We woke up before our alarm (which was set for 06:48), quickly got cleaned up, and then we packed our waterproof bag and our small backpack.  At breakfast, the waiter remembered both our drink orders and our room number (based on the previous two days, we assumed).  We were the first ones at the restaurant, and grabbed the southwest corner table - this was our third straight meal there.  Perhaps because of all the rum the night before, or all the rum we figured we’d have on the boat today, we skipped champagne and breakfast today.  We ate quickly, and met our new driver, Suraj, at 08:00.  He told us his name meant “sun” in Hindi, so we’d have sun in the car all day.

The weather was sunny in any event, the fourth straight day of good weather (and the third we could enjoy).  Suraj drove around with the windows cracked a bit, and the temperature was good.  He asked if we’d heard about Uvalde, and we said unfortunately yes, that we weren’t surprised, but still sad and angry.  It’s impossible having a rational conversation with anyone from outside the US about the gun issue, because there’s no rational explanation, and you can’t explain the unexplainable and hope for someone to comprehend, let alone understand.

We drove along the south coast all the way to Le Morne today, and then turned north from there.  We saw the turnoff to Lux Le Morne, where we were originally slated to stay.  Not long thereafter we saw the road between Le Morne and Chamarel that was closed for construction - if we’d stayed in Le Morne, we would’ve had long drives to go around.  Having now seen the closed roads from both sides, and being on the island for a few days, we had a better idea of where the road went and what it’s closure meant for some of the busiest tourist areas.

We got to the beach a little before 09:00 and waited for others to show up.  There were a couple catamarans, and we saw people putting provisions on at least two of them.  We figured one would be French speaking and the other English speaking.  After a bit they called us and one other couple, but everyone else for our boat was with one of the boat captain - a dozen or so Danes, mostly women, with everyone in their 20s, some barely.  Because the water is so shallow, the motors are just below the surface, and the hulls stick up almost entirely out of the water.  We sat at the back whilst all the youngsters went up front and laid out in the sun.

From the beach we went north to see the resident pod of dolphins.  Along the way we saw a couple boats with free divers emerging from the water with spearguns.  We wondered what that would mean for our snorkeling.  Once by the dolphins, we were disgusted by what we saw.  There were 15 or so boats, and every time a group of dolphins was seen, all 15 boats sped towards the dolphins, getting about 10 seconds of photos before the dolphins disappeared under the sea for a bit, only to pop up somewhere else and repeat the process.  It seemed cruel, and self-evidently so.  Justin said something, multiple times, as did one of the Danes.  

It’s pretty easy to think of a solution - no boats with engines on within 50 meters of dolphins, no more than 8 boats at a time, heavy fines for violators, and revocation of tourist licenses for repeat violators.  That would probably result in better sightings, too, as the dolphins were at ease when no one was chasing them.  A couple times we saw them from the back of our boat, and purposely didn’t say anything, and got our best sightings at those instances.  The boat captains seemed flummoxed that we weren’t happy at them chasing after the dolphins.  But at least our boat didn’t have snorkelers hopping in the water hoping to swim with the dolphins, as about 5-6 boats did - they all failed spectacularly, and deservedly so.

Mercificully, we eventually left the dolphins to some peace and quiet, and went back south to near where we started.  We connected to a mooring line and then we hopped in the water.  Underneath, the reef was very bleached, and not many colorful fish were around - they probably were too easy to spot for the speargun hunters.  One of the crew members was fishing whilst we snorkeled, which we could not remember having ever seen before.

Once back on board, the booze was open.  [To their credit, they didn’t allow any drinking before we finished snorkeling.]  Justin told Crystal “I’d pay so much money to watch you drink these little girls under the table like Lucille Bluth.”  We both got a good laugh, as Crystal knew exactly which scene from Arrested Development Justin was referring to.  Whilst we started drinking, the staff started grilling some food as we headed even further south, towards Le Morne. 

Lunch was comprised of chicken, fish, pasta salad, potato salad, cabbage salad, and garlic bread.  For being cooked on a boat it was pretty good.  We stopped right around Crystal Rock, a small rock in the middle of the water.  We were allowed to swim in the area, and Justin realized he could actually stand on the sandy bottom.  So rather than us swimming to Crystal Rock, Justin carried Crystal there, and it was fairly romantic save for the salt water constantly crashing in our faces.

We guarded the rum whilst the Danes went to the island (Ile aux Benitiers).  For the first time all day, we had some peace and quiet; it was just us and 2 of the crew, who were eating their lunch and resting.  So we just hung out near Crystal rock for 45 minutes or so.  Ile aux Benitiers sounded like a tourist trap, with souvenir shops up and down the shore to cater to the daily fill of tourists.  We didn’t need or want that, so we enjoyed the rum and diet coke, perhaps a bit too much.  We had indeed drank as much rum as all the Danes combined, and we were (currently) in fine shape, but we wondered if we'd perhaps overdone it a bit in our secret competition against our fellow guests.  When the Danes got back, we realized we were the only two guests who weren’t sunburned, perhaps because comparatively the sun in Mauritius didn’t hold a candle to Seychelles or Socotra.

It was a slow ride back to dock, and as we got off the ship all the rum caught up with Crystal.  She took a nap on drive home whilst Justin chatted with Suraj about a variety of topics.  At the hotel we took a “New Orleans walk” back to room, and it was time for another nap.  She was doing better after an hour or two, but didn’t feel like going to dinner at the Beach BBQ, so Justin cancelled that.  In its place, he went to the Rum Shed, solo.  Not wanting to end up joining Crystal in misery, he decided to limit himself to 5 rums, with five accompanying bottles of water.

He seated himself at the bar at made friends with Kumar, the bartender.  Justin commented that someone had finished a bottle of Diplomático the night before (he noticed the bottle was gone); Kumar said yes, that there had been some sort of private event that had kept everyone quite busy all night.  Justin also confirmed what he thought he’d seen two nights prior, that they had Renegade Rum, which Justin hadn’t seen in years.  [It was out of his price range.]  

For his first round, he picked the Chamarel 6 years (a fat bottle), which was one of the rums that was available at the rhumerie for tasting, but at an extra cost (so we didn’t do it) - it was good stuff.  For the second round, he picked the Penny Blue VSOP, Single Estate, and it was very good as well.  Justin asked Kumar what he recommended for rounds 3 through 5, given the two that he’d just tasted, plus his usual favorites of El Dorado or Diplomático.  Kumar said there wasn’t going to be anything like El Dorado or Diplomático, as the local rums were Agricoles and not Demeraras, and this wasn’t a surprise.  Kumar also said the Dodo bottle rum was crap, just a fancy bottle with cheap rum.  For the third round, Kumar selected a Chamarel VS, and it was very tasty as well.

Justin was in fact eating as well as drinking copious amounts of water.  He got a potato leek soup that was excellent, and a strip loin that was very good as well.  The fourth round went with dinner - New Grove Savoir Faire Double Cask - this got Justin’s attention as it was 94 Proof.  “Dessert” was New Grove Old Tradition, aged 10 years.  Overall, Kumar did an excellent job with his selections.  We’ll have to see how many (if any) of these are available for us to purchase in San Diego.  Towards the end of dinner, a couple from Paris sat down next to Justin and they chatted a bit, with Justin giving them the list of Paris bars we’d been given by the bartender in Bruges in December.  It was a little funny for a foreigner giving bar recommendations to locals, but they admitted they hadn’t gone out much in the last couple years because of COVID.  Justin bought them some El Dorado 12, which they enjoyed (or at least pretended to).  Kumar told Justin he could come by before opening the next day, so that he could get some more rum before leaving for the airport.  Justin walked back to our room, and Crystal was feeling a bit better and had gotten some more sleep.  Shortly we were both asleep.