Ross Thorby: Goes off cruising

Ross Thorby: Goes off cruising

I am constantly amazed each day that I look at the map and discover where on this beautiful planet we are and what ports we have still yet to explore.  

None of them, however, could be more exotic and beautiful than today’s call to Mauritius. A tiny dot of an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean whose claim to fame includes that it was the home to the dodo and that it has an ‘underwater waterfall'. A unique feature created by shifting sands over a drop in the ocean floor and whose illusion can only be viewed from the air.

It was frustrating enough that I had to explain to several passengers what and why there were so many models of 'stuffed' dodos all over the island, but also what an underwater waterfall is.  

Unfortunately, after arriving at the heliport to board our craft to view the underwater waterfall, we found that we had been gazzumped by some flash billionaire passenger seconding our aircraft for a joy ride and that our excursion was cancelled leaving us holding our credit cards at the office with nowhere to go.

The last time we were here I had gone quad bike riding at Cassela nature park, 40 minutes north, and after raving about it to my travel companions we decided that if we quickly hired a bus we could go there rather than drowning in the misery of disappointment over our cancelled excursion.

We arrived at the park under the sweltering sun and after donning our helmets, safety gear and choosing our off-roading trikes, we sat at the start of the trek as though we were at La Monde. Engines revving and tires spinning waiting for the flag fall when we were off through a starting gate suspiciously modelled on the entrance to Jurassic Park.

Under the towering peaks of Rempart Mountain, we found ourselves in the opening scenes from the Jurassic Park movie. Driving through a wide open savannah we were overtaken by a large ostrich flock. All tail feathers and rambling gait, they lumbered alongside us. I, of course, had to re-enact that famous scene – as Sam Neil I stood, removed my sunglasses and stared at awe at the nature surrounding us before being shouted down by our guide. Some silly nonsense about health and safety. Ironic considering what happened in that movie and its many sequels.  
As the ‘wobble' of ostrich moved off into the distance, we veered off into the bushland to view the grazing antelope and gazelle.   The park has been extensively reworked and developed since my last visit in 2018.

Originally a bird sanctuary over 40 years ago, it has evolved into a park covering 350 hectares populated by an entirely introduced menagerie of animals. Mauritius has very few native beasts of their own, the only decent one having being the dodo which, as we know, ended up in a pot. All of the animals here have been imported from African wildlife reserves although, unlike Africa’s parks, interaction here is encouraged and so when we entered our next area we were immediately surrounded by a ‘dazzle' of zebras and mosi – our guide distributed feed for us to dole out to the nuzzling beasts.

Around another bend we were introduced to Ella and Genji who make up the  ‘crash' of white rhino and who, if you turn up early enough, for a small stipend you can also feed and help clean. The park is not shy in extracting some cheap labour from its paying guests.

A ‘colony' of antelope, a ‘herd' of kudu and a ‘creep' of turtles were around the next bend and then my favourite – a ‘confusion' of giraffes elegantly culling the tops of the nearby trees. In the distance a ‘caravan' of camels loped around an enclosure and, off somewhere beyond sight, we could hear a ‘whoop' of chimpanzees going ape against the roar of the ‘pride' of lions.

The predator area was closed off to us as there had been an unfortunate incident the previous day. No amount of prodding would extract the details from our guide but there was a distinct absence of the promised llamas on our tour.

Some would say the day was the most fun you could have with your pants on. (ROSS THORBY)

#ponsonbynews #iloveponsonby #loveponsonby #ponsonby #auckland #aucklandshippestrip #onlyponsonby #ponsonbyroad #Greylynn #freemansbay #westmere #ponsonby #hernebay #stmarysbay #archhill #coxsbay @followers #followers @everyone #everyone #waitematalocalboard @highlight

Previous Next

Leave a comment

Please note: comments must be approved before they are published.