13 November 2010: OR Tambo to Mauritius
Wheels up and a glorious feeling of adventure flows into my veins from the anxious thumping of my heart. Gulp, did I pack everything?
With the Mozambique coastline fading over my shoulder I watch the Indian Ocean unveil a deep blue expanse. Two hours into the flight and I happen to glance up from my novel to see us pass by a great, bright, turquoise blue swimming pool in the middle of the ocean, Bassas da India an atoll in the Mozambique Channel. I sit there watching it go by wondering who else in the plane is watching when I suddenly selfishly hope I have it all to myself and fail to point it out to my seemingly uninterested row companions. The desert rock landscape of Madagascar rolls underneath us as a endless brown river trickles down the centre of a sandy river bed weaving from bank to bank searching for more moisture to fill its widened reach. Eventually the brown and grey is replaced by luscious, unexplored greenery as the Eastern side of the island expose more glinting rooftops giving evidence of some life and settlement. Forty five minutes later the opposite coastline appears like a straight line sketched by chalky beaches and rolling blue. It too disappears into the distant horizon under cloud cover and I search ahead for more but all I see is blue and white waves for what looks like an eternity. Back to my book to try and will Mauritius closer by pretending not to stare out the window for four hours.
