Mauritius is influenced greatly by Europe. Life here is just like in Europe for the most part. The most interesting experience was the Sega Dance. It was a beautiful performance.
Mauritius is home to a radio telescope, which was professionaly interesting for me.
Fishing on the north shore. (954k) A canon on display on the south shore. (1115k) These kids liked having their picture taken. (844k) The racetrack in Port Louis was started in 1812. It is the oldest in the southern hemisphere, and supposedly the second oldest in the world. (1203k) Bicycle traffic. (819k) In the mountains in the center of Mauritius is a scenic lake with a Buddhist temple. (925k) Buddhist temple. (1007k) Decorations on the temple. (1049k) Worshipers in the lake. (1087k)
Sega Dance
Following are some pictures that I took during a Sega dance show. It is a very lively and sensuous dance.
Sega Dance Band. (1083k) Sega Dance Group. (950k) The Triangle is a metal rod bent into a triangle shaped that is set to ring with a wooden stick. (1089k) The Maravane is made out of perforated metal or wooden boards that are joined together forming a flat box. The box is filled with seeds. It creates a rasping sound when shaken. (1080k) The Ravane is a large wooden ring covered with skin, similar to a tambourine but much larger and with a softer skin. (1027k) There is a lot of skirt shaking during the Sega dance. (1186k) Sega dancers. (1018k) Sega dancer. (1179k) Sega dancer. (1180k) Sega dancer. (1144k) Sega dancer. (996k) Sega dancer. (1244k) Sega dancer closeup. (989k) Sega dancer closeup. (929k)
Radio Telescope
Following is something related to the professional part of my trip. Mauritius has a radio telescope. It is not one of the dishes that you may be used to, it operates at much longer wavelengths (2 m (7 ft)) and is composed of 1000 individual dipole antennas arranged in a T-shaped array with the top bar of the T about 1 km (0.6 miles) long and the stem about 500 m (1,640 ft). The signals from four of the individual antenna dipoles are combined to gain sensitivity. These combined signals are then sent back to the control center where they are combined to build an image of the radio source.
This is a view along the top bar of the T-shaped antenna. It had to be built in several sections at different elevations because of the terrain. (1430k) This is a view of the stem of the T. There are four antennas per cart. The carts are movable along the track. This allows the scientist to select different resolutions of the telescope. (1090k) This is a view of the beam line of the radio telescope. (995k) This is a view of one of the individual dipole antennas. They are designed to receive circularly polarized radiation. (956k)
Dr. Günther Eichhorn Travel Website
Soaring website