This post was supposed to be about going and being in Mauritius, but my rambling about leaving Rodrigues and entering Mauritius became the topic by itself along the way. This might be a bit of a boring read, but to me, these regulations and procedures are fascinating. And since it occupies a substantial part of our day, it is a big part of experiencing this voyage. More about Mauritius to come.
I also would like to stress that the people we have dealt with so far in the islands are absolutely wonderful, and although not always helpful in the way intended, they go out of their way to get what they think you asked for. And yes, regulations and procedures need to be followed (I guess).
And indeed, leaving Rodrigues was a bit of a hassle as we had to line up all the appropriate officials in the correct order, in the right place, and at the right time. We started with the coastguard, they occupied a booth right at the entrance of our mooring area, and as they had pretty well arranged the government’s officials parade upon our arrival, what would make me think they wouldn’t do the same for us upon our departure?
All paperwork needed to be completed before four in the afternoon. Asking the coastguard officer on duty how to proceed at ten in the morning would allow plenty of time to deal with possibly unforeseen eventualities. Such as the young coastguard officer on duty not knowing that there is such a thing as immigration and where to find it.
The young man wanted to be very helpful and, after conversing with some people that hung around his booth, gave us directions of where to go. And go we did. Upon arrival, we found a government building with all sorts of offices, ‘Health,’ for example, was there, and so was ‘Water,’ but no immigration. Luckily the tourism office was in the vicinity. There we found out, after the lady made a few phone calls, that we needed to go to the police station across town. Everybody knows where the police station is, and immigration is next door. And so it is. One down, now we need customs. The immigration chief assured us there is a customs officer in the same small building where the coastguard hangs out, basically the booth next door. One walks by the two booths when going into the restricted area where we moor our boat. One is the coastguard, and the other is customs. Coastguard is always there, customs never, so far. The immigration officer gave me one of those all-knowing smiles and told me not to worry. Somebody will be there.
We had some lunch. Then walked to a beach where Steve did some snorkeling, which he rated on a scale from one to ten a zero. No wonder, as there was no corral anywhere near. Half an hour in the water, and he saw two fish. What does make you wonder is why suggest this area as the place to go for a little underwater sightseeing.
At three, the lady from immigration showed up at the boat and stamped us out. The biological sciences tandem, health and agriculture, were a no show, no need for them on the way out. And the customs office booth was still empty, and four o’clock was approaching. Thankfully, completely unrelated to our departure, a coastguard officer showed up on his motorbike, a common form of transportation here on the island. He whips out his cell phone, makes three calls, and ten minutes later, customs shows up with our exit permit. Coastguard then approved our departure.
Three days later, approaching Mauritius, the harbor of Port Louis in view. I called Port Authorities on the radio, asking about where to moor and the procedures related to entering the country. It’s like Rodrigues isn’t part of the same nation. He asked if we had submitted our forms by mail. I answered we hadn’t, we had just come from Rodrigues and anticipated the same procedures. Not so! I asked if we could tie up and follow up on the requirements, and the answer was a very stern ‘No.’ We were to drop anchor outside the harbor, in the quarantine area, and work on the paperwork from there.
In the end, it worked out fine. I took a picture of our exit permit from Rodrigues, a photo of the boat’s registration and wrote up a crew list, took a picture of that, and sent it all in an email to the harbor master. Twenty minutes later, I received an email confirming we were allowed in, and forty minutes later, we were moored by the customs office for our entry procedures.
Our saving grace was that I had bought a cell package in Rodrigues, which was also good for Mauritius. I had great reception at the harbor entrance and could communicate by email. Had we not had cell access, we would have been up the creek, and no matter with or without the proverbial paddle, access would have been denied.
