I had the occasion, yes, I really mean occasion, to enjoy a catamaran trip from Mauritius Island to Ilot Gabriel. I am not an adventurous person, I prefer the luxury of a comfy room to that of the open, and that could be also because I am such a clumsy person.

Well it all started on a Saturday morning precisely, at 07h30 a.m, our little group was to meet at the minivan from the center of the island, to Grand Baie and we had to reach there y 08h30, if not the catamaran would have to go later by one hour, something about the tide. What started as a windy sunny day turned to a windy rainy day.

So we all were there, rather excited and frightened, some of us having never been on anything aquatic before, we had some apprehension, "would I be sea sick, would I be going overboard? And obviously would there be cute guys around" lol.


When we reached there, we had to wait, until our group leader went to pay in advance the fare, after that we had to go on deck, there you had to take of your shoes and put them in a basket, guess to avoid the 'falling overboard' misadventure. Being afraid of heights isn't great when you have to climb onboard of a moving thing but yet I went over my fright and gripped at the hand of the crew member.

Inside it was really cosy with a little kitchenette above and a stairway leading downwards to the toilets, that I avoided going to, I don't really fancy going up and down in the loo, and next to it a bedroom with a good soft bed. The person in charge of the catamaran trip then summoned us to the front, for a reunion, and once again I fought like mad against my fright to go in front. The view was wonderful.

There before of us laid the vast sea, with the coast and the tiny little houses, the man explained the trip to us; that is that we would be in shallow waters first then entering a channel where the sea could get rough, he mentioned something about sea-illness that I kind of managed to forget. So we all sat on the deck, which had a huge net and listened as the catamaran thrummed to life.

The sensation of freedom was exhilarating, the weather as I previously mentioned was windy and sunny, and at first the sea was pale blue then gradually it shifted to dark blue, we had the luck of seeing flying fishes, that accompanied us a bit before leaving us to the afore mentioned channel. The catamaran rocked and went higher with the waves so much that I got the sensation of flying, and diving at the same time, by then I was already wet and there already were some cases of sea sickness.

Reaching the channel, the in-charge guy, asked us to go to the back where there were comfy seats because it was going to be rough and that after that it would be difficult to go backwards. So with some help from the crew we went to the back, there we were served with drinks, alcoholic and non alcoholic; from coca-cola to whisky, beer and wine.

From this position we could see the "Coin du Mire" which I think looked like a mountain in the middle of the ocean, we also saw the famous "Trou Madame" literally meaning 'woman's hole' sorry ;(. The waves carried us higher and higher but the sensation of being free never left me. Having finally gotten away from those dark seas we arrived by 10h15a.m to two islands, one private with a little creole type house on it and the 'Ilot Gabriel'. We went towards the island on little speedboats, and I felt the crystal water under my finger, it was pure pleasure

The sand was pure white, the sea was turquoise and finally the sun seemed to smile at us as the blue sky reflected itself in the lukewarm water, there were little kiosk and tons of tourists, while some when to take a dip in the inviting water, others like myself laid down under the sun for a bit of tanning, not that I need any lol.

By noon, our meal arrived, there was rice salad, lettuce. Chicken, pasta, fish, cucumber salad; and the desert flambéed banana, which was delicious, after having filled our starving stomachs, we went back to the catamaran for some snorkelling, there were lots of corals, coloured fishes and some junks, but it was fun.

Finally we had to leave Ilot Gabriel as a news report said the weather would be changing, we went back on the catamaran and some of the more adventurous decided to stay in front, the in-charge man told them that if they stayed now they would stay until we returned to Grand-Baie.

On our return route, the sea and the skies became grey almost black, and our little catamaran rocked from left to right, the water was cold and I immediately thought of those poor fishermen that usually make a living like this, we were all shivering as the air was filled with the same cold the water was sending on us, having eaten those that had been ill were a little better but in any case, it was very disturbing. We had a singer on board who sang typical sega to us whilst we tried to forget the rain and the sea splashing.

As we saw the coast we sighed in relief, those who had bravely wanted to stay in front came back, and I seriously would not recommend any one to do a brushing on a day like this, they were whiter than snow.

It was filled with a mixture of sadness and relief that I left the catamaran, sadness because I had really enjoyed the trip and relief because I was still alive lol. But in all it was a fairly good experience.

There are various places to explore on catamaran trips, here are some websites:

http://www.maeva-group.com/
http://www.maurinet.com/catamaran.html
http://www.magicsails.mu/

Thanks for the reading though it's a bit long lol