01/11/19: Day 2

Sunrise at Baie des Russes was just WOW! Arrived at nightfall on the eve,so hadn't really seen the spot where we had settled for the night. We were nested dead in the middle of a sort of cove, with tiny tree covered hills hovering on the horizon for 270+ degrees. Such a peaceful place!
Breakfast on some bananas and biscuits, and short boat ride to the dive spot for the day, Pain de Sucre. The site itself is located around a huge rock protrusion out of nowhere. Despite the awful visibility and the current, the dive was really enjoyable by virtue of the abundance of marine life foreign to these Mauritian Eyes; beautiful sponges, corals and fish that we'd never seen in Mauritius.
Toasted bread with butter, jam and honey after the dive, as we moved to the second dive spot for the day, Tombant Gege. The Captain had drawn a sun shade across the Catamaran Tarp and the place lent itself to a nap. As the catamaran was cradled up and down by the waves, air was forced up and down the mesh, providing blissful ventilation in the hot and humid conditions.
Luckily, better visibility on the second dive site. Similar marine life as on the first dive.
Lunch on Tuna Carpaccio, Sauteed Squid,and stir fried veggie.
Anna set off to visit Nosy Iranja, a tiny touristic island, whist myself and Pierre went snorkeing around the catamaran, with Michel opting for a nap.
Move to the second mouillage, Baramahamay, home to a fishing village of approx 120 inhabitants, out of which 70 odd young children. All teenage kids had been shipped to the main islands for secondary education.
As soon as the anchor is dropped, we are approached by 2 wooden canoes. The first with a young girl selling honey, and the other with a mid aged woman with bagfuls of huge live mangrove crabs.
Our cook gave us two options: Crab with mayo, or crab in sauce. We heeded his advice for the former, which meant a 5 Kg crab purchase at Arias 10,000 /kilo (Aprox Rs 100). Whilst he was prepping the meal for the night, we set off to visit the nearby village.
As we hit the shores, swarm of kids flocked around asking for candies, which Anna dutifully obliged. Mind you, the Mrs was very strict, only 1 candy per child!!!! She must have been easy to fool though, since some kids had clearly been handed more than 1... 😛 Favouritism maybe...??? 😛
Teacher of the village gave us a guided tour. All wooden huts elevated from the ground via wooden pillars, except for the library which seemed to be constructed in block and mortar.
Dinner was Fucking out of this world amazing...!!! I can't recall ever having had so much crab in 1 go...!!! 😛 and I've definitely never had to work so little to eat crab, with Akraam having painstakingly extracted all the meat from the shell! Served with a deliciously smooth mash potato, and half cooked fish fillet of the usual catch of the day 🙂
Strategic retreat to our cabins for a cold shower and sleep 🙂

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