Word of the Day - Trouvaille (French) means to discover a valuable or a lucky find, a windfall, “a chance encounter with something wonderful.”
The word resonated with me during my recent trip to Mauritius, my first international trip since December 2019 and I am grateful to the universe for giving me a chance to explore shores beyond India and visit the island nation again. The newsletter is a week late but I promise to make it up to you by sharing fascinating stories and experiences from the trip in this issue and the next. As you can see I am still in a daze. Another French word, I learnt - Etre al Ouest, literally meaning, “To Go West”, which refers to being a bit spaced out. I am still lost somewhere on the island even now.
Hello and Welcome to this issue of Journeys and Jottings. Stories from my Mauritius trip peppered with some myths and legends from the island and in People Make Places we meet June Mukherjee, a traveller, media professional and now the Founder of a new age media company, Whitehat Media, and Founder Editor of The Asian Footprints, which she refers to as “a futuristic travel media platform.”
Mark Twain’s Mauritian Diary
The first thing you hear about Mauritius is the quote from the famous American writer, Mark Twain, who apparently said, “ Mauritius was made first and then heaven. And heaven was copied after Mauritius.” But like all Mark Twain quotes, this one has also been a bit misquoted. Mark Twain was in Mauritius in 1896 on his “Following the Equator “ lecture tour. The traveller, travel writer, and humourist had penned his experiences in the book and I stumbled upon these excerpts from his notes on Paradise Island here.
April 18, 1896
This is the only country in the world where the stranger is not asked "How do you like this place?" This is indeed a large distinction. Here the citizen does the talking about the country himself; the stranger is not asked to help. You get all sorts of information. From one citizen you gather the idea that Mauritius was made first, and then heaven; and that heaven was copied after Mauritius. Another one tells you that this is an exaggeration; that the two chief villages, Port Louis and Curepipe, fall short of heavenly perfection; that nobody lives in Port Louis except upon compulsion, and that Curepipe is the wettest and rainiest place in the world.
April 23, 1896
What there is of Mauritius is beautiful. You have undulating wide expanses of sugar-cane—a fine, fresh green and very pleasant to the eye; and everywhere else you have a ragged luxuriance of tropic vegetation of vivid greens of varying shades, a wild tangle of underbrush, with graceful tall palms lifting their crippled plumes high above it; and you have stretches of shady dense forest with limpid streams frolicking through them, continually glimpsed and lost and glimpsed again in the pleasantest hide-and-seek fashion; and you have some tiny mountains, some quaint and picturesque groups of toy peaks, and a dainty little vest-pocket Matterhorn; and here and there and now and then a strip of sea with a white ruffle of surf breaks into the view. That is Mauritius; and pretty enough.
One hundred and twenty-six years later, Mauritius remains just the same. A little bit of heaven on earth and even if Mark Twain did not think so himself, it is paradise indeed for the traveller. This is not my first trip to Mauritius. I was here in 2019 on invitation from Club Med Resorts and our week in the island country was divided between Club Med La Plantation D’ Albion and Club Med La Pointe Aux Canonniers. Here is a short excerpt from my blog on my stay in these resorts.
Notes from Paradise - My Mauritius Diary
It was a jeweled night sky that greeted us in Mauritius. Looking up, I saw the stars shining out of the dark blanket while the moon slipped behind a delicate layer of cloud. I had just landed in Port Louis but the airport was rather quiet at this hour. The Air Mauritius flight from Mumbai was rather short and comfortable and it was a perfect time to reach Mauritius. As we drove towards our destination, there was not a single vehicle giving us company. I almost dozed off again only to wake up to the sight of silhouetted stalks of sugarcane fields dancing to the tune of the breeze. Perhaps I imagined it but I woke up eventually as we entered the portals of Club Med La Plantation D’ Albion, one of the premium luxury resorts in Mauritius and also one of the best all-inclusive resorts in Mauritius.
The stars were covered by a dense canopy of trees even as the sea breeze waltzed in. It was the wee hours of the morning but we had a very warm welcome at the resort and we were finally in a little buggy navigating the tiny tree-fringed lanes to find our luxury rooms. In a fraction of a second, I was fast asleep and lost in a world of dreams.
I woke up to the sounds of silence. Sipping a cup of tea, I drew the curtains to reveal shafts of sunlight bathing the gardens outside my room while an automatic sprinkler sprayed the lawns. I decided to go for a walk. As I walked around, I saw a pair of the endangered Mauritius fody adding a dash of red to the verdant greenery before they vanished into the leaves. I realized that it was not long before these birds suffered the same fate as the extinct dodo, but the Mauritians have taken pains to conserve the endemic fody and save it from extinction. There were several bulbuls flitting around the trees as I explored the property. It was a Sunday and everyone seemed to be lost in a world of stupor.
You can read more on the blog here.
Do not be a DODO.
The now extinct flightless dodo is the unofficial mascot of Mauritius. The erstwhile large bird, which was endemic to the island found their paradise, and they multiplied in glee with hardly any predators around. But once humans landed on these shores, the birds stood no chance of survival. Fearless but flightless, they became meat for the sailors and soon the birds became extinct in barely a few years. It is believed that the last of the species was killed around the 17th century.
The word dodo is however referred to someone who is considered slow and stupid and the origin is traced from the Portuguese word, doudo', or 'simpleton'. Unfortunately, the native birds, like many other extinct creatures trusted the humans and did not seem to be afraid of them and were killed for meat. The dodos were initially considered mythical creatures and even the French who colonised the island thought they were figments of imagination. It was only much later, in the 19th century, that the naturalists realized that there were real birds as they started finding evidence of their existence.
Meet the Big Daddy of Mauritius
The Dodo is not the only species that became extinct. The Giant Mauritian tortoises also met with the same plight as they were slaughtered for meat and oil. We were at the Isle aux Aigrettes, a nature reserve that is an islet and one of the few remaining habitats for “Mauritius Dry Coastal Forests.” The island is named after egrets that once lived here but have abandoned the islet and flown away ( thankfully are not extinct).
Home to a few endangered flora and fauna, the islet tells a story of conservation. The giant Aldabra tortoises from Seychelles have been introduced here along with other birds and reptiles. The endemic vegetation is also slowly being restored as well. While there are many fascinating species here including the rare ebony trees, the showstopper is the 95-year-old giant tortoise called the Big Daddy. Have you seen Giant Tortoises before?
People Make Places
I met June Mukherjee on a trip to South Africa. A media professional and travel journalist, she had travelled to over 75 countries and had worked on marketing the destinations through media communications. Her career took her places as she worked in different media organizations spanning television, exhibition, conference, print, and digital. June is a graduate in Political Science and a post-graduate in Film Studies and she lives in Kolkata.
June now wears a new feather in her cap and has become an entrepreneur and is the Founder of a new-age media company, Whitehat Media, and the Founding Editor of The Asian Footprints, a futuristic travel media platform. She shares her story here with her.
How did your travel story begin?
Usually, people start with small destinations within the country but my real love affair with travel began with the United States of America when I was sent to do coverage thrice, for my TV media and that also included a U.S. Presidential election that brought Barack Obama in power. First, landing in a beautiful city called New York made me fall in love with her forever. Then while travelling through various small and big cities and towns, I was excited to meet the world in the melting pot called America. While doing my fellowship at CNN headquarters in Atlanta, I met with people from various continents who opened my eyes and made me want to travel more. And then I changed my course of life and never stopped.
Tell us a little more about your latest venture - The Asian Footprints
As the world is entering into a new phase of the post-pandemic era, we are hearing a lot of buzzwords that travel is not going to be the same anymore. Well, time will tell us as we slowly begin to travel the world. The Asian Footprints (AFP) promises to bring hand-picked beautiful stories beyond borders where Asian travellers leave their footprints; cutting-edge news based on important information clubbed with detailed analysis and exclusive interviews from the tourism industry that will educate all; breath-taking pictures and videos taken by international photographers and videographers brightening the days.
Every country around the world is eagerly looking forward to increasing its share of Asian tourists, thanks to the simple mathematics of the exponential number of outbound tourists the continent generates. It is a single point go-to place to analyze all Asian travellers' footprints as well as find out what is happening to attract them in the first place. How the overload of information can be curated and converted to smart content in a balanced way so that consumers, as well as those in the business, can benefit from the same, will remain AFP's only call for action.
What was your inspiration?
The possibility of seeing new people in new landscapes has always inspired me. I prefer to take back the essence of the country as seen in its peoples' spirit. The historical landmarks that have great importance especially in shaping the country's political future, icons of peoples' movements, revolutions, and war memorials, are of special interest to me. I am very uncannily attracted to all the gigantic Buddha statues around the world. I want to visit all the top religious sites around the world from an over-the-top point of view to feel the pulse of humankind at their most vulnerable moments.
Was there any particular story that resonated with you?
In 2016, I was with a good group of travel content producers who became good friends later. On the other side of the world, the story is from South Africa! On way back from Kruger National Park to our next destination, when the van was speeding at 200 km per hour, I screamed seeing a signboard on the highway side, the maxi van screeched with all my co-travelers awakening from their afternoon siesta. I saw an arrow sign written Calcutta (the name of my city) over there! The amused driver informed us, there is a small hamlet in the interior with about 2000 residents! A flat straight line on the Google Map shows that the distance between the two is over 8,000 km! It is one of those stories I from Calcutta always love to share!
How can people contribute to The Asian Footprints?
All AFP is looking out for is good travel content. If anyone has a great and original travel story to tell, the platform is there for them!
Write | Capture | Partner | Advertise: theasianfootprints@gmail.com
Visit www.theasianfootprints.com
Feedback
I do hope that you enjoyed reading this issue. Looking forward to your feedback as always. We are going to keep the flow of conversations going and I would really appreciate it if you will share my newsletter with your friends and family.
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Enjoyed reading this very special blog about paradise! The excerpts from Mark Twain’s writings are gems! It’s true that no visitor needs to praise a place if the locals are happy to be living there. They’ll take pride in telling the stranger everything they need to know about it! Your interview with June Mukherjee was a pleasure to read too. She talks about New York as the place that inspired her to travel far and wide. New York City had the same effect on me with its vibrancy and zest for living attitude attracting people from all nations to live and work there! Looking forward to your next, Lakshmi!
Enjoyed reading this very special blog about paradise! The excerpts from Mark Twain’s writings are gems! It’s true that no visitor needs to praise a place if the locals are happy to be living there. They’ll take pride in telling the stranger everything they need to know about it! Your interview with June Mukherjee was a pleasure to read too. She talks about New York as the place that inspired her to travel far and wide. New York City had the same effect on me with its vibrancy and zest for living attitude attracting people from all nations to live and work there! Looking forward to your next, Lakshmi!