Mauritius - Cap Malheureux

Such a beautiful spot with such a sad name! Many ships have floundered on the rocks in front of the coast. Maybe their skippers' attention was diverted by the beauty of the views and they suffered a fate like the Rhine-skippers under the spell of the Lorelei and her treacherous rocks ... 

A small catholic church with a bright red roof occupies a pretty position on the tip of the Cap.

Although we had been vacationing on Mauritius a few times with family already, it was the first time I visited Cap Malheureux on the northern tip of the Island and it was certainly worth the trip.  

Looks like octopus for lunch ...

The Botanical Garden at Pamplemousses, Mauritius

The Sir Seewoosagur Botanical Garden at Pampelmousses on Mauritius is famous for its water lily lakes: the Grand Bassin with the huge-leaved giant water lilies (Victoria amazonica), and the Lotus ponds. 

Several of these large saucer-type leaves make up one plant, which flowers in pink or white from a strong stem in the centre. 

young leaves are heart-shaped before they unfold

the White Lotus pond

the fruit and seeds

a pink lotus flower bud

The rest of the garden is full of various palm trees and huge bamboo forests and offers nice cool strolls in the Mauritian humid heat, when touring the North of the island or visiting the sugar museum close by. 
  

bamboo detail

 palm detail

bamboo forest

Playing golf on Ile aux Cerfs

Golf is a serious game, a game for lawyers or accountants: rules and rules, do's and dont's and penalties in order to manoeuver a tiny white ball into an equally tiny hole half a kilometer away  -  my biggest problem with the game, though, is that whenever I am on a long green lush fairway, possibly with a little stream crossing ahead, I wish for my horse and a nice canter along the course in sunshine and fresh air. I know, my horse would love it, too .... but this must not be uttered openly, as it will result in disbelieving and disapproving stares of other golfers or even some furious reaction as if I was suggesting to bring a horde of wild boar on the immaculate greens ... 

Nevertheless, some years ago, I learnt the rules and learnt how to play to be able to accompany my husband. And most golf courses altogether really  are another matter: many are very, very beautiful pieces of landscape gardening . The most beautiful seems to be the Bernhard Langer-designed course on Ile aux Cerfs on the east coast of Mauritius. It is a playful course with an intelligent design, with lots of water, sand bunkers and difficult sloping greens, incorporating Mauritian nature at its best, with lots of opportunity to lose balls and never find them again ... 

Not that I have been able to play it: when we went there last week, I lost three balls on the first hole, where we had to drive the ball 120 m straight over a hellishly threatening wilderness of boggy mangroves. 

... try to reach the other side ...

...same here ... 

I gave up, meaning I was happy to take the opportunity for some photography. The results you see here:

the Red-whiskered Bulbul

vistas towards the Indian Ocean

the common mynah

they make holes, too

a mongoose (Herpestes javanicus)

striated heron hunting

yellow-fronted canary

mauritian grey white-eye (Zosterops borbonicus) ... 

green-keepers

matching colours

an "out-house": 

more opportunities to lose a ball: 

or drown it : 

... players' - and photographer's - delight and beginners' horror ...

... and afterwards a nice dinner on the beach !