Besides the obvious sunglasses and outrageous shorts, you?ll no doubt stand out as a tourist if you start smelling ?a little funky? after two weeks of solid rain.

It?s great if your hotel offers laundry services, but if you?re fortunate enough to have rented a ?campement? or bungalow in Mauritius, you?re probably washing your own clothes. Normally this isn?t a problem because you could throw your wet clothes on a clothesline and have them dry within an hour.

What do you do, however,, when it?s been raining non stop? Don?t count on drying machines as I have yet to come across a household that owns one... Furniture and appliance stores here don?t even display them!

It makes you look at clothes hangers in a whole new way. Remember to collect a few together once you arrive on your vacation. At least with clothes hangers, should the weather be damp, you can hang up and separate clothes. Funkiness starts when there is no air circulation.

Hanging your clothes over a railing in the house or even a door helps. If your campment has the metal security grills over windows and doors they offer great alternatives for a clothes line if necessary. (Watch out for wooden doors, clothes need an extra flip over every couple of hours because of the lack of air circulation).

In a desperate situation, try hanging a piece of clothing over a chair placed in front of a fan, and also rotate every half hour to speed the drying process. To avoid an electrifying experience, DO NOT drape wet clothes over a running fan.

You might even sandwich up a wet piece of clothing between two towels and roll it up like a jelly roll and squeeze out excess water into the towels, making the drying process speed up a little.

If all else fails, invest in a large bottle of cologne - there are many varieties offered in local shops and malls. A French invention, cologne is such a wonderful luxury and very affordable in Mauritius. It?ll sting a little on those mosquito bites, but hey, a small sacrifice for smelling good!

So, if your travel companions appear a little irritated every time you are around and you suspect you may be starting to smell ?a little funky?, take heart, for, in Mauritius, the land of perpetual sunshine (99.9% of the year), funkiness is only a temporary thing!

<B>Angela Keessoondyal</B>