The drive to our next hotel was a soggy one, and the rain continued right up until we were a few miles away. I think our taxi driver felt bad about getting us late (that or he was finished for the day and wanted to get home) and spent the drive weaving in and out of traffic and pushing the speed limit. It’s safe to say we both felt quite nauseas 🤣 Our next hotel is part of the Lux group, and that meant 7 days of 5* luxury. We were greeted with a lovely refreshing drink, had an explanation of the huge complex, and got shown to our room. The bed was enormous, we got fluffy robes and slippers, and a large balcony with a view over the beach. We headed to the bar to get some drinks, where the conversation with the waiter soon turned to football. This however meant Mark bagged himself a free beer (we couldn’t afford all inclusive 🤣)
We spent the next two days on the sunbeds with a book in the adults only section of the hotel (because who wants screaming children ruining the ambiance 🤣). The sun was shining and we finally had 2 whole days without rain. We also played some pentaque and tennis, before heading to the enormous buffet restaurant in the evening. It had live cooking stations, foods from all cuisines, and a walk in cheese fridge. Heaven! We also got dressed up for the posh restaurant in the hotel, and the food here was absolutely divine, and totally worth the extra cost.
We were really keen to explore the capital whilst in Mauritius, so we booked a food walking tour with a company called Taste Buddies. The waiter in the previous hotel had also organised his friend to be our chauffeur for the day, to take us to the capital, and anywhere else we fancied. Unfortunately, not long after we got in the car, the sliding door flew open. He tried to quickly fix it but wasn’t able to, so between me and the driver, we held it shut for the journey for to Port Louis. We met our guide Rudi and set off to try lots of local treats. We started off with Dholl Puri – similar to a tortilla but made using yellow split peas. The queue at this vendor was huge, which is always a good sign. The wrap itself had quite a sandy texture, but the filling was spicy and delicious. We then had roti, again with a tasty filling, and lots of other treats along the way. We walked through Chinatown (which isn’t allowed outside food vendors) and saw all of its graffiti, which is interactive with an app! We finished up at the central market and had Alouda to drink. We walked through the fruit and veg, and then decided to brave the meat. This was a decision we quickly regretted, as a man was hacking away at a cows head, and the smell in the poultry section was beyond revolting. It was absolute heaven to be back outside in the fresh air. After the tour we tried to continued to explore Port Louis, but the heavens opened again and the rain was now torrential, and without an umbrella meant one thing – a local bar.
We met our driver with his newly fixed car door, and he took us to the citadel which has great views over the capital. There was even some horse racing, which we were able to watch. We then went to the Botanical Gardens, and luckily, Sunjay had an umbrella in his car we could borrow. They are the oldest botanical garden in the Southern Hemisphere and are famous for its long pond of giant water lilies. The site is huge and you could easily spend all day here. We then visited 2 local beaches before finishing our trip at the famous Notre-Dame Auxiliatrice de Cap Malheureux, or just simply, the red church.
We were meant to have eaten at the hotels Creole restaurant tonight. However, due to the weather (as its an outside restaurant), they had to close. All was good, because Newcastle were playing and the hotel has a huge cinema that plays PL games. Unfortunately, the storm meant that the connection was terrible, the WiFi went down and we were unable to watch the game, or even keep up with the score!
Our lovely friend John (1/4 of the Sweden Survivors) has friends all over the world, and at the start of our trip, linked me up with his Mauritian friend, Pliny. Today, we took a taxi to the next town, Grand Baie, to meet Pliny and his partner Jay. We had a fabulous time, trying more local food and finding out more about the country and their culture. Jay’s mum had even made us some treats because today was Diwali. As the weather was beautiful again, we explored the beaches of Grand Baie and watched the hustle and bustle within the village. We then headed over to McDonald’s 🤣 and it was here that I got an email from Air Mauritius – your flight home on Tuesday has been cancelled and rebooked for Wednesday. All the thoughts were going through our heads… we now needed to organise an extra night at the hotel, we needed to rearrange the transfer, etc. Luckily, it was all quite easy in the end! And it meant an extra night in paradise.
We had been told by various people that the best thing to do during Diwali is to get a taxi to a town half hr away called Triolet. They have a large community who celebrate and therefore decorate their houses with lots of pretty lights. We contacted the driver who had taken us to Grand Baie that morning, and he drove us through lots of little villages (who also celebrate) on the way to Triolet. Unfortunately, this seemed to be an incredibly popular thing to do, and the traffic was beyond awful. We decided to get out of the taxi and arranged to meet him further down the road so we could take in the atmosphere. The houses were so colourful, full of twinkling lights and candles. One family even invited us over and gave us a large box of Indian sweets. All the locals had the gates open to their houses and encouraged you to go and admire their lights, and everyone was wishing each other a Happy Diwali.
We had been debating whether to do a boat trip, and research suggested that taking a trip to Ile Aux Cerfs would be a good option. It was another glorious day, so we got an early taxi and drove through part of the country we had not yet seen, to the place where we would be catching our speedboat. We got to the island, and it was stunning! White sandy beaches and crystal clear water. We decided to do parasailing, and the views we got were incredible. After a couple of hours paddling and lazing around, we got back on the speedboat and headed to a waterfall via lots of monkeys! We then headed to another island, where we had a delicious BBQ lunch and unlimited drinks 🍷🍺 It was a really lovely day, and although we hadn’t done anything strenuous, we were both exhausted and fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel.
It was now our last day, the day we should have been flying home. Air Mauritius paid for us to keep the room we were in for all our drinks and our evening meal that day. What a winner! Of course, the last day was spent dodging the rain 🤣 but we managed to have a float about on a pedalo and a few hours with a book. Mark made good use of the weather and went to get his beard tidied up ready to go back to work 😭 We made good work at the buffet and literally ate everything in sight, before settling down in the bar to play Scrabble, because we are cool 👍🏻
Despite the awful weather we have had, Mauritius has still been an absolute dream, and just the (sort of) relaxing trip we both needed. If you are planning on putting it on your bucket list, I’d 100% visit both the North and South as they are so, so different. I perhaps wouldn’t stay in Grand Gaube (North) however, as you are quite far out from the main shopping areas and bars, and the sea here isn’t the crystal clear waters you expect from Mauritius. I’d also consider hiring a car as it’s actually quite reasonable. Just don’t drive in Port Louis unless you’re a very confident driver!
The Travelling Ginger 