Doing some research before we got here I found a website which claimed that Mauritius was famous for many things, before giving a long list which did not include the one thing that I think of when you say the word Mauritius. The Dodo. I may occasionally think of expensive beach holidays, or some of the other endemic birds, but pretty soon the Dodo pops back into my head again.
Thinking about the Dodo then makes me think about the ecological disaster that has befallen the island. Barely any of the native forest remains, and almost all the endemic species have teetered on the edge of extinction, if they are not extinct already. We can only speculate what the Mauritian forests were like but the largest creatures in the forests – the Dodo and the giant tortoises, which would have heavily established the ecology – are both now extinct.
Talking of research, I did not do enough homework before arriving in Mauritius. I imagined I would find a guide but it appeared that they all worked for the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation (MWF) and they were all busy (presumably with cruise passengers). So, I did some last minute research and found out that most of the endemics could be found by visiting two sites, Ile aux Aigrettes (pronounced ‘Eel-oz-ay-grets’ on the island) and Le Petrin in the Back River Gorge National Park. Both sites were in the south of the island but it was, theoretically, possible to visit both in a day.
There was a ship’s excursion to Ile aux Aigrettes (explaining the lack of guides), but the rest of the day was spent on a mishmash of unrelated activities which were no attraction. Contacting MWF about a standard trip to the island initially produced no response, but then I was told that there was space on the 10:30 boat. But the jetty was an hour away, so how to get there? I decided to pre-book a car and guide, as there was no guarantee that there would be taxis available at the cruise terminal.
Then there was the problem of where and when we would arrive. The on board destination talk had informed us that we would be berthing at he container port at the north side of the harbour, and that this would mean that we would not be able to walk to the gate. Then maps appeared in the lifts showing routes into town from the cruise terminal, a much more logical place to arrive. So, I went to reception and asked where we were due to berth – and they didn’t know. They even phoned the bridge and they didn’t know!
We sailed into Port Louis at dawn. Six Whimbrels were sitting on some groynes at the port.
While standing on the balcony as we came in, a pigeon walked past me. It was a racing pigeon, complete with leg rings. It was probably not of Mauritian origin. I had been told of a pigeon on board weeks ago, in Australia I think, and it was on board for at least a day or two afterwards. I think it had been doing the rounds of the balconies and surviving on biscuits provided by passengers.
Not to my great surprise, we berthed at the cruise terminal. Four Grey Francolins, introduced from southern Asia, were feeding in the car park. We had time for breakfast before formalities were completed and were off the ship by eight. There was no sign of our booked car. I sent a message and was informed that it was booked for 08:30. Then I got another message saying the driver was stuck in traffic. Quite unlike our bird guides who have all, without fail, been waiting at the pier watching the ship dock.
I wandered around and saw a few of the common introduced species found in Mauritius: Red Fody from Madagascar, Yellow-fronted Canary from Africa and House Crows, Common Mynas, Scaly-breasted Munia and Red-whiskered Bulbuls from Asia. Our first endemic, Mascarene Swiftlet, which is also found on Reunion, was seen flying over. It should be everywhere, according to online trip report – we only saw another four all day.
Still no sign of our car. Just before nine we got a message to say that he was still 15 minutes away and we needed to be at Mahebourg by 10:15 (or so we thought) and it was almost an hour away.
So, plan B. I messaged the driver that we were leaving and went in search of a taxi. I found a driver and asked him which car was his. “The one with the scorpion,” he replied, pointing out a car with a scorpion emblazoned on the bonnet. Easy to recognise anyway.
We set off for the drive to the south of the island. To be fair to our missing driver, there was an accident on the northbound carriageway into Port Louis and traffic backing up for miles.
The road through Mauritius was basically a motorway, passing through fields of sugarcane and passing by shops and malls. It could have been almost anywhere in the world: before Europeans arrived it was a unique woodland ecosystem. It began to rain, quite heavily once we got inland. We stopped for an ATM and some quick food at a suitably bland mall on the outskirts of Mahebourg and then headed to the jetty at Port Jerome. “I can’t see the boat,” said our taxi driver ominously.
I went in to the small office and announced that we were booked on the 10:30 sailing and was directed to look at the whiteboard: all sailings cancelled due to heavy swell! We did send an e-mail, I was told and I checked. They had, just before nine, when we were panicking about how we could get here.
Looking across to Iles aux Aigrettes, it didn’t seem that bad, but they would know what the conditions were likely to be at the landing stage on the island. The island is, coralline, not volcanic like the main island, and tragically, it is the last remaining example of the lowland dry forest of Mauritius. In an attempt to recreate the original ecology, Aldabra Tortoises have been introduced to replace the endemic Mauritian tortoises, although there is northing they can do to replicate the role of the Dodo. Three endemic birds (Pink Pigeon, Mauritius Olive White-eye and Mauritius Fody) and several endemic lizards have their most viable populations on the island.
But, there would be no visit today. At least it meant that we would have more time at La Petrin, I thought, trying to be optimistic.
La Petrin is a visitor centre on the eastern edge of the Black River Gorge National Park in the highlands of Mauritius. And, as we had already seen, it was raining inland and would presumably be even wetter in the highlands. It was!
We were taken to Grand Bassin first. This is a Hindu temple site, as Mauritius is the only Hindu majority country in Africa. The site includes the second largest statue of Shiva in the world, as our taxi driver, who was a Tamil, explained to us. It is also a site where some of the endemic birds have been seen. We hardly saw anything as it was pouring with rain. Even the huge statues were disappearing into the mist. We visited a building on the lake shore, with many statues in the water beside. It didn’t really look much like a temple, but then the mist over the lake cleared a little and we could see the actual temple on the opposite shore.
We drove to La Petrin along a wide road with lots of parking beside it. “There are usually monkeys here,” our taxi driver told us (introduced macaques from south-east Asia). They didn’t like the rain much either.
We arrived at La Petrin, put on whatever inadequate waterproofs we had brought with us and walked along the Macchabee trail. This leads to a glorious view of the Black River National Park, or so we were informed, but we did not see it because it was far too wet and miserable to even walk the trail very far and, of course, the view would have been completely obscured anyway.
Black River Gorge National Park contains most of the remaining native upland forest in Mauritius, and there are efforts underway to restore and expend the remaining area. The forest, which to may surprise seems to be largely coniferous, is fenced off to prevent introduced mammals such as deer and pigs from getting in and disrupting the natural succession of the trees. There is also a programme to eradicate invasive Chinese Guava, which is forming an un-natural understory.
I could hear bulbuls occasionally in the trees, and Margaret saw a bird fly across the path, but I finally admitted that we were wasting our time. We returned to the visitor centre.
There is a Pink Pigeon release programme at the visitor centre and there were feeders there which were attracting birds even despite the weather. Most of them were introduced species: Village Weavers and Common Waxbills from Africa, House Sparrows from Europe, Malagasy Turtle Doves along with more Red Fodies from Madagascar and a Spotted Dove and two Zebra Doves from Asia.
There were Pink Pigeons there as well and, despite their dubious provenance, these were going to have to do. I had really wanted to see them as I remember reading about them as a boy, when there were literally just a handful of them left alive. The project here is to try and established a second viable population, as well as Iles aux Aigrettes, and increase the current population from 400 to nearer 600. Most or all of the adults were ringed and colour-ringed, and so were probably released there, but there was a single unringed juvenile, which I assume shows that the scheme is having some success.
Two other endemics were a single Mauritius Grey White-eye, seen very briefly (another endemic that should be ‘everywhere’) and a Mauritius Bulbul which showed rather better, despite all the rain. No sign of Echo Parakeet, the other regular endemic here, though.
Returning to the car park, our highly distinctive taxi was absent! No sign of it. We asked another taxi driver and at the gatehouse. No one knew anything. You’re surely not going to do a runner with a scorpion on your car, surely? He returned soon afterward. As we hoped, he had just gone for something to eat.
We had some time to kill now, so we were taken to a crater, which might have been interesting but it was still raining, and then we went to a craft shop, where amongst other things, they made model sailing ships.
I suggested that we go to the Rivulet Terre Rouge reserve, on the north side of Port Louis. Our taxi driver seemed to know it and said he had been there, but when we go next to the bird hide shown on Google maps, there were two fences between us and the hide, as we had entered the port area. We managed to get inside one of the fences, but not the other. I was happy to peer through the fence, but our taxi driver seemed nervous and wasn’t happy with me there, so he took us off again to find another way in, but we failed.
In my quick peer through the fence though, I saw what appears to be Mauritian rarity. My first can produced a couple of Common Terns and a Whimbrel, while I could hear a Grey Plover calling. Then a marsh tern flew into view and quite obviously a White-winged Tern starting to moult into summer plumage. I tried to take a photo, but my camera was still suffering from the deluge in the Mauritian highlands. Then a second White-winged Tern appeared alongside the first, so I began to wonder if they could be that unusual, and the taxi driver bundled me back in the car. Further research would suggest that they are rare. But you can’t mistake moulting White-winged Terns.
Returning to the cruise terminal, I realised we had never found out our taxi driver’s name. He told me, quite improbably, that it was Kevin! “That’s not a very Tamil name,” I said. “No, it’s an international name,” he replied.
We left Port Louis just as the sun was setting. There was plenty of activity over the sea with Lesser Noddies and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters streaming past, with a few Brown Noddies and Sooty Terns amongst them.
Then a large skua flew past me at almost point blank range. I knew any such skua would be unusual here so fired off some photos. With the help of Dave Cooper back in Shetland it could be identified as a South Polar Skua. They do winter somewhere in the Indian Ocean, but sightings in Mauritian waters are not common. And at least I got to photograph this bird, unlike the terns earlier. It appears to be an adult due to the worn flight feathers, is remarkably uniform dark brown apart from a contrasting pale collar and rather small-headed and long-billed appearance with the tail showing central projecting ‘thumbs’.
So, a strange day. Dipped on several endemic Mauritius birds because of the weather. Completely failed to see White-tailed Tropicbird, the national bird, and also seen ‘everywhere’ according to trip reports. But saw two Mauritius rarities.
When I Grow Up I Will Go There 