Mauritius Island

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I am currently staying on Mauritius and have been for the last week or so. One more week before I return to the cold and snow covered north. As wifi is a rear commodity where I stay I won't be able to answer all questions that you might have. First of all, let me tell you it`s hot and humid here. Temperatures ranging from 30-36 degrees celsius. Humidity well above 60%. During this time of year it will rain every other day, and sometimes heavy showers, which also seem to affect the humidity. So I`m sweating like a pig and theres just nothing to do, other than accept it. Since this is a family trip I have not been able to spend the time photographing that I normally would have done, if I where to go alone. The kids and wife are usually very understanding of my psychotic state when I find a interesting subject, but it has it`s limits Let me tell you that the island has a lot of interesting photographic subjects to offer. Both landscapes, flowers, birds, wildlife and people. The white beaches and black lava rock seem to be a perfect mix for offering a rich biodiversity both on land and underwater. I`m not normally a underwater photographer but I did some snorkeling with my new Nikon 1 AW1 the first few days, until I caught a cold and the AW1 fogged up I`m still trying to dry it up, but the damn thing just won't release its humidity. Suggestions are more than welcome. I think its a fine little camera as long as it stays waterproof. Anyway, here some pictures I have managed to snap.

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So far it has been to little time to take landscape pictures. Scouting for locations to photograph in great light doesn't come included in a family vacation so one have to sneak out or make a quick stop when there is something interesting to see. Hopefully I will get a taxi driver to take me one day to catch some sceneries. What dominates the landscape are vast sugar cane fields with forest covered mountains surrounding them. Old volcanoes make up the mountain ranges that catch the humidity and get most of the rain. Fresh water doesn't seem to be a problem. There is also possibilities for great seascapes. The black volcanic rock against the bright sand and azure colored waters makes pleasing sight.

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The fauna of Mauritius have some endemic species to offer. Today we went to Isle aux Aigrettes, where Mauritius wildlife foundation keep a strict rat and mice control, to make some of the species to thrive. The Pink pigeon, Mauritius fody, Mauritius white eye vireo, Talfair`s skink and Aldebra giant tortoise are some of species one might find there. Even though the temperature rose up to +40 degrees celsius even the kids agreed that this was a once in a lifetime experience. The island is a coral rock which covers 26 hectares with only native fauna. We heard the vireo but didn't se it. All the other species decided they wanted to appear

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Folklore and religion is also two other areas where one might find great subjects to photograph. Yesterday was a big day for the tamil hindus here on Mauritius. They celebrated the Kavadi. I was motivated to go go by the hotel staff even though I didn't feel great and wanted to stay out of the sun. I sure wasn't disappointed. I was the only foreigner there but I felt welcome wherever I went. The only breach of etiquette was that I forgot to remove my shoes but I was kindly made aware of the mistake. Another Mauritian speciality is the Sega dance which they performed at the hotel one evening. Lots of drums and lose hips. Here are some of the pictures.

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Here are some more from the Kavadi festival.

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I hope to get some landscape shots and some shots of fruit bats during the coming week. Me and the kind also hope to spend some more time with some of the spectacular Banjo tree. Playing Tarzan with the macaques isn't something we do every day

[golunvolo]

Not jealous 

  Love the turtles and reptile in the shadow. Loooove the womand and girl under the umbrella and specially the pierced legs against the orange wall. What a find!

  Thanks for sharing

[Akira]

I've heard that the culture of Mauritius is an interesting mix of Indian and African, which is well depicted in the celebration (?) of Tamil Hundus.  Looking at the images with great interest.  Thanks for sharing, Børge!

[Anthony]

Interesting series, thank you for posting.

[Frank Fremerey]

Great reportage. Wonderful colors. Not drawn there but interested. Your son?

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Both the boys are my kids Frank, 8 and 11 years old with a skin tone made for something else than the sun under the ecvator. I probably didn't write much about that subject Akira. But the culture of Mauritius is a mix of indian and african. The influences come from both west and east and the language is creole french. The main religions are hinduism and tamil hinduism. The tamil temples are multicolored and hindu temples, white colored. There is also a lot catholics on the island as well as, muslims and buddhists, with their own religious practice. Next month there is a hindu pilgrimage where up to 500 000 hindus walk to the Grand Basin to fetch holy water to bring to their temples. That would be a photographic opportunity.

[Anirban Halder]

Beautiful narration and beautiful pictures, Børge. Underwater and wildlife photos are phenomenal.
I like the people photos very much as well. I really enjoy your framing. I'm surprised they were not looking at you when you took the pictures. :)  In fact, if you didn't mention, I would have thought people/temple photos were taken somewhere in southern parts of India. It is so very similar and you have already explained why so. Most of temples in Southern India exactly look like the one above.

Thanks so much for sharing. Looking forward for more photos.

[BW]

Thanks Anirban! When I'm photographing people like this I always try to make some connection to see if it's ok to photograph them. When we seem to have some kind of understanding of me being there I often wait until they seem to forget I'm there. It might take a few seconds or a minute and I use the pause to find my framing. This time I used a 20 mm, which was a bit on the wide side, because I had to get so close. Thats why I didnt use a flash. I think a fill flash with a diffuser would have improved them a lot. I was afraid they would think that I came on to strong. But they all were ok with me being there. I would shure like to go to India some day to photograph

[Anirban Halder]

Nice to hear how you have found your way into candid people photography. Thanks for sharing your expertise Børge.
And, you will surely enjoy photography in India as well.

[Erik Lund]

Fantastic images of the turtles Wonderful!