Mauritius – Day 3 Ganesh Chaturthi Day.

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We slowly came around at about 9.00am after a long nights sleep….bed quality – a bit hard, but sleepable with….pillow quality – 2 big fat ones so replaced one with thinner bed cushion….so on the whole very comfortable. John made us a cup of coffee- we always bring our own with us. We went across the lawns, so I didn’t have to go up and down a huge amount of stairs, to get to the dinning room for breakfast. We were shown to a table and told it would be made up while we went to the buffer to get some food…..Unfortunatly it wasn’t, so we ended up with hot food getting cold because we had nothing to eat it with…eventually I went and got the utensils myself and a young waiter said he was just about to do it…my response “ too late” .. after this he was highly attentive and brought us nice fresh coffee. The breakfast buffet was ok, but not up to the previous evenings standard. Also even though we were a whole half hour before the buffet closes a lot of food had run out and was not replaced. I did however have fresh pancakes with pure raw honey which was dripping out of the honeycomb…..too delicious to resist…A mixture of fresh passion fruit and mango juice topped off an adequate breakfast. I must say there were more breakfast curries than there had been at the previous evenings meal….may have to resort to curry for breakfast,,,it’s a hard life !!!

After going back to the room to ablute and sort the safe out we headed back to reception and the first of the daily quota of stairs were embarked upon!

We went to see Nirmala and booked a driver/guide and car for Friday and Monday, having decided that Wednesday and Thursday were going to be beach and exploring the resort days.

Having sorted that out we headed across reception to the taxi and transfer desk we booked a taxi to take us to Mon Choisy a town along the coast in the North West Corner of the Island….we negotiated the fee of MUR 2500 ( Mauritius Rupees about £39) for the trip there and back, we didn’t realise at the time that our driver would also be our guide. With in 5 minutes our Maritim taxi arrived. Sachin was a delightful driver, he spoke excellent English and explained he would tell us all about the local villages, customs, culture and the festival and escort us at Mon Choisy

The Ganesh Chaturthi Day is a public holiday. It is a major Hindu Festival honouring Lord Ganesha, the elephant headed God of wisdom, prosperity and new beginnings. The day consists with family and friends of wealthy Hindu’s parading effigies of Ganesha made from clay or turmeric. Some of these are painted. These effigies are made offerings, sometimes around a fire pit, lots of chanting takes place, bells rang, seashell horns blown, water sprinkled, petals thrown before the effigy if taken, usually by men into the sea in an immersion ceremony. They wait for the water to dissolve the clay.

Driving north along the coastline, we saw many examples of families who had put up marquees with many chairs – almost in the style people host a wedding in the UK. We also came across lots of small parades with 15-20 people taking part.

We went past a multitude of ceremonies happening on the beaches.

Having past Trou aux Biches the biggest of the “villages” on our route. We saw a couple of hotels we had considered staying at, we were pleased we had selected The Maritim.

After this larger resort village we got into heavy traffic, which Sachin manoeuvred through with the ease of the professional he is…

Soon we were at Mon Choisy and although not easy Sachin soon found a parking place.

We walked through the wooded area which seems to hug the coastline. There were lots of beautifully dressed ladies and plenty of stalls giving food and drinks away.

There was so much joy, happiness, smiles and laughter around it was hard to know where to point the camera next…. All the women were dressed in vibrant colourful beautiful outfits and so many encouraged us to take their photos. We were offered drinks, sweet dessert pastries, sweets, food you name it we were offered it… Sachin said that they spent many days preparing food , their outfits, their effigies and their offerings. The atmosphere was truly amazing…I have to admit when we got to the beach we were totally mesmerised by the ceremonies taking place. What an honour it was to be able to witness this Hindu Festival.

The effigies are paraded onto the beach and placed facing the water

Then the families and friends dance around them. Some groups were in matching colour and outfits.

Prayers were said and gifts to the God were offered.

In some areas a little fire was lite with offerings placed by it, or a plate with fire on it passed around….

We were totally fascinated by the rituals and the chanting and singing…

These two ladies were absolutely beautiful on their performance of the ritual.

When the prayers and blessings were completed the men picked up the effigies and walked backwards into the sea.

In some cases the men were anointed in yoghurt as an extra offering to Lord Ganesha.

Then the immersion ceremony takes place and the men holding the effigies go under the water pushing the effergy down. Sometimes they rise and hold it up high before going down again. This happens until the effigies either dissolves in the sea water or sink to the bottom. In some cases where the effigy took several men to carry it, this immersion took quite some time because it is often hollow and full of air, so it kept rising up again and they kept having to push it down. It was quite a sight, with lots of jollity, laughter and enjoyment. We had to laugh at some of the men’s expressions when the cold sea water hit their midriffs…..whether you’re carrying your effigy or not the shock of the cold water couldn’t be disguised !!

We spent over 2 hours just watching different groups coming and going. John went down on to the beach to get a better view of the front of the effigies.

I stayed on the slightly higher area to get a view over the heads of the crowds.

I was blown away by the beauty of this particular lady ..

Sachin guided us back to the car, on our way back we were invited to partake in different types of food, it was all totally free. However we gracefully, so as not to cause offence declined, (as seasoned travellers we are very careful of what we eat so as not to upset our sensitive European digestive system !! )…

We were also invited to take several photos…

John and our driver/guide Sachin
I would have put a dress on if I’d known what an occasion this was going to be.

Once back in the carpark we waited while even more families came to celebrate.

On the way back to the hotel, we saw more people about to embrace the festival.

Sachin took us past the house he has built, where at present his sister and nephew reside, until he marries.

Thank you Sachin for a really great experience.

We spent the rest of the afternoon resting in our room before going for supper at the buffet again.

Between courses we were serenaded…..for our special one to one with them we said they could choose what they wanted to play and they chose “What a wonderful world” ….it couldn’t have been more apt.

A game of cards back in our room finished off our wonderful day.

Mauritius 2026 Getting there, Day 1 & 2

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Finally we are off on an Adventure. Jonathan Kilroy – Kilroy cars & Driven – picked us up at 8.50 am….we’ve used Jonathan’s companies for many years to get us to and from the airport…totally professional and reliable and although an added cost well worth it for the security you get knowing they will reroute you if necessary to get you to your plane on time…all his drivers are good and nice characters…today it was the man himself….He loaded our bulging 2 cases and 2 hand luggage’s with ease and without any pomp or ceremony we were off by 9.00 am. By 10.36: Jonathan was dropping us off at the North terminal Gatwick Airport.

The bag drop off was seamless…no queues for Emirate Air and we booked our 2 medium sized cases all the way through to Mauritius. We went through security, which gets easier and easier….no more having to take electrics out of bags malarkey…although I did have to take my watch and bangle off…why ? Who knows ….because I didn’t have to take my gold chains off…there seemed no rhyme or reason but hey ho …we were quickly in the departure lounge.

Emirate air sent me a text giving me the gate number so we strolled down. The gate wasn’t open. In fact there was absolutely no one there….the gate didn’t open for another hour. Once again it was an easy process and we were soon sitting on our plane. It wasn’t full so we moved to either side of the aisle and had 2 seats each. What a comfortable flight, with smiling service and great food.

My only criticism was that the cabins air conditioning was cold and blew right on the top of my head…but where there’s the will there’s the way so much to Johns’ amusement I turned a spare blanket into a head scarf and snuggled down to watch 3 films and a documentary.

Johns details about the flight –
We boarded EmIrates’ Airbus, A380-800 registration number A6-EED for the 3,400 mile first leg of our journey, One of the world’s largest passenger aircrafts, complete with double-deck design.

Arriving in Dubai, some 6.5 hours later, we transferred by bus to the well signed C gate. Even at 2.00 am the airport is a hive of activity. After completing another security body scan we embarked the plane a little late. It was a completely full plane but once again comfortable….the menu cards said we got a snack and breakfast…Emirate Air certainly like to feed you well.

Another 3 movies later, 6/7 hours, and we were touching down in Mauritius.

Johns flight information – At Dubai airport, we joined our second Airbus for the southerly run down to Mauritius. This time, the airline provided A380-800 registration number A6-EEN for this 3,200 mile flight.
Just over six hours later, we touched down at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport. It is named after the well-respected gentleman who led the country into independence, became its first Prime Minister and, later, became Governor-General. The said gentleman can’t be responsible for his ‘mouthful’ of a name but it’s no wonder it gets shortened to ‘SSR’ by those in the know!

Coming in to land from the plane.

Passport control, seemed slow, although it seemed to be the computer systems slowing it all down, but as we were one of the first off the plane we didn’t actually queue for very long. You then go to health control. I had printed our declaration health and landing cards Q codes off…this meant unlike others I didn’t have to struggle to get internet to do it electronically….sometimes the old ways are the easiest ways…The luggage pick up was a bit of a nightmare with two conveyor belts chucking the cases out but not joined….so I stood at one and John stood at another…some 25 minutes later I spied one of our cases and retrieved it….I must say it looked very small compared to its travel mates…some 10 minutes later the other one arrived. They had both been tagged as “short transfere time”…Well done Emirate, we always breath a sigh of relief when we actually have our baggage on the trolly. With nothing to declare we quickly accessed the arrivals lounge and scoured the many company reps, all holding signs, for one saying ‘Mercury”…Got ya..a nice young man greeted us and ushered us to a taxi/ private hire. The trip to our hotel was about and hour, through some wonderfully scenic mountains and countryside.

Lovely views as we transferred from the airport to our hotel.

Driving through some pretty impressive gates we passed by lovely green manicured lawns, wooded areas, croquet lawn, mini golf and tennis courts before we arrived at the Maritim Resort and Spa reception.

We were greeted by a hostess and a porter who took our bags….ushered to a very comfortable sofa ( which actually I could have curled up and gone to sleep on!!). We filled out the formalities and were given a very refreshing glass of lemongrass infused water. Expecting to go to our room we were told our room was available from 3.00 pm on wards….oh no!!….that was another 3 hours and we’d already been without sleep for 27 hours…..never mind…we grabbed our cameras and went to sit in the bar and watch the world go by…

A couple of hours later we wandered through a wooded area, along the coast a little then circled back to reception.

We made an enquiry at the tour desk about a couple of excursions we fancied doing…..One was the highlights of the South East and the other was Port Louis and the North West…..ummm both seemed fairly expensive at €125 per person per trip….and the tours were for 15-20 people….not really our idea of fun…hanging about waiting for that one person whose always late!!!….So Nirmala our tour agent/ concierge, decided we’d do better having private tours for €170 each day including a driver who is also a guide…great !! She also told us that tomorrow was a Public holiday because it is Ganesh Chaturthi day – a major Hindu Festival…she invited us to attend a festival in a local town the next day….sounded good…at this point our lovely hostess from earlier took pity on our tired old bodies and told us our room was ready…..

Wow!! What a lovely room…and we only had to go down two flights of stairs ….. which considering the rest of the hotels’ number of stairs which are absolutely everywhere…..our room was was very good…our room has a super view of the gardens and the sea, the design is also very aesthetic, you can shut the bathroom sliding doors but why bother….the loo and the shower have doors….the former is a wooden door for privacy!!…..we were soon in bed fast asleep.

After a couple of hours of “shut eye”, I got up unpacked, had a shower, John went for a swim in the big bath and we were ready for supper.

We went to the buffet, it was really nice, lots of, freshly cooked food, variety, different tastes…etc. John was impressed with the different flavoured ice-creams he had for his dessert……we may be on holiday but his habits of trying all the flavours never change!!!!A very nice meal. The hotel has definitely surpassed our expectations…needless to say straight after supper we went to bed for a proper nights sleep.

The start of our next Adventure is looming…

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Well!! it’s nearly time for “up, up and away”…..Mauritius here we come….

The suitcases are open on the bed and packing has commenced….smart trousers, shirts, dresses and evening shoes are in. Along with casual trousers, T-shirts, shorts, and swim wear….the don’t forget list is getting shorter…still got to find the swim shoes…!!

I went online to book our seats but alas although I could see we were booked on all 4 flights I could only find 3 out of the 4 flights with bookable seats. I phoned Mercury, who we have booked with…we are first time clients…..so we will see how we go……so far so good…..I had along wait to be put through to a customer service assistant. They were very helpful, reassured me we were confirmed on all 4 flights. However they can’t book actual seats for you but they did give me a direct line phone number to Emirate Air. I got through straight away. They very helpfully booked all our seats …the reason flight number 2 – Dubai to Mauritius – wasn’t showing is because it’s a full flight but as we were confirmed she managed to get us 2 seats next to each other…great…seats booked on all 4 flights was a total of £140… very reasonable as we usually pay £60 a seat each flight.

Having done this I then filled in the Mauritius landing cards….you have to do this prior to departing and you get issued a Q code which you need to have available to board the plane to Mauritius….

Travel insurance is in place, passports have more than 6 months on them, I picked up the Mauritius Rupees, which I had ordered from Tesco- they have to buy them in, they don’t stock them – So except all those little bits and pieces which are so important we are virtually ready to go…Why not read our blog every day so you can feel that you’re travelling with us…

A visit to the National Memorial Arboretum – A U.K. place of interest – a quiet place for remembrance and reflection.

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All to often people over look places of interest on their own doorsteps. We could be accused of this. However my nearly 95 year old father has wanted to visit for sometime, so last weekend we decided to. The National Memorial Arboretum is close to Alrewas, between Lichfield and Burton on Trent in Staffordshire

We set off at10am with Dads mobility scooter in the back of the car. We took the A roads rather than the motorway…it probably wasn’t the best route and it took us 2.5 hours… But arrive we did. Having pre-booked online an accessibility parking place for the cost of £5, we were shown to a parking bay close to the visitors centre.

The National Memorial Arboretum is a place of Remembrance. They put it rather nicely in their guide book -£3.50- …”Remembrance is steeped in history and over the years has become widely recognised through symbols, imagery and stories”. At the Arboretum there are over 400 memorials, each one has been erected in honour of service and sacrifice to our country, some are for Armed Forces, Emergency Services and charitable organisations.

The land was previously a reclaimed mineral extraction site and was donated by the formerly known Redland Aggregates, now today as Tarmac. The ground was prepared, after a national fund raising appeal in 1994 and planting started in 1996, thanks to finance from the National Lottery and a partnership with the national Forest Company. In 1998 the first memorial was installed. This was a 5ft high 9ft long Polar Bear which is a tribute to the 49th West Riding Division. They adopted the Polar Bear insignia after the Second World War, where they saw action in Norway and Iceland. Their campaign was compounded by heavy snow hence the nickname. In 2001 The Arboretum was officially opened and in 2003 the Royal British Legion became its parent charity.

There is lots of information on the internet about the Arboretum. I had previously down loaded each of the 4 routes – Pink, Orange, Blue, Purple. From the internet maps you can see which memorials are where and plan what you want to see, unless of course you intend to walk around all 4 routes. The guide books tell you where the main memorials are but not all of them. Also as you walk around there didn’t seem to be any coloured route markers so you do need to use a map.

We set off on the Orange route because the Round Table, Ladies Circle, Tangent and 41 Club memorial was on that route and both my parents had been members, in fact my father is still a member of 41 Club. We saw lots of lovely Memorials some with inscriptions some with information boards.

We particularly liked the memorial to Evacuees. The memorial was given by the British Evacuees Association and it is entitled ‘Every Which Way’. It portrays the sense of bewilderment many evacuees felt when they had to leave their families and friends and were sent to live in unfamiliar surroundings during the Second World War. Dad could relate to this. He was evacuated from London to family in Rugby and Coventry. We found a figure of a young boy which we thought resembled Dad as he was only 8 when he was evacuated.

We continued on fascinated by the extraordinary number and designs of the memorials. It was very humbling….all these services and charities working so hard to keep us all safe..YES! we should never forget …

Some were really intricate and moving…

On we walked it is a quiet and serene area on the edge of the River Tame, which encourages reflection and tranquility.

As we walked on Dad took pity on my little legs and let me have a short ride.

We circled around a little uncertain exactly where the memorial we wanted to see was.

Finally we decided to ask one of the many staff where the 41 Club memorial was. Well! would you credit it …..we had walked right past it…how had we missed it…Well! It would seem the memorial garden has 41 trees in a circle with a central obelisk. It celebrates the community service achievements of the Round Table (Men aged 18-45) and Ladies Circle ( ladies aged 18-45). After the age of 41 Men tend to transfer to 41Club and ladies to Tangent. Both my parents were members of both for a very long time…Finally we saw it

We wandered back towards the visitors centre passing many more intriguing memorials. John particularly liked the one dedicated to railway workers.

We continued on the main avenue back towards the entrance, stopping to read about the memorials……

Just before we returned to our starting point we spied another memorial Dad had wanted to see. The Freemasons memorial.

On returning to the visitors centre I went and enquired about the train we had seen going around. We decided we would take it as it went to areas we had not walked to and we were all quite tired. The entrance to the Memorial Arboretum is free but there is a cost for the train… we paid just £8 per person…I am not certain whether its more for non-oldies!

What a wonderful day we had had… We went home via the motorway, stopping at a Harvester for a bite to eat…..we were all tired but all so very pleased that we had seen this national treasure… Yes! it is right and proper that we never forget those who have given so much to make our lives safe, to keep us free and this National Memorial Arboretum is the perfect place to go and give thanks and count our blessings.

A local trip out- Hitchin Lavender and Sunflower Farm

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We hadn’t visited this local tourist attraction before, so it was a first for us. It’s strange how sometimes things right on your doorstep get overlooked.

Friends from our local camera club suggested a visit and as it was “Club Night” we decided to go. We all booked our tickets online – £8.50 per adult for a day, with readmission the same day- so I guess you could go midday …..when the sun would be the hottest so the sunflower faces would be facing up…..as well as going, like we did, early evening…. when the sunflower faces are beginning to say “goodnight”.

The attraction is a working farm. Parking is plentiful in a well cut field.

You enter by presenting your QR code either on phone or paper…..I suggest you take a screenshot of it because the signal on my iPhone wasn’t strong enough to bring it up…but luckily I had also printed it …just incase….😄

There are plenty of amenities here….toilets, canopies for shade, picnic tables, food & ice cream stalls, gift shop etc. In the later you can buy a bag for £5 this allows you to cut lavender…so don’t forget your scissors..

The lavender fields stretch up to the brow of the hill……Due to the intense heat we’ve been having, the lavender is now almost over…..

Further over are the bright vibrant fields full of Sunflowers .

We headed off into the sunflower fields….

If bees worry you then the sunflower fields are best for you….yes!, there’s bees but they stay on the faces of the sunflowers, unlike the lavender where they move speedily from each strand and seem to be constantly buzzing around…

The sunflowers were truly beautiful…

There were lots just beginning to open, so the fabulous display will go on for several weeks.

We came across the odd rogue poppy and an occasional ladybird…

We stayed in the fields until the sun began to set

We meandered back down the path and made our way to the barn, cafe and restaurant…..As usual we finished the evening with coffee, cake and friendly banta…

Another enjoyable evening with friends and cameras..doing what we love to do.