Madagascar and Mauritius with Mummy

Mums, eh? They are legends- and those of you who've had the pleasure of meeting my dear mama will know that she is particularly legendary, so I was super-duper excited to see her!

After leaving little brother in Cape Town, I arrived early to Johannesburg where I was to meet Mummy for our onward journey to Madagascar. Mother had been stressing somewhat about us successfully meeting at the gate, as for some reason airports send her into a real tizzy (sorry, mum, but it's true. The idea of missing a flight for you is worse than the apocalypse). She needn't have worried though, as at the appointed time there I was, waiting by the gate at the bottom of an impossibly long escalator that made our meeting almost Hollywood-esque! I saw her there at the top and she saw me, and we both hopped from one foot to another for the three days that it took for her to get down. It was brilliant when we finally got to give each other a big hug!

Soon afterwards we jumped on our flight to Antananarivo, Madagascar where we had to wait three hours in a scrubby little airport for a connecting flight to the island of Nosy Be, which is more of a holiday place. While waiting, it dawned on us that we didn't know how we were going to get to the hotel from the airport so we gave them a ring. Finally, Mummy was able to see that the dollars on a French degree HAD been well spent! Whoever answered the phone at the hotel didn't speak English, so I pulled out my French to arrange a taxi to be waiting for us with our name on a sign and, guess what? He was there when we arrived! Phew! After quite a long drive through windy island roads, we arrived at the Loharano hotel, which was absolutely beautiful! Lots of small villas set around a picturesque pool- tres glamorous!

There's not a whole lot to say about our time in Madagascar, unfortunately, as our plans to go and see the lemurs and things (the whole reason I wanted to go there) were foiled when I came down with a nasty bug that involved headaches and a bad tummy. Luckily, there wasn't much else for us to do, so I was able to sleep it off while Mummy lay by the pool and figured out with the hotel staff how she was to pay the bill when they didn't take credit cards! Another tizzy ensued over this, but through a complicated series of emails and phone calls, we were able to pay by bank transfer.

After four days we moved on to Mauritius- a beautiful island in the middle of the Indian Ocean where things picked up considerably! We stayed at a little place called Les Lanteniers Bleus run by owner Josette, in an area called Riviere Noire. It was originally her house, so it has an incredibly cosy feel and is situated right on its own private beach. The first evening we were there we met a few of the other guests from Italy, and had dinner with them and Josette and her husband Olivier. It really was like we'd been invited to stay!

In the morning we had breakfast on the porch, where we were immediately attacked by loads of birds after our toast (which would happen every day), and then spent the day resting on the beach and taking a trip to the supermarket and things - all really exciting stuff! We did arrange to go out the next day with a driver to sightsee what there is of Mauritius, so the next morning Gilbert picked us up bright and early for a day out.

The first stop was the geological formation the Seven Colors of the Earth, which is basically different colored rock and soil that's due to metal oxide deposits. In the same place was an enclosure with a few giant tortoises which we were very excited about, but little did we know we would have many more giant tortoise-related adventures that day! Next we visited a beautiful waterfall, a huge gorge with lovely views to the sea, a Hindu temple and giant statue of the goddess Shiva (my first taste of something I have come to know well in India!) and then..best part..the crocodile park!

The crocodile park is basically a small zoo with lots of crocs, some bats, warthogs, monkeys and other various creatures. It also has giant tortoises - HUNDREDS of them - and here people are allowed to feed them, pet them, and RIDE them! You better believe I was all over that like a giddy five-year-old! Mother was a bit scared (they do bite) but I managed to straddle one of these beasts for a very giggly photo op. We also had to laugh because last September, when Mummy and I were in San Diego for a family friend's wedding, she took me to Legoland where I ALSO reverted to about five! So, that's what we do- my mom and her little 26-year-old girl go to theme parks together. I can't wait for Sea World...

The next day we got up and inquired about renting a car to drive around the island. We picked it up in the afternoon, and though Mummy was a bit nervous about driving stick shift on the other side of the road, she did GREAT! It's of course how she learned to drive, and did drive, in England, but apparently it takes a bit of time to get back into it. We took a little drive to an area of the island called Le Morne where we had a coffee on the beach, tootled back to Riviere Noire and after some relaxing drove to another part of the island, Flic en Flac, for dinner. The dinner was AWFUL - we were getting tired to driving around so we just chose somewhere- but Mummy did get to do a bit more driving practice and we saw some more of Mauritius!

The next day we decided to drive up to the north of the island to try out a different beach. Mauritius is small, and looking at a map we thought the drive couldn't take more than an hour. Wrong. We got stuck in horrible traffic in the capital, Port Louis, and were essentially completely lost. Mummy started freaking out (to be fair she was still getting used to the car and stuff), though she was doing great, I kept telling her! After about two hours we FINALLY got to the north where we stopped for a quick lunch and sit on the beach, but we were so nervous about getting stuck in traffic on the way back that we got back in the car quite quickly for the journey back! There were a few mishaps, wrong turns, and raised voices on the way back, but we did eventually make it- totally exhausted!! Our plan to lie out on a beach hadn't amounted to much, but we'd seen still more of the island and Mummy now has much more confidence in her driving skills!

That evening we went for dinner at a restaurant nearby and while sitting at the bar met two South African guys with whom we ended up doing shots with later - don't ask (like I said, my mum's a legend)! A good way to end a somewhat hectic day, though!

The next day was our last, and we had planned an all-day boat trip to see dolphins, go snorkelling, etc. It was quite an early start and we set off on a catamaran with about eight other people (all couples) from all over the world. We were taken to see the wild dolphins, and then to a coral reef to go snorkelling which was brilliant. I haven't done it in years and it was like Finding Nemo down there- excellent! Afterwards we got a great barbecue lunch that our tour guide did right off the back of the boat. Unfortunately the weather wasn't good so we mostly had to sit inside, but we chatted to a lovely couple from South Africa, Grant and Liana, who had just gotten engaged and there were plenty of free drinks to go around!

Once back on shore, we went back to the hotel for a rest and to get ready for dinner at the highly recommended Big Willy's! While we were getting dressed, Josette came to our door to tell me that a reporter with local paper Le Mauricien was in the lobby. She was interested in interviewing the young American lady travelling around the world. Luckily, I was all dressed up and looking smart for the last dinner out with my mom, so I went out to meet her and tell my story and have my photograph taken! She was interested to know why I'm doing this, how long I've wanted to do it, how much it cost, where I've been and where I'm going. It was great fun and the story appeared in print the next day and I have a couple of copies. I'm huge in Mauritius folks!

After a super-yummy last dinner, my mom left early the next day to go back to South Africa to visit a friend. We had such a brilliant time together and I really can't thank her enough for everything she did for me- allowing me to take some time off from 'travelling' and sort myself out. Like I said, mothers are totally brilliant and mine is extra super awesomely excellent for coming all that way to see me and I miss you loads, Mummy.

Anyway, I spent the day tootling about doing errands - my first official day of travelling alone! At about 8pm Gilbert picked me up to take me to the airport for my 11pm flight to Dubai where I would connect to New Delhi. Remember how I said I'm huge in Mauritius? Well it must be true because when I got to the gate to board my Emirates flight, I found I had been upgraded to business class! Heaven! Champagne, a proper meal, wine, Bulgari travel thingies, a massive TV, a flat-bed seat. Brilliant. I was ready to begin my adventure in India, which has been just that and more...