MAURITIUS

Once we decided to go to Africa for Tom's fiftieth, we wanted to stop on the island of Mauritius on our way back to Australia.  Mauritius is located off the coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.  Tom served his Mormon mission in Paris France, Mauritius and Reunion islands many years ago and has always wanted to return.  It has been a few years and many things have changed but, it was the perfect opportunity for us to make the long journey.

We were able to spend 7 days in Mauritius after Africa and thaw out from the Australian winter.  This is the coldest winter that they have had in 32 years.  We have become soft after living here for 2 years and let's face it we have never been huge fans of the COLD.

My parents were sweet to come meet us in Mauritius.  It has been almost a year since we had seen them and we were looking forward to soaking up some time with them.  The island is EXQUISITE and so untouched in some places.  The French speaking people were so kind, lovely and welcoming.  Tom was able to reconnect with a family that he introduced to the gospel over 30 years ago.  They have been faithful and dedicated to the gospel of Jesus Christ ever since.  It was a complete pleasure to be able to meet them and share a meal with them.

We wished that it had been blue skies the entire visit in Mauritius but it is a topical island requiring rain to keep it so lush.  Those rainy days gave us an opportunity to discover the island otherwise we would have never left our beach chairs.

Beautiful Roman Catholic Church at Cap Malheureux

Grand Baie full of little fishing boats. 

Rainy Narrow Streets

Fields and fields of Sugar Cane

 

We love TREES!

Papa Bruce and his new Hindu Mask 

Glass Bottom Boat Viewing

Chicken Shop

Bleeding sap from a Tree

Tilapia eating a baguette 

Playing Badminton in Paradise

Jane was in HEAVEN reading on a gigantic beanbag in the SUN!

Claire arranged with the restaurant on our last night to celebrate with a cake for her Dad's big 50th birthday!
It was a complete treat to see his surprise. - Well done Claire!

Salami Fruit

Mission Friends

We love this Gram of ours!  She is beautiful in any situation...BEACH included!

THE BIG 50

Tom turned 50 this month and we felt that we needed to really celebrate this milestone in his life.  He was not so excited about turning 50.  He says that it just sounds old so I suggested that we go big this year and cross-off one of the items on his bucket list.  

Tom is such an extraordinary person.  He is generous, kind, hard-working, funny, handsome, smart and gracious. We are so thankful to have him in our lives for eternity and felt like his life deserved to be celebrated in a EXTRA-ORDINARY WAY!

After many hours of contemplation, we began planning a trip to South Africa and the island of Mauritius (it is off the coast of Africa, close to Madagascar).  We would be going on safari and returning to his mission after being home about 30 years.  

We looked forward to this trip for many months and were hopeful that it would be a trip of a lifetime.  A colleague of Tom's said that most people take their kids to the zoo but not Tom, Mr. Super-dad, he takes that them on an African Safari for 10 days. 

It was FANTASTIC - words cannot describe it!  I would highly recommend it.  I have a friend here is Australia who is very good about admiring the CREATION - even the smallest of details.  After spending 10 days in Africa, I am in complete AWE of the CREATION.  It is a huge testament of God and His almighty power.  We had a great time connecting with each other with no electric distractions.  We played games (Scrabble, Uno, Spot-It and Memory), napped, laughed and admired the beauty of the earth between our morning and evening game drives. We were very pampered with gourmet meals, beautiful accommodations and it was SOOO relaxing!  We stayed on two private game reserves that backed up to the Kruger National Park (Timbavati Game Reserve and Sabi Sands Game Reserve).

We saw all of the Big Five (Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Buffalo and Rhino) and every animal on our list besides Wild Dogs and a Cheetah.  We learned so much about them and it was fascinating.  I cannot recommend it enough....it is a MUST SEE!

Here are some photos to highlight our trip....I took about 800!

Our Game Driver's Each Day - Reckson and his tracker Daniel - on the front.

The Sunsets are INCREDIBLE! 

Our first and only Lion in the wee hours of the morning.

We saw 7 Leopards in the 10 days in addition to two baby cubs. 

Hyenas are not very good looking animals but so FIERCE!

A Male White Rhino properly know as the "Wide Lip Rhino" because it eats grass not because of its color.

Cape Buffalo

Water Buck

A Male Kudu

I wish my big bottom was this fun to photograph :)

Yellow Bill Horn-Bill Bird - ZaZu from the Lion King 

Wildebeest Bull

It was very COLD each morning...2 degrees Celsius.

I will post about Mauritius....next week - STAY TUNED!