Mauritius - Indian Ocean Paradise

This volcanic island has forests and waterfalls along with sandy beaches with coral reefs to explore. It lies east of Madagascar, just south of the Equator. Mauritius beckons to the european crowds. French and English are spoken here so it was easy to get around. The people are friendly and the laid back style is in fashion. There are Franko-Mauritian, Indian and European inhabitants. Turquoise waters sparkle like diamonds in the afternoon sun showing off its' tranquility with colorful boats moored in small bays around the island.The money used here is called the "Rupee." Right now it is about 34 rupee's to 1 dollar. Good deals all around.

We are at Stephen and Anna's home on their front porch enjoying a cup of joe early in the morning. The boys must have been asleep to be so quiet....the sunshine so bright and a continual breeze to cool you down. Things so different, but yet so similar, enjoying life. Oh Lord, our God, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Psalm 8:1.

On this day we went snorkeling on a glass bottom boat. The water was amazingly clear and coral was abundant. We learned about different fish and coral that grows and lives in the Indian Ocean. Here is Stephen showing how to snorkel below the boat! Stephen is into scuba diving now and kept trying to get us to try. No thanks!

Sometimes we can forget the simple blessings of life around us as we get caught up in the daily grind of life. Nature can relax us and cause us to reflect on Gods' creation as it truly points us to a higher authority. Thank you Stephen and Anna for taking us on this boat trip!

This island is called "Coin de Mere." It is off the coast with other islands. Coin de Mere island raises its' shoulder out of the water and soaks up the daily sunshine. We hope to sail by it tomorrow on a scheduled catamarin excursion to Gabrielle Island.

Gabrielle Island sailing trip.

We sailed to Gabrielle Island on a Catamaran. We decided to take Erik with us (our oldest grandson) as he loves the water. We left the dock around 9:30 am. The Indian Ocean revealed the hues of royal blue, navy, aqua and teal in the varying depth of water. It was amazing to see the color change. "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and devine nature - have been clearly seen. Romans 1:20.
We saw flying fish on the beautiful waters. They could stay out of the water and fly sometimes up to 20 seconds while their glistening fins spun as fast as can be.

Once we docked we could snorkel or swim on the beach. Jim snorkeled and Anna, Erik and I went to the clear waters on the beach. The crew on board cooked our food while we soaked up the sun. We feasted on smoked marlin, chicken and sausages with rice with scallions, pasta and cabbage salad. For dessert we had grilled bananas. Very tasty! While we ate the crew sang and played a guitar and bongos, so you could say we had "live music." It was a great day. We returned to dock around 4:30 in the afternoon. It was the best of an island experience. I was ready to do it again!

A Birthday Boy.

It was Isaks' birthday on May 12th. He turned 2 years old. Anna had a birthday party for him. They had a slip and slide for the kids and Jim had a blast playing with them. Anna made the traditional Swedish cake which was fabulous. It is good to keep family the heritage alive with traditional eats!