DAY 14 - SNORKEL-DAY

We wander a lift down to the beach to meet our fellow snorkelers (Dutch couple and two French soldiers on leave from Reunion), and get into a ‘glass-bottomed boat’ (which sadly serves mainly to deminstrate what a bad state the coral is in).  The water though is gin-clear as they boast out here, and there are shoals of smaller fish when we have a dip

                                                                                                                                     

Then we cross to near reef to see remains of a 1900 wreck and onto a small beach on the sanctary of Ile Aux Aigrettes (a reserve which which we can't enter any further.

although the Mauritian fodys greet us enthusiastically, so we're clearly not the first to pause here

as well as this chap

We push on to three different islands: a quick walk on Ile de la Passé 

 past Ilot Vacoas,

 

via a coral 'island' which has disappeared, submerged by the risen tide, when we pass an hour later

and finally stop at Ile aux Fouquets

Lunchtime!  BBQ fish/chicken with local punch, followed by baked banana.

Throw anchor for second snorkel (coral is thankfully in better shape than near land, though by now it's cloudy), and back for a last night.