St. John Catholic Church Cemetary

We pass the St. John catholic church every day, as it is on the main road that leads from Quatre Borne to Rose Hill. It is a beautful church, and that is unusual for Mauritius, as most of the churches are built from the grey, dark volcanic rock, and they end up looking very forbidding and gloomy. This church is bright burnt orange, and is highly visible in the afternoon light. The cemetary is directly behind the church, and to say that folks are packed in is an understatement. Well tended gravesites are freshly painted, with the names of the dead outlined in paint.

Looking from the rear of the cemetary towards the church itself.  The oval 'egg bank', which is under construction, is just visible to the right of the church.

Earliest graves date from the 1840s and people are still being buried here. 

The flower sellers sit outside the cemetary walls every day, and they sell flowers to those who visit the cemetary.  This cemetary is not a touristy thing at all, and thus is quite peaceful. 

 It is interesting that the longer I live here I realize that the things that, to me, are the most interesting are not developed at all as tourist attractions.  That would include stops such as this wonderful cemetary and the delightful crazy shopping culture of a town like Rose Hill.  The Mauritius tourism industry focuses on the resort destinations, and the idea that one rarely leaves the resort.  If one does, it is on an air conditioned bus that takes you directly to the location.  The Mauritan tourism industry has no suppport structure for backpackers or economy tourisim.  You never see herds of college students on their gap year travels, for example.