gateway to my world

DISCLAIMER: I’ve been slacking on my blog posts, especially after the craziness of traveling among the last seven cities within the span of five weeks! I can’t believe the voyage-of-my-life is coming to a close!! The days get shorter and shorter, and while I feel the luring and long-awaited pull of Philly, winter, and my hometown comforts, I grow more and more nostalgic of the amazing experiences I’ve had on this voyage. I can’t believe I’m going to be home in less than a week!

I have to admit, Vietnam was the relaxation from traveling that I hadn’t known I needed. With a schedule of constantly going back and forth from port to port, it was a relief to spend five days in a familiar city. Ho Chi Minh City, the capital of Vietnam and formerly named Saigon, was a lot like Seoul in terms of the pace of life. There were skyscrapers alongside traditional treasures like the historical Museum of Vietnamese and ambitious shopkeepers in the open-air markets. Tons of cafes and hotels lined the city streets like I’ve seen in Seoul.

On our first day in Vietnam’s capital city, Margaret and I joined other SAS-ers on a city orientation where we visited Chinatown, City Hall, and the War Reunification Palace among other places. The Reunification Palace stands intact as a relic of the Vietnam War during the 1970s. It felt almost cryptic to walk through the war-time president’s bedroom built within the 6 feet-deep bunker under the Palace. I also visited a handicraft shop first established and employed by handicap survivors of the war. Today, it stands as a symbol of livelihood for the Vietnamese handicapped population as most of the current staff is physically disabled in some way. Their artwork is amazing. Men and women carve out delicate pieces of mother of pearl and paste them onto dyed wood, creating these immaculate murals.   

Later that night, Margaret and I joined a group of SAS-ers at a club called Khong Ten. The bar/music club hosts amateurs to professionals from all over Vietnam, and we were entertained by solo acts and duets that reflected Vietnamese pop music on stage. For me, it was Vietnamese style K-pop but to a lesser degree.

One of my coolest experiences in Vietnam was traveling outside of the capital city to the Cu Chi Tunnels, which were created during the war. The Viet Cong built these 2000km-long underground tunnels during their struggle against encroaching Americans and anti-Communist Vietnamese during the war. Today, it remains an extensive system traversing hundreds of hectares of land reaching below 10 meters underground. The Viet Cong and sympathizers managed to form sleeping quarters, kitchens, and bunkers in these tunnels. I was both intrigued and saddened by the visual remnants of these man-made tunnels. Actually crawling through these dark, cramped spaces coupled with seeing the weaponry often used during the war (e.g. AK47s and M16s) made the war feel so real to me when I had hardly knew anything about the destructive conflict before my visit. I saw a few small craters left behind by American bombings, and I felt in my gut that war is truly terrible.

I speak for most of the SAS-ers when I say that one of the most fun and sought-after experiences in Ho Chi Minh City is shopping in the famous and chaotic markets. Specifically, I found myself meandering through Ben Thanh market in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, and I marveled at the plethora of various goods and services—from tailoring to buying souvenirs or basic home goods. The market is a chaotic hot-spot for locals and foreigners mainly because anyone can find what they need for a great price. Who doesn’t love a good bargain? My proudest purchases were a fake NorthFace bag for $10, a hand-tailored cream-colored satin and lace dress, and the most amazing chicken pho I have ever had for a buck fifty.  Eating in the market-stalls a couple times reminded me of eating at pojangmachas (food stalls) in South Korea where food is inexpensive but some of the best found in the country.

I spent my third day in Vietnam totally free from any preoccupations or attachments to planned trips. I discovered a stress-free day walking through the capital city’s zoo and gardens. I love long walks anywhere—whether it’s around my block back home, at a mall window shopping, or in this case, viewing animals and plants because walks help me feel at peace with the world around me. I really believe in the beauty of nature and its power to liberate. Maybe that’s why people garden.

Afterward, Margaret and I spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening in a bookstore and walking through the several different small and high-end malls in the city. It surprised me how many of these flashy and alluring malls were located within walking distance of each other. For dinner, we ate at Vietnamese restaurant that seemed out of place on the top floor of one of these malls with levels lined with Guccis, Fendies, and Pradas. We ate lotus root and bean sprout salad with seafood crackers. We also had yummy green cabbage soup with white fish. My meal came to 4 USD! 

On my fourth day, I canoed down the Mekong Delta, the city’s main body of water, ate lunch by the riverbank, saw home-made coconut candy being made, and visited two of Vietnam’s largest Buddha statues in the town of My Doh (I’m not sure I spelled that correctly). For lunch, I had fresh seafood, including deep fried whole fish, summer and spring rolls, and steamed rice cakes in banana leafs. Between canoe rides down the river, I tasted the region’s tropical fruit, including giant grapefruits, dragon fruits, and fresh lychee.       

On my final day in Vietnam, I did what every tourist does best and shopped guilt-free for last minute gifts and souvenirs. I finished the day sitting in a Korean café with franchises all over Asia indulging in my cup of Iced Americano. Like I said, Vietnam was a little taste of comfort—in its own rite.

as i day dream in class, i think about the things i love about being home. t-minus 16 days !!

-EAGLES! -my friends -church -PJ’s Tuesday night ½-off wings & beer -being home for fall birthdays -sleeping without interruption in my own bed -running to Mom’s bed when I get scared or can’t sleep -unlimited gogoma (sweet potatos) -learning to cook traditional Korean food from Mommy -my cats! -the recently renovated Ambler YMCA -fireside movie/drama nights with the family -Harry Potter 7: Part I -Sunday brunch with Daddy -window shopping -reading mags and books care-free-ly in Barnes and Nobles with an iced Starbucks Americano -working on my bucket list -Soho chicken -WAWA macaroni and cheese -Christmas: lights and gift-giving! -redecorating my room -BC reunions

prohibitions in Singapore

Singapore was probably one of the coolest places I’ve visited and one country I hope to return to in the future. On my first day in Singapore, I went on an orientation of the city and learned that it’s a city-state, meaning that the city is the country! How unique is that! I thought Mauritius was tiny, but Singapore is even smaller, spanning a total surface area of only 274.2 square miles. Singapore has laws that I’ve never even heard of, including the banning of selling chewing gum and more extreme protocols like mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking. There’s state-encouraged racial integration probably because the relatively smaller population of 5 million and tiny island itself allow for greater racial peace. For example, for every 100 housing units, there’s allowed only a certain percentage of Chinese, Indians, Eurasians, etc. The city itself is very clean and well developed. The city is covered by skyscrapers. I visited different cultural centers in the city, including Little India, the Muslim Center, and Chinatown. Travels in India in the same week provided a cultural backdrop for what I saw in Little India. Little India was crowded, rambunctious, and loud, which are adjectives I’d definitely use to describe the culture of the Indian motherland.   

Little India

After a full day of walking around the cultural centers of the city, Margaret and I had dinner at a Singaporean woman’s home. We visited Eunice Chua’s flat, the regional director of a tourism organization that’s partnered with SAS for many years. 80% of Singaporeans live in public housing flats within skyscrapers, much like Eunice’s home. (I wish our government would pay for us to live in condos too!) Her flat overlooked the beautiful night skyline from the gaping open window smack in the middle of her living room. Her daughter, Eileen Chua, an assistant professor at the National University of Singapore joined us for dinner. As a food junky, I loved hearing her talk to the group of about 20 SAS-ers about the various traditional meals found in Singapore, along with the local Malay meal we enjoyed that night.    

me and marg in Eunice’s home

After dinner, Eileen took Margaret, me, and a friend named Chris to see the various sites of the city. We walked through most of the city in the dark, traversing lighted bridges and meandering through the lawns of the judicial court and legislative center. We saw the interiors of old historical buildings like the former gigantic post office and the banks of the Asia Center. We saw the Merlion, which is the national symbol of a lion’s head and a mermaid’s tail. We walked through underground passageways under bridges and saw the beautiful skyline of the city that included the flyer (Sinagpore’s version of the London Eye), the famous lotus monument (Singapore’s national flower), and the famous elegant Marina Bay Sands Hotel—the most prestigious of all luxurious hotels in the world. We also rode steep escalators to the top of a 12 story building to the see the city from a bird’s eye view. We ended the night sitting outside by the river and sipping on Singaporean sodas.  Great conversation with great people surrounded by a gorgeous city topped off an amazing night in Singapore.

Singapore of skyline 

On my second and last day in Singapore, several prospective applicants to SAS from NSU (the National University of Singapore) came on board the M/V Explorer (our ship) for an open-ship. I gave a tour of the ship to these students, and meeting and getting to speak about the SAS program was fun and full of nostalgia. Before giving the tour, I watched a promotional video for SAS that I never saw before applying to the program. It was inspiring to hear and see what I’ve been doing for the past couple months in retrospect and form the point of view of SAS alum. There was a goodbye scene in the film of all the program participants leaving for home from their last port of call, and I got emotional! I was sitting next to Liz, who’s my alumni sponsor and personal assistant to Archbishop Tutu (!!), and she was getting teary eyed too. This is her third voyage, and she still has a hard time saying goodbye to the experience. That day was my first glimpse of the emotional train wreck I will probably be on December 13 when I return from my voyage. AH!

Eileen and me

child helped by RIDE

I can’t believe it’s already November 4^th and that I’m currently in Vietnam—my 8^th country on this global voyage! It’s been an emotional couple weeks as I’ve been battling with health complications (shingles…what 22 year old gets shingles!) and have started to feel the pull of the end of my trip, the anticipation of returning home with a new set of experiences under my belt, and the excitement of goals that I’ve laid out for myself because of the impressionable encounters I’ve had over the past couple months. Don’t worry, I’m almost fully recovered from my illness, but during my sickness, I definitely missed home, a lot! At the same time, I also feel the weight of wanting to take in all that I’m doing especially within these last few weeks that I am abroad, but I’m battling with the subtle and powerful feeling of jadedness that creeps up when I start becoming accustomed to constantly traveling. I never thought I’d feel this way, but I have to admit that I sometimes become too comfortable with the constant traveling and frequent changes like those I experience in my diet and hours slept. I’m battling to take nothing for granted. Writing these blogs has become a powerful grace that keeps me reflective and grateful. As I sit and think about what I’ve done and seen in each country or on the ship, I am reminded of the cultural encounters I’ve had that most people may never have in their lifetime. I find that it’s incredible to me how many countries I can fall in love with.

welcoming SAS to Kancheepuram

India by far is the most complex and high-energy country I’ve visited. While in India, I witnessed both the realities of intense poverty and social inequality because of the pervasive caste system that continues to permeate there, especially in the rural areas. I also saw the humanitarian efforts to help combat the very economic and social injustices associated with the caste system. During the first couple days in India, I stayed overnight in a rural village called Kancheepuram under the invitation of an organization called RIDE. RIDE is a non-profit in southern India that strives to get child laborers into schools and their mothers into micro-lending and self-help projects. Kancheepuram, a rural town two hours from Chennai where RIDE has its headquarters, is typically known for its silk industry. I’ll remember it as the home of many children and mothers who are striving to overcome poverty and social disenfranchisement.

hand signal for cool in India

Most of the children currently attending schools run by RIDE staff and volunteers, including two German volunteers who have dedicated a year to RIDE, were previously engaged in child labor. These children predominantly come from the Dalit community, or the “untouchables”—the lowest socioeconomic caste in India. Often, Dalit incomes are so low that Dalit children are forced to work in order to help their families sustain a living. There’s little social support for poor castes as well, largely due to the Hindu religion that believes in reincarnation. One is born into poverty, a lower caste, or as an animal as opposed to a human being in this life because of misdeeds in the former. Reality is that even those additional incomes don’t help to raise families above a subsistence living. The director of RIDE explained that he created the non-profit 30 some years ago in order to combat many of the social illnesses encountered by these poor Indians, including an uneducated young generation, and I am moved by his life-long passion for serving others.

playing ring around the rosie with the RIDE children

While I saw first-hand the vastness of poverty in India through my encounters with families helped by RIDE and the hundreds of Indians I saw sleeping on the streets every day, I also witnessed the incredible charge by Indians to overcome their social handicaps. On one of our six days in India, Margaret and I visited a rehabilitation center that was developed for the 2004 tsunami victims and other slum residents. SAS took a tour of the self-sufficient micro-town that includes its own schools, grocery stores, small-businesses, plumbing, and housing. We met young boys, many of whom come from poor families in northern Chennai. They’re educated in residential schools (like boarding schools) through activities-based learning. Once they complete their education in the micro-community, they’re mainstreamed into public schools. If not for this school, then many of the boys would be child laborers.

residential complexes under construction for tsunami victims and slum dwellers

The poverty issue is but one of the many reflections of India’s complexity. A majority of Indians practice Hinduism, a complicated religion that deifies mainly a family of 5 gods, including Shiva and the holy cow Vishnu. Each god has a specific role within the family and also in the lives of believers. Gender relations balance on a see-saw of traditional customs and contemporary liberalizations. On one evening, I had dinner with an Indian family that Margaret stayed with for two nights. The mother of that family, Archana, expressed her conflicting identity as mother, wife, and woman with dreams. Traditionally, gender roles have been highly prescriptive with strict rules for women, but today, many women want more for themselves. Archana remarked on the nature of gender roles. Like many before her, she had an arranged marriage although she wanted one for love. She said that although she works, she’s expected to watch over Sonny, her 6 year old son, and care for him simply because she is a woman. While she didn’t seem to reflect resentment or much opposition to Indian gender norms, she expressed her deep desires to be independent and travel, which has always been her hope.

with Margaret’s host family

The Indian people themselves cannot be categorized into one ethnic or national grouping. On my last day in India, I visited an Indian university called the Madras Christian College. There I met a northern Indian from Madipur who attends college in the south. Her name is Angana, and we spent the day talking about pretty much everything. She explained to me that although she was born and raised physically in India, she often feels a culture shock as she’s living in the southern part of the country right now. To be honest, she looked Thai to me, which she said people say often to her because of her relatively light skin and nontraditional dress. She said that she often feels like she can’t relate to people in Chennai because the north is relatively more westernized. When she came to southern India for college, which is highly conservative and traditional, she felt estranged and different. She said that she wants to leave India in a couple years, and she said that her openness to travel abroad shows that she isn’t as attached to her country as some other Indians might be.

with angana at the university dorms

Like I said, the complexity of India still astounds me. Still, there were many commonalities I found between the country and others I have visited. Through my travels, I’ve been learning more and more that children are truly the light of this world. Just like the children in Ghana, the children I met in India possessed a purity that lifted me up and blessed me. Despite the hardships that the children and mothers of Kancheepuram have faced, they greeted me and my fellow SAS-ers cheerfully when we arrived in Kancheepuram. The rankooli is a symbol of an ornate and colorful flower that in the Hindu religion signifies the coming of gods. Upon the arrival of about 30 of us, we were welcomed by chalk-drawn images of this flower and smiling children. Their mothers pinned carnations on our shirts and adorned us with traditional Indian make-up worn in special occasions. On another day, I visited Missionaries of Charity in Chennai, the orphanage first created by Mother Theresa. I spent my day playing with special needs orphans. The children were precious, and I had a lot of fun coloring and playing catch with them, especially Lata, the child I grew closest to and the most sassy of them all. Both the children in Kancheepuram and Chennai generously opened their homes and lives to us, and their openness and laughter were gifts.    

with lata

Shifting gears a little bit, I am excited to share my time with a certain rickshaw driver named Johnny. Before visiting India, many of my professors and deans lightheartedly warned me about rickshaws. Rickshaws are basically small golf carts on steroids that serve as taxis. I was told that I’d have to muster up fearlessness in the face of chaotic and loud driving, which is typical of Indian traffic. On one of the days, a couple friends and I bargained with Johnny for a ride around most of Chennai. Johnny was great as he served as an unofficial and highly informative tour guide that day. With Johnny, I visited Marina Beach, the second longest beach in the world and that was affected by the 2004 tsunami; Ghandi’s monument; the Santhome Cathedral Basilica, which was erected over the tomb of Apostle Thomas; and the main Hindu temple in Chennai. Johnny also showed me two notebooks full of letters that his former customers had written recommending his services. I found several letters from former SAS-ers dating back to the year 2000! It was a cool feeling to know that Johnny had met and traveled with so many others before me, especially former members of my program. I instantly felt comfortable around him, and after having spend most of the day together, we developed a close friendship.

erin and i in a rickshaw

Hindu temple in Chennai

As I’m writing this entry and reflect on the Indian culture in hindsight, I grow more and more excited about the different aspects of this eclectic and energetic society. I encountered the craziness of Indian traffic, the boisterousness and high-energy of Indian Bollywood films, and the intricacy of Hindu traditional dance. The film I saw called Enthiron was about the life of a scientist, his lover, and a man-made robot that falls in love with his maker’s girl. The movie itself was four hours long, had an intermission, and included several song-and-dance portions. Not only was the musical loud, the audience was so loud too. Some even picked up their phone calls in the theater!! It was 4 hours of a lot of everything.  The traditional Hindu dance was performed by Soumya Latik, an Indian American, at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, a Chennai music and dance school. Hindu traditional dance is very technical and relies heavily on intricate, small movements of the feet, hands, ankles, wrists, head, and facial expressions. To say the least, the movie and dance experiences were colorful and a bit nuts! I loved them both.

Hindu dancer

Lastly, I always need to mention the yummy aspects of each country. Indian food was awesome. So far, it’s been one of my favorite foods on this trip in addition to Morocco (and Vietnam where I’m writing from). Over my time in the country, I ate fried prawns, wada (a fried snack much like thick pajun for your Koreans reading), rice with sambai, aglan chips, and my favorite of them all, garlic and cheese naan and chicken tikki masala. In general, Indian food is saucy, rich, and spicy!

maria and i with chicken tikki masala and naan

SOUTH AFRICA

Coming from Ghana where I had witnessed widespread relative poverty, I expected to see a similar situation in Cape Town, South Africa. Instead, the city is modernized and disguises well the lasting impacts of apartheid. I saw the subtleties of a racialized socioeconomic hierarchy through black service workers and predominantly white consumers being serviced. The housing for the wealthy is vastly different from the housing in the townships. Where the streets are clean and houses are neatly and spaciously organized in rich neighborhoods, townships are cramped, littered, run-down, and characterized by one-story shanty housing. I can’t neatly package my time in South Africa as much as my type-A personality would like. My experiences encompassed witnessing a whole lot of everything: real poverty, Cape Town’s comforts and wonders offered to those who can afford them, and personal revelations- all within the span of six days.

Hello God

Church has taken a unique form on this voyage. A small community on the ship has held ecumenical services whenever the ship sails from country to country. In South Africa, I was fortunate enough to attend Hillsongs Cape Town, and the Sunday service reminded me of contemporary worships that I’m more accustomed to back home. The Hillsongs community made an impression on much of my experience in South Africa. The moment I stepped into the church, I felt a release-the kind that you feel profoundly as you begin to unravel layers of burden and scars before the presence of God. Over the course of the week, I grew closer to a particularly hospitable church member, Christine who’s originally from the US and is now living and working in Cape Town. Christine invited me to fellowship with the Hillsongs young adult leaders in their weekly bible study. My roommate, Margaret, and I entered the apartment, and we were welcomed by more than a dozen delighted and accented hellos. These voices were later joined by a continual procession of native latecomers. Meeting a group of young, urbanized South Africans who dressed and spoke similarly to me and my friends back home made me feel at ease in Cape Town. Throughout the bible study, multiple voices shared their current struggles and praises, and encouraging words followed in response. I haven’t had the most consistent relationship or commitment to Church since my youth group broke up in seventh grade, but ever since I graduated from Boston College, I find myself yearning more and more for an uplifting and stable church community. After bible study, a bunch of us went to Long Street, which is close to downtown Cape Town and hosts a slew of restaurants and bars. We went to a famous milkshake and burger place called Royale. Banana and peanut butter milkshake and Miss Petunia Burger (mushrooms, cheese, avocado and a hunk of hand-rolled meat) with sweet potato fries!!! Did I mention that food is the key to my heart? YUM.

Apartheid and climbing up…

During South Africa’s apartheid, black residents like those who lived in District 6 were taken out of their homes and relocated to townships, or typically isolated, under-resourced, and racially homogenous communities. Today, townships still tend to be predominantly black and are relatively poorer than other areas of South Africa. District 6 was made into a white-only community during the apartheid, but after the Land Redistribution Act, black South Africans began to move back into their hometowns. Today, District 6 serves as a historical and cultural center within Cape Town. In District 6, I ate lunch at a local restaurant called Lelapa, or welcome in the local dialect. Sheila, the owner overcame the disenfranchising effect of the apartheid through entrepreneurship. With no formal education, she worked in odd jobs that helped her save money to open up her restaurant. Her marketing and cooking skills would help her succeed in a wealthier part of Cape Town, but she has chosen to stay located in the township. She uses the restaurant to educate her visitors on the history of apartheid and South Africa’s beautiful musical and artistic culture. For lunch, Sheila made oomxnoosha (corn cooked with potatoes, cream), white savory rice and curried veggies, baked sweet potatoes, ratatouille, beef meatballs, beef goulash, and ostrich-typical African game.

Mfuleni was another township that I visited. Here, a group of SAS-ers and I worked with Habitat for Humanity to roof a home for a woman living in a shanty next door. Every day since SAS arrived in South Africa, a group of about 15 to 20 Sisters worked to build the structure of the home. The first group started with the home’s brick foundation, and my group added work to the previous four SAS groups by adding on the roofing. Only a select lucky few in South Africa’s townships are eligible for Habitat’s aid and able to afford reconstruction of their shanty homes-artifacts of the apartheid.

I also saw the story of apartheid through a local theater production in District 6 called Woza! Cape Town. Woza means welcome. The story wove the lives of three South African boys. The musical was a mixture of spoken word, song, and dance, and it portrayed two socioeconomically disadvantaged black protagonists juxtaposed to a white rich kid who had an abusive and negligent father. The dancing was predominantly to a contemporary hip hop repertoire. The show reflected that amidst the brokenness of South Africa and the vast economic disparity between heirs of a black versus white history, powerful commonalities exist among all human beings: love for a nation, life’s challenges, and a hope for a better future. The theater itself trains township youth and other community members in the art of song and dance in order to promote community and personal growth. Some of the performers had studied with the studio since they were in their early teens. The current manager shared that often times, the production’s story line is a collaboration of the director and the students who put on the show, many of them pouring their own lives into the plot.

A taste of South Africa’s refined culture

I love productions, if you haven’t already noticed, and in Cape Town, I was fortunate enough to see a second show-a beautiful rendition of Carmen, the French opera. The show was one of the best dance exhibitions I have ever seen, even ranking next to Swan Lake performed by the Russian Ballet in Saint Petersburg. Dada Masilo, the choreographer, is a dance protégé. She studied in a Belgium academy that takes only 30 students worldwide every two years. She used Carmen’s storyline and removed almost all of the words from the production. She told the story through a mixture of contemporary, classical ballet, and sensual flamenco as classical music like Tchaikovsky and Vivaldi played in the background. I have never thought that the two-contemporary dance and classical music could go so well together. Masilo is a creative genius.

On my final day in South Africa, I traveled to Stellenbosch where a majority of South Africa’s internationally renowned wine is made. I visited two wine estates for wine and cheese tastings. I couldn’t get over how inexpensive these wines were, especially because they were good wines! My favorite included the shiraz and sauvignon blanc (white) and the pinotage, which contains the only grape grown in South Africa (red). One bottle cost less than ten dollars!

Simba and friends

One of my favorite trips in South Africa was my day-long visit to the private Aquila Game Reserve. This animal sanctuary is located two hours away from Cape Town. Here I saw Africa’s ‘Big Five,” which include the lion, elephant, buffalo, rhinoceros, and leopard. I also saw giraffes, an ostrich, warthogs, cheetahs, and antelope. I can’t lie. I couldn’t stop thinking about Disney’s The Lion King! On another day, I visited South Africa’s Boulder Beach in Simons Town, which is known for its indigenous population of tropical penguins called jackass penguins!

MAURITIUS

I only had two days on the small, incredibly beautiful, and eclectic island of Mauritius. Mauritius is off the eastern coast of Madagascar. Mauritius has one of the coolest national histories. First, it’s famous for being the habitat of the now extinct Dodo bird! It has no indigenous population because the island itself had no inhabitants before the Dutch and the British began to settle it in the 1600s and 1700s. Today, the island boasts a multi-ethnic population of Indian, African, Creole, Chinese, and French descendents. It’s a relatively safe and harmonious nation. On the first day, Margaret and I wandered from our ship through town. We spend the entire day at Mont Choisey Beach. We were also desperately in need of Asian food as we are sadly deprived of it on the ship. We found awesome Chinese and KOREAN food in Chinatown. Literally, without even thinking, I started running towards the glowing “Kimchee House” sign as soon as I saw it. On the second day, we sailed and snorkeled along Mauritius’ gorgeous waters on a catamaran.