What I like about traveling is that you come across other people, cultures and habits. In addition, the problem is often that we are only present for a few days and usually spend 100% of our time fishing. The time to get in touch with other people and cultures is always too short. But yes, those photos and films from the fishing trip are the most important. The rest will come later and is a bonus.
In Mauritius, we had a very nice bonus experience. Together with fishing buddies John Smit and Thomas Sintobin, we spent a week here to get a good picture of the location. After arriving in Mauritius, we were taken to our location and went to the local supermarket to do some shopping. In a fairly touristy part of the island there was a large Carrefour with which the link of the island with France was immediately clear.
Nearby we saw a nice bar where we first went for lunch because you get hungry from all that traveling. We ended up in a hip tent with equally hip meals and prices. Dutch level and therefore not really advantageous and also no typical local meals but burgers and fries. Anyway, we are not too picky at that moment and we are seriously hungry. It led to an “average and not overwhelmed experience”. Only the view from the lunch tent over the azure sea was one to remember. Phenomenal.
How different was the dinner tent that was recommended to us by our captain in the evening. We had to walk out of our street towards the busy main street and turn left there along the small market stall with vegetables and then we came to a concrete room that was painted green blue and lit with fluorescent tubes. Inside, there was a small bar and two bare tables with a few chairs, and a large fan hanging from the ceiling. On the terrace were three bare tables and also a few, mostly different, chairs. There was no guest to be seen yet and it had already been 7 pm. Inside it was too hot and so the terrace was actually the only place where you could sit comfortably. From there we had a great view of the parking lot and the busy main street. How different from lunch…
Typically an eatery where you walk past it quickly when you come across it. But he was recommended to us by the captain and every now and then you shouldn't be stubborn and listen to what others say to you. So we sat on the terrace at such a bare table after which we were soon welcomed by a cute old lady in her 70s. Small, crooked, big smile and we were immediately sold. She spoke a little bit of English, and she was the merriment itself. Where we came from, how we got here, whether we had been on the island for a long time, etc.
In the conversation, she indicates that she runs this restaurant together with her son. During the day he is a hairdresser and in the evening they work together here. The son also comes out at that time and welcomes us warmly. What immensely cheerful and friendly people. And not to please us, but sincere and interested. I feel completely at home and at ease in one fell swoop. A certain calmness descends over me that I'm not used to on my fishing trips. Because I am always "on" and already working in my head on the next activity that needs to be arranged to get the most out of the trip. It's a completely new feeling for me, but I completely surrender to it. And I like it!
Local dishes without prices are on the menu. Many curries with chicken, fish, beef etc. We order a number of different dishes and actually don't even know what we ordered. But after about fifteen minutes, there are three large steaming plates in front of us and a few bowls of rice and vegetables are still served on the table. And then those smells! I have already completely forgotten the fact that we are sitting on a busy street next to a parking lot and the smells of the meal outweigh the air of the passing cars and tuk-tuk's with great simplicity. And then that first bite is an absolute taste sensation. I am somewhat accustomed to my training at the Hotel School in The Hague and all the fishing and private trips I have undertaken in my life. From goat balls on the beach in Ghana to the Ossiano restaurant in Dubai. But this really beats it all. An absolute taste sensation that leaves all three of us speechless. Very briefly and after we have all taken our first bites, we don't have to say anything to each other. With all three it is really a pleasure and we surrender to the local flavors and spices. Wow!
Afterwards we are really barrel round because we ate too much but it was so very tasty. With a big smile, the hairdresser and his mother look at us and see us enjoying ourselves. Afterwards, we ask him how he manages to do all that? He says that it can be helped from time to time, but with three kernels it works out nicely. Three pips? Yes, you heard it right and then all different dishes? I don't know how he did it, but this was great.
At the end of the very successful evening, we were also presented with an invoice. We didn't have to pay 10 euros per person and that included the three beers / wines we each had drunk. Complete side issue, of course, but I had paid five times as much for this without looking back. In the evenings that follow, we are regular guests here. And on two evenings, we also bring our own caught fish that is prepared in different flavours. Every night we are surprised by the tastes and skills of this cheerful couple. Incidentally, we were pretty bummed here for one night. That was when they were closed because then we had to eat somewhere else.
Oh, you almost forgot. The fishing was also very good. We have caught beautiful and large GTs but also many other species such as bluefin trevally, dogtooth, sharks, snappers, groupers, bonitos. All in all, a wonderful location where you can enjoy yourself in a relaxed environment. If you want to know more about this location, click HERE.
