The Mount Hope Explorers Club and the Great White: 1

By Pooben Narayanen

In the South-East corner of Mauritius, a small island in the Indian Ocean, is the village of Mount Hope.

 

The village is home to the Mount Hope Explorers Club. A club with three ten-year-old members, Omkara, known as Om, his cousin Ételle and his best friend Aditya. The three of them spend their summer holidays helping Dr. Gail Chong, the curator at the Mount Hope Museum. One of their favourite tasks for Dr Gail is collecting fish from Turtle Bay, the bay that surrounds the village, for the museum's lagoon life exhibition.

 

One day whilst on such an expedition they run into an unexpected visitor to the bay. A visitor that pushes Om, Aditya, and Ételle to their limits.

 

Approximately 64 pages. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pooben Narayanen
• Release date: Apr 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9798215849903

Pooben Narayanen

Pooben Narayanen grew up in Mauritius, the United Kingdom, and Canada. He holds two bachelor’s degrees from McMaster University, Canada, and a Master’s degree from Sydney University, Australia. He lives in Mauritius with his wife and two children. The Mount Hope Explorers Club and the Great White is his first book.

Book preview

Chapter One Fishing

1_STAG CORALS [1]

Omkara, known as Om by friends and family, untied the rope that held his skiff, the Red Devil, to the quay. It was called the Red Devil in honour of his favourite football club, Manchester United. It was white with red stripes along the hull and had its name with a pitchfork on the bow. Om tossed the rope to his best friend, Aditya, and jumped on board. He put on his lifejacket as his cousin Ételle pushed the boat away from the quay.

You guys got your lifejackets on?

Aye aye, captain! Aditya and Ételle replied.

Let’s go then! And he raised the sail, taking the boat into the bay.

Om, Aditya, and Ételle were the only three members of the Mount Hope Explorers Club, the only explorers club in Mount Hope, a village with about 10,000 inhabitants in the southeast corner of Mauritius. Their club motto was simply Never be bored. As it was November and their summer vacation, they kept busy by helping out at the Mount Hope Museum. There, Dr. Gail opened their eyes to a world of archaeology and natural wonders. One of the tasks they helped Dr. Gail with was collecting fish from the bay for the museum’s lagoon life exhibit.

Ételle adjusted her braids under her hat. We have to get a white-spotted box fish, a unicorn fish, preferably juvenile, and a pair of surgeon fish.

Only take what you need, Aditya said.

But if I see a nice fat lobster, I’m going for it, Om added.

We could have a BBQ! Ételle clapped her hands.

Yes! That would be awesome. We should get some chicken wings and sausages too. Aditya drooled thinking about the feast.

The three of them bumped fists with one another. But first they needed to complete the task they had been given. They were heading to one of the many coral reef beds found in Turtle Bay, which surrounded Mount Hope. It was a large bay with deep water channels, coral beds, and shallow sandbars that extended for miles from the shore to the protective reefs that kept the open ocean away. Om, who was the club’s boat captain, was responsible for the safety of all passengers. He knew the bay inside out but was only allowed to sail to within twenty minutes of shore. The only time he got to go further was when he helped his brother, Dan, on the family catamaran which provided tours to tourists around the bay and the island. The Red Devil soon reached the place where they would fish that day. It wasn’t far from a deep-water channel, and they moored the boat to a buoy in about ten meters of clear blue water with sand at the bottom.

Visibility is great, Om said. We’ll be able to see inside the caves and under the crevices.

It sure is, Ételle said. I’m going first!

She put on her mask and adjusted her snorkel. They didn’t use flippers