Paradise
I'm back in the country that stole my heart...
29 years and 1 month ago I first stepped foot on this island paradise - and saw that same view above - little did I know then what treasures it would behold.
It was pure chance me ever coming here. My dad always told me life is a game of chance. I'm with him on that. It was chance because, despite working in the Reservations & Ticketing department at the World's Favourite Airline and travel geography being 'my thing' and despite knowing the IATA 3 letter code, how long the flight was as well as being able to tell you the cost of an off-peak super apex return fare and the dates you could travel on it, despite my love of my atlas, until that momentous October day way back in 1989 I had no idea where Mauritius was!
29*10'S 57*31'E the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation situated in the Indian Ocean, 1200 miles off the southwest coast off the African sub-continent. The next country to the west is Madagascar and to the east, Australia.
A work friend had mentioned through the cloud of cigarette smoke from across the desk - it was the late 80s and yes, smoking in the workplace was still a thing - that she'd planned a trip to Mauritius but that her travel companion could no longer make it. "I'll come!" I blurted out, yet again engaging mouth before putting brain in gear, a skill I'd perfected from a young age. And that was that. The complex stretcher case I was working on was forgotten about: I had shifts to swap and annual leave to book!
29 years ago flights from the UK to Mauritius were a minimum of 19hrs - if you were lucky - with 2 stops en-route, Abu Dhabi and Seychelles. If you were not so lucky, as travel-hungry airline staff often were, it could be anything up to 23hrs, with stops or changes in far flung exotic sounding places such as Djibouti. You would never travel anywhere without a myriad of 'back-up' tickets with as many airlines as possible. Going outbound you could afford the gamble but getting home in time for your 0545hrs Z shift on Sunday meant being able to get anywhere in Europe that would afford you a plentiful choice of flights to get you back to Blighty.
Now they say the bygone years of air travel were something to be experienced. Well let me tell you that 19hrs down the back end of a Jumbo was an experience all of its own! 19hrs cocooned in seat 47F, middle of the smoking section (80s remember 😉) middle seat of middle block of 4. Sound appealing? Survive that and you could survive anything. But survive we did. The lure of foreign climes was too great for us fervent adventurers. The outbound flight would be an absolute breeze compared to the return. As you left Mauritius you'd get pulled into a false sense of security and comfort as you headed to Seychelles, lording it up in your 4 centre seats, stretched out like the Queen of Sheba. But that was to be short-lived after an hour on the ground and a visit to the Seychelles terminal building, when you'd return to the plane with 400 odd other passengers including 20 plus heavy smoker soon to be heavily inebriated Spanish Merchant Seamen who of course, given their love of Marlboro Red, were to be your close neighbours for the next 17hrs! Picture the scene, they've been cooped up on a ship for 3 months, no alcohol. Now imagine the rowdiest Brighton Saturday night stag do and turn the knob up a touch. And a touch more. There. Nope, you're still not there but I'm sure you get the picture. An hour or so into the flight and our destination is now Bedlam! They're drinking, smoking, singing, smoking, eating, smoking.... Nope they're not eating, that's their bread rolls that have just ricocheted off your headrest into your lap. You had no chance of seeing them missiles coming, you couldn't see a bloody thing, the smoke was so dense. Oh the glamour!
But it's 2018. All flights are now non-smoking, our BA 777 is a wonderful non-stop 12hrs and after many years of priveleged travel turning left instead of right, we've just encountered our first 'down-the-back' experience in years! 🙂
To be continued.......
* MRU
** 19hrs
*** £638 - 11Sep - 29Oct // 19Apr- 11Jun (cheaper if you use a consol agent😉)
Meanwhile enjoy some sega
https://youtu.be/fS7ffagZlSw
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