens.

Good thing too, because I don’t think he would’ve liked what Taz and I had in mind for Plan B.

We’d been meaning to head back to the Black River Gorge to try out some of the trails,

  But most of the hike descriptions in our Lonely Planet ended with, “…hiking this trail without a guide is not recommended.”

So, we found a guide.

And off we went.

With only 3km to the Macchabée View Point, we thought “Sure! Four kids under four and their accompanying backpacks jammed with water and snack foods, no problem! Should take about an hour to an hour and a half…”

We failed to take into consideration the obvious need to climb over/swing from/splash in/pick up every rock/tree/root/stick/stream that we came across.

Or the fact that the stifling heat was going to cause half the group to poop out, just as we arrived at the climb to the summit.

 (Which left me to pick up the slack.)

So it was, in all our sweat and glory, that we ultimately crested the peak a hair less than three hours later.

A few pieces of cold pizza, some apple slices and a kilogram of grapes,

Had Ciel and Ilias on their feet and back in the ring.

 Taz, on the other hand, was down for the count.

We staggered into the car park just as Abedeen was putting in a call for search and rescue.

After one final gelato lunch/finger painting session on the beach,

(It really is magical stuff.)

We loaded up our gear and headed off to meet Martin, Reyhan, Ilias and Timur for a final farewell, at the only destination left on our 'to do' list.

In light of our upcoming seven-hour overnight flight, it’s possible that chasing our samplers,

(Blonde, Rosé, Oktoberfest, IPA, Tripel x2)

With a couple 7% IPA pints and a smorgasbord of extremely spicy, deep-fried, meaty snacks,

(Crispy Parmesan Squid, Lamb Koftas with Mint Purée, Baby Octopus on Savoury Shortbread,

Not shown – Tempura Jalapeños Stuffed with Beef, Peanut Butter Stuffed Gateaux Piment, Beef Koftas with Minced Green Chilies)

 

Was a little ill-advised. But hey, I'm sure we'll be fine...

See you in Perth.