The Purcells

Over the boys’ spring break, our family took a trip to the island of Mauritius. Most people ask where is that? It is part of Africa and is a tiny Island in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Madagascar. It is known for its beautiful beaches, lagoons, and reefs, and in the interior of the the island there is a national park, rainforests, waterfalls, and lots of wildlife. This picture was still a couple hours away, but if you see the island of Madagascar off the east coast of Africa, a little more to the east is Mauritius and it says Port Louis, the capital city, on the map.

We flew threw the night and arrived mid day, ready to explore.

It was a little over an hour drive to our AirBnb. Nathan does a great job with the left-hand driving and navigating new places. The country was not very well-developed, which made it even more beautiful and less commercial feeling.

This was the final road to our AirBnb.

The house was a highlight to our trip. It was situated on a beautiful piece of property with a big tropical front yard, and inside was even better, with a pool overlooking Le Morne mountain, and outdoor kitchen and seating area, and large wrap-around porch upstairs. It was such a peaceful place to spend the week.

Upstairs kitchen and outdoor wrap around porch

Our view from the porch.

The kids would clean the pool in the mornings, and usually slip in when they were done for a quick swim, before heading out for the day.

Le Morne public beach was a 5 minute drive from our home. We went there often during the day to swim and snorkel right off the shore.

And we went there a couple nights to see the beautiful sunsets. Our first night was cloudy but others made up for it!

Another day we drove to the east side of the island, which while less than 30 miles, took over an hour because we drove on small back roads for most the drive. We arrived at Blue May Marine Park and were greeted with the crystal clear lagoon.

We met a man who took us on his boat for a couple hours snorkeling trip further out in the lagoon. It was a glass bottom boat and the kids loved watching the fish and reefs. It was incredible how shallow the water was throughout most the lagoon.

Everyone got in to snorkel. Caleb ready to go!

Even Eliza swam around for a while in the water. She really impressed us with her swimming skills on this trip, and I’m sad I didn’t get single video of her swimming. She swims twice a week at school and she has dramatically improved since the last time we took a beach trip.

Everyone happy back at the boat and heading in.

It was such a beautiful day so we stayed a little longer to swim and the kids snorkeled off the shore. The boys really grasped how to snorkel on this trip and went out by together from shore many days.

Ending the day with ice cream from the ice cream truck! Ice cream trucks are a novelty for our kids. They have not seen many of them and are always intrigued. In Jordan the music from the ice cream truck was the propane gas truck, so for many years when hearing that sound they thought someone was selling gas, haha! Now they know, well.

Driving through small villages and on the way back.

Home sweet home. We enjoyed most afternoons swimming in the pool, eating dinner outside, and swimming into night time.

More sunsets. I love this man.

It was a clear and beautiful sunset.

The kids swam as the sun set, and agreed to stop for a few photos ;)

One day at the public beach near our house, we met a person and arranged to go on his boat to swim with the dolphins and snorkel, and was a huge highlight for all of us! We left in the morning and spent a half day on the boat and in the water. This area is a huge lagoon, and the waves broke very far out to get to deeper water. It was amazing these guys read the ocean. First they took us to a break in the channel to get out of the lagoon so we could go find dolphins!

Looking for dolphins….

The big mountain behind us is Le Morne Brabant, and our house was at the base of that mountain. It is on the southwest tip of Mauritius, and it has lots of caves, steep slopes, and all kinds of nature. Nathan tried to hike it one morning, but it was closed due to a recent landslide. The legend behind this mountain is that after slavery was abolished in 1835, the authorities were coming to tell a group of slaves on the mountain they were freed, but the slaves thought they were coming to capture them, so they committed a mass suicide and jumped off the cliff.

We found dolphins!

What we didn’t realize is when dolphins are spotted, you quickly jump off the boat and swim after them! It was exciting and amazing. Caleb didn’t want to get in, but the rest of us did and had a great time, and even Eliza jumped in twice! You always had to be ready to GO!

Nathan and Benjamin chasing the dolphins. The captain had a helper on board too that got in the water with the kids to make sure everyone was safe. They were a great crew!

Next, we went to look for giant sea turtles, but they said because it was so windy, it would be hard to find them. So, we went to a different part of the lagoon and saw crystal rock. The water was crystal clear here! Apparently in the past, the water level use to be above the rock.

Last stop was in the lagoon was a beautiful snorkeling spot, with clear waters and lots of fish and marine life. Everyone enjoyed snorkeling, seeing the reef and all kinds of sea creatures. We didn’t have a waterproof camera, but got lots of colorful images as memories.

Eliza and Caleb also enjoyed being on the boat with D.J., our captain, and watching him catch fish with his hands! He was so fast and caught several fish.

Nathan and I enjoyed snorkeling around together.

Everyone gave this day two thumbs up!

This is an internet photo of the peninsula. You can see Le Morne Brabant on the left, the lagoons, and the waves breaking far out. The middle forms an optical illusion that looks like an underwater waterfall due to the ocean current pulling sand from the lagoon into the ocean. Despite it looking like very rough waters, it’s actually relatively calm and safe for swimming in some spots, surfing, and kite surfing, which is very popular in Mauritius and done at the tip of the peninsula by the famous waterfall.

That afternoon we rested at home and swam for the rest of the day. Most evenings we at dinner at the outdoor table. This particular evening, the woman who takes care of the home made us a typical Mauritian dinner of chicken curry, lentils, rice, and salad.

It was amazing and we had leftovers for 2 more days!

That evening we made it back out for a beautiful sunset at the public beach. The kids enjoyed brining nets to try to catch fish and swim in the ocean as the sun set. It was pretty magical.

And it’s gone!

Because Le Morne public beach was so close to our house, we went there a lot! Leading up to the ocean is heavily wooded, then it opens up to the pristine waters.

These kids love the ocean.

We all do!

The zoomed in specs are Nathan and the boys snorkeling. It was so peaceful, you could float out there for a long time watching the fish and the coral reefs.

Down the beach was a place called One Eye, which is world-known for kite surfing.

We went on a day where there were several kite surfers. It was fascinating to watch. They had these massive kites strapped to their bodies and would attach their feet to what looked like a surf board, but some people didn’t seem to strap in at all. The wind was very strong, so once their kite was up and they gripped the board, they launched off shore and away they went! Some of the kite surfers were really good and would do a jumping maneuver to change directions.

Our last evening there was got to experience the famous heavy rains. We came at the end of the rainy season, and were so lucky to have perfect weather during the week. It poured that afternoon and into the evening, so we enjoyed some swimming in the rain and dinner at home. It turned into torrential downpour that flooded the outside garden of the house and thunder so loud with lightening that the kids had never experienced before and thought it was an earthquake. Eventually, everyone settled in an enjoyed nature’s sound machine and slept well.

It was a perfect week in every way, and we are so thankful to have discovered this tiny island. Next post will be about the nature park and some other things we did during the week.

One of the famous things in to see in Capetown are the indigenous penguins that live on Boulders Beach. It was a15 minute drive from where we were staying in Kalk Bay, and the kids were very excited to finally see them.

The penguins live in a colony amongst the large boulders, sandy dunes, and ocean. We all enjoyed watching them waddling and swimming in the water.

So many penguins!

Another huge highlight of the trip was surfing at Muzienberg Beach. The beach is known for it’s colorful changing huts and is one of the most famous beaches in the country for surfing. The kids loved it so much and a combination of them took lessons for 3 days.

The first day the boys surfed. First they met their instructors, were given wetsuits, then they went with the instructors to pick the boards.

They did a warm up on the beach, then received instruction of safety and surfing basics.

Then they were off to surf! This beach apparently is always very windy year round due to it’s unique location and has great surfing waves year round. There were so many surfing schools along this beach.

The surf school asked if Eliza also wanted a wetsuit. They wanted kids to feel comfortable at the beach and in the water. She loved the wetsuit, and it was very helpful because it blocked the wind and kept her warm in the cold ocean.

During the boys lesson she ran up and down the shore and had fun jumping over the waves.

Both boys got up on their surf boards and the had a great time. When we asked if they wanted to do it again, they both said YES!

The next time we went Caleb wasn’t feel well so he passed that day, but Benjamin and Eliza took lessons.

Doing her warm up and surfing instruction.

She had no hesitation about going out with the instructor. About halfway through the lesson she decided she was done and the instructor played with her in the sand. We were proud of her for being so brave.

Benjamin’s instructor had so much positive energy and was very loud. We could here him cheering from shore when Benjamin got up on his board!

Happy kids after the lessons.

The third day just Caleb and Benjamin took lessons.

They knew the drill and went right out to the water with their instructors. Benjamin had his same instructor from the day before and Caleb had Eliza’s instructor. Both boys got up that day and they had a great time. We were proud of how hard they worked…it’s not easy to surf!

Another day we just came to the beach with the boogie board in the house and rented wet-suits. These kids loved the beach and had so much fun being able to come throughout the trip.

On our last day, we had to check out of our house early, but our flight was in the evening, so we went to the famous Kirstenbosch botanical garden. It was a gorgeous garden with many types of trees and flowers, with the mountains in the backdrop. A very serene place to spend a couple hours before heading to the airport.