Yesterday we went for a short walk to visit the ‘Red and White Church’ famous in this part of the world.

How cool is the man with the long white beard!

So, the second part of yesterday’s excursion was to Port Louis, the Capital town of Mauritius.

Before entering the town we visited the old fort which is on a hill looking down over the town

At the shopping mall, in the town, they use golf umbrellas to shade the main pedestrian area from the sun and rain – very effective!

Today we went on our first excursion, visiting both the Botanical Gardens and Port Louis, the Capital of Mauritius.

The Botanical Gardens, as you can see, are named after the first President of Mauritius following independence in the 1960’s

Whilst in the winter months (now) there are no flowering plants, we saw a variety of different trees, amongst them:-
The wedding tree

The sausage tree

And the Chinese Bamboo

We also saw three different animals:-
The fruit bat

Bambi

And finally, the tortoise

Wow, the weather has been fantastic today. I decided to take my first plunge into the swimming pool – it was like an ice bath at first but as soon as I acclimatised it was fine.

Who knows, even Daphne might go for a swim before the end of the holiday!

Found out how to make the rain go away, take a golfing umbrella to breakfast, it certainly worked this morning.
A view from the infinity pool

A view of the cove and hotel restaurant

And finally the cove waterfall

Our room is on the third floor

It has finally stopped raining. Let us hope that it stays dry long enough to walk to and from dinner, via the bar – might have to take the hotel supplied golf umbrella with us, just in case!

Photos of the beach from our balcony, just as the evening lights go on.

It is a good job we went out in the sun first thing this morning, it has been raining since 1pm and doesn’t look like it is going to stop for a while. Who cares, it is still very warm and the drinks keep on flowing – great signing bills at nil cost, I can get use to this all inclusive lark!

After what seems a very long year summer holidays have finally arrived and for the next two weeks it is sun, sea and total relaxation!

Only 6 hours before we take off for Mauritius – getting excited!