Part 20: 9th April – Caroline & Pete arrive

Sunday 9^th April

Pete & Caroline at the Bungalow

I got up at the usual time (6!) so I could check for any messages from David and search the Internet for information on flight arrivals. No new messages.

I find a website for Air Mauritius with flight arrivals and departures. Theirs appears to be showing as “departed”. I should hope so – it’s a 12-hour flight, and they are scheduled to land before 11 am! I think I am on arrivals not departures, but you never know. Then something odd strikes me: all the flights are for dates during August … 2004! I can find no way of switching to another date, so I give up.

Not to worry, because at 7.20 they always show flight arrivals on TV. It’s 7.20 now. I’ll switch on. They’re showing a cartoon. Maybe it’s just about to end. Yes, it does; and it’s immediately followed by another cartoon. So - no flight information. Handy, that. Every other morning I’ve checked Chanel-1, and it’s always been there, regular as clockwork. But now, THE ONLY DAY I ACTUALLY NEED IT, AND THEY’RE NOT BLOODY SHOWING IT!!

This, coupled with the weird thing with the nearly-two-year-old information on the internet site makes me think there must be some kind of conspiracy!

Might as well get dressed and have breakfast. I know when I’m beat. Anyway, I suppose the car will come for me at 10 anyway whatever the plane is doing, so we’ll just have to go to the airport and see what transpires.

I put the washing in, and soon thereafter the driver arrives. His name is “Bihari”. I had not met him before. As with the previous drivers, he is very pleasant. He suggests we call the airport to find out the estimated arrival time of the flight. It is 12.30, rather than the scheduled 11.00 am. Because of this delay we have more time on our hands, so we go to Rose Hill to fill up. (The university has an arrangement with one of the filling stations there).

Then on to the airport – as slowly as Bihari can stand!

While we are waiting we chat to a German man who has lived in Flic en Flac for three years, but has been coming to Mauritius for 27!

He dishes the dirt on FeF; in particular, the woman who seems intent on buying up the entire land area for development of holiday apartments and restaurants; the problem of the “stray” dogs, which nobody appears to be actively doing anything about; and the lack of attention to proper recycling of rubbish.

The plane lands as per expected, and we drive back to FeF. Caroline immediately takes to the pool! They are both pretty shattered after their flights, so we sit around for a while. Then, about 5.45pm we venture out for a stroll on the beach, a lightning tour of Fef, and dinner at “Casa Pizza”. Mme was expecting us, and has very kindly laid on flowers on our table. A nice touch. C & I had the smoked marlin pizza, and Pete the tagliatelle. OK – none of that is very Mauritian, but there is time yet. We’d like to pay for the Wednesday’s excursions but I don’t have enough cash, so we make a trip across to the ATM at the Spar complex. Pay Mme, then back here. I will be very interested to get their views on this place, particularly the extent to which it corresponds to my descriptions and photos. Well that’s about it for today. Rather short perhaps, but inevitably so. Tomorrow we plan to go to Port Louis by bus, where we will meet Vimi and her father.