Mauritius- Day 6 – A tour of the north of the island.

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Arising early – well!! 7.30 am ( that’s early for us), we showered dressed conservatively ( incase we visited Religious establishments) put on comfortable closed shoes for walking in and went off to breakfast.

With our usual choice of breakfast quickly consumed we were ready and raring to go.

We had booked an 8 hour private excursion with Hello Islands. At 9.30, the agreed time, our driver and guide was waiting in reception. He walked with us to his car and he got in the driving seat, leaving us to manipulate the front passenger side seat so Johns long legs could get behind. As we started off he said he liked the fresh air so we wound the windows down a bit. He soon went into a spiel about the political history of the island. It was a little hard to hear him as his background music mumbled on, in a low drone…I had to keep asking him to repeat himself. He explained where we were going first …to the capital Port Louis ( south of where we are staying), because he would be able to park and later on he wouldn’t be able to…OK ….parking wasn’t really our concern especially as it was a tour recommended by the company….he also asked if we were ok to walk some distance. I said “No and I don’t do steps unless essential” …the reply was that we would have to walk only 10 minutes, to which I said that was fine. He then proceeded to have a conversation with John about Liverpool Football Club and how he wanted to buy a Liverpool Shirt today….hang on I thought this was our excursion… we had after all paid €170 for the trip….

We parked up by the new waterfront marina…there were certainly some big yachts moored……John and I laughed about which one was ours….

We walked passed the “Blue Penny Museum”… their claim to fame is that The Blue Penny stamp is the most valuable stamp in the world…..how accurate that is I don’t know ….but they have one in the museum….we weren’t tempted to go and see it…

We were then escorted into a very colourful new shopping Mall

Inside the Mall were the obligatory top designer shops, I managed to buy a couple of lipsticks in one without having to break the bank, I had inadvertently come away without one.

Up an escalator to the first floor of the Mall was the usual tourist souvenir shops…it called itself a handmade arts and crafts market …..I guess T-shirts made in China or perhaps Bangladesh have perhaps touched someone’s hand, sometime in their mass production!!! Of course after several tries John did get the ‘holiday t-shirt’ to join the 400+ other ones he has at home!!!

There were one or two more unusual shops and I purchased both saffron and vanilla pods…both grown on the island….the later was very reasonably priced… at 20 pods for £8 in the UK this would cost me about £50. The saffron was about £23 for 8 grams which in the UK would have cost me about £45. So although they might of seemed expensive compared to UK prices they were cheap and I use them both often in cooking. The shop vacuum sealed them both separately for me.

We had now had enough of expensive shopping malls and we traversed numerous steps to get us back to ground level. where there were a few more nice handmade goods shops.

We followed our guide outside and passed the usual anchor and cannon balls found in most cities with ports all around the world, we had to laugh at a casino sign and the fact that Microsoft seem to get everywhere.

We crossed a square with 3 big statues the middle one was the 1st Prime Minister the island had after Independence from the British, (who had taken it from the French in 1810) in 1968.

Our guide told us we either had two long flights of steps to go down to get under the road to cross to the old town market or we could take the ramp…we choose the ramp which seemed to spiral on forever….finally crossing under the road we took the steps up the other side and soon found ourselves in the old town fruit and vegetable market it was vibrant and colourfu.

We left the market and our guide said we were now going to see China Town. In the distance we could see a Chinese gate across the road

On and on we walked…we were told we were walking through China Town…a rather rundown area with very old small shops, deep drainage channels and some pretty vile smells…why a tourist would want to see this is beyond me!

Having now walked over 9000 steps in the heat of the day I was exhausted and beginning to get grumpy…. I instructed our guide to find us a seat somewhere and to go and bring the car to us….my little legs were on strike!! We were stood near a carpark which had a rather nice wall art…

The guide then took us to see some more wall art …

I repeated my request that I had walked too far and he needed to fetch the car. There was a seat in the downstairs of a Chinese restaurant.

The guide asked how we would know he was there and I pointed out the carpark with the wall art was directly opposite and he could drive into it and we would see him then he could drive out again and we could jump in….finally he conceded that this could be done but that it would take him 20 minutes. 55 minutes later he returned, he was very happy with himself as he showed us he had bought a Liverpool Shirt…he said he’d tried several sizes on but gone for the large size…..we both thought this was his mission for the day never mind keeping his clients waiting….

We were driven up to the Citadel which gave excellent views across the capital.

I sat inside in the shade while John went up onto the battlements.

John said the views were even better from the top….

It was time to move on from Port Louis, to our next destination…..were we impressed with Port Louis – no not really it was a fairly typical mixture of old and new which you see in so many small island capitals…we might have enjoyed it more if we hadn’t had to walk so far through areas which tourists really ought not to be shown….or rather smelt….

We set off to the botanical gardens, which are slightly north of where we are staying. Once again we endured being blown away with the windows open while frying under the heat of the sun…..in the end I shut my window as did John….even playing with the air vents didn’t encourage our driver/guide to use the aircon…..He asked if we wanted to go to the botanical gardens next or have a lunch break next. I explained that we don’t eat much for lunch just a snack but somewhere where we could get a nice cool drink and use the bathroom would be appreciated. He said did we want coconut water … “No” I responded “a nice cool drink”. The next thing we know we’re at the Botanical gardens and our escort points us to a van selling coconut drinks ………is this guy just trying to be difficult or is he a complete idiot……now I am not only a tad grumpy but I am also getting cross…..We decline the coconut drink and he takes us to the ticket kiosk and tells us to buy our tickets…..now hang on….we need a cold drink and the toilet and what’s more I’ve already walked too far…and I spy a golf buggy which you can hire to take you round the gardens..bingo….i point this out to him and his reply is that he had already asked us if we wanted to walk around the gardens…..ummm yes he did at 9:30 am before he had trudged us around Port Louis for 3 /4 hours….and he hadn’t mentioned any other way of seeing the gardens – like a buggy ride……He went to enquire about the buggy but there was no driver this afternoon – there had been one in the morning. I then spoke to the lady in the kiosk who spoke aggressively to our guide, who meekly handed her a paper guide to the gardens which was our side of the kiosk… The lady kindly ringed a phone number on the back of the booklet and told me if we wanted to come at another time to phone the number in the morning to book a time for the buggy…its an hours tour of the gardens…John and I had a quick private conflab and decided this was the best bet and we would get Sachin- our lovely taxi driver to bring us next week.

Our guide was obviously quite cross that we weren’t going to walk round and we got back in the car. We had no idea where we going, he drove in silence…well! apart from his radio which was still droning on with Indian style music. A few minutes later we arrived at the Sugar Cane museum…. He said while we went around he would have his lunch. He also wanted the phone number of our booking agent, Nirmala, because he wanted to make certain she knew it wasn’t his fault we hadn’t gone around the gardens. We were pleased when he left us alone…he really was spoiling our day for us….we soon located the toilets and then we found the nice restaurant bar and had a delightful drink…I had ginger, mint and lime and John had passionfruit, pineapple and grenadine……they were so yummy and we were so thirsty we had 2 each. We also messaged Nirmala and told her about our day, all the walking, the heat in the car and that we didn’t want the same driver on Monday when we do our next tour…She replied instantly with an apology and an assurance we would have a different driver.

Feeling refreshed we headed into the museum…wow! Were we shocked at the price of entry…MUR 1200 per person…so about £40 for us both….hey ho! in we went….. It was beautifully laid out and both the historical origin to sugar cane growing and the process by which sugar cane is made into the various end products were all explained by boards, pictures and audio presentation which you can download onto your phone…and loads of exhibits…

If you make these pictures bigger …you to can read the in-depth details of Sugar Cane!!..

I don’t have a high level of concentration in museums so I mostly just read a few bits, watched the video presentations and enjoyed looking at the artefacts and the factory machinery.

Enough is enough and by now we had had enough….we went in search of our reluctant guide..

He started the conversation stating he wanted it made very clear that if we went to the botanical gardens next week it was at our own expense and we’d have to take a taxi…( thank goodness for that!) …”Yes we appreciated that”, was our reply…he seemed to relax a bit then …I think Nirmala had, spoken with him because he shut the windows and put the aircon on….phew cool at last… We headed North up to Cap Malheureux…the northern point.

On the way up we stopped at a Hindu temple – we had asked to stop at one we’d passed in Port Louis but we were ignored…John and I walked around the temple in bare feet so we could observe the beautiful building..

We resumed our journey to Cap Malheureux. This is not just the most northerly point on the island it is also where the British first landed in 1810 to claim the island from the French. A red roof Roman Catholic Church now stands on the spot. It was erected in 1938…. Our guide didn’t tell us this, even though I asked if this was where the British had landed…

This point on the main island stands opposite two other Mauritian islands, the small left island is Ile Plate and the larger right hand island is Coin de Mire.

Coin de Mire…Ile Plate is to the left

From here we headed towards Grand Baie. Before arriving we stopped at another Hindu Temple with a splendid 17 meter tall Golden Lord Murugan

We took the coast road back to our hotel. Our driver got out and actually opened my door for me….we gave him the obligatory tip and wished him well.

It was a good tour. We saw a lot of what we wanted to see and it helped us understand the country a bit better. Yes our guide was not our cup of tea….we’re used to being treated with respect and not just another punter who you can churn the same information out to whether they want to know it or not….but to be fair we had seen a lot of interesting places and things.

We had a quick rest before supper. We went to the buffet, had our usual table. A duo were once again murdering some good songs !! With smiles on their faces and hope in their hearts…

The food tonight was exceptionally good…we had our usual starters ..

The main course we both had stir-fry prawns which were yummy, fresh and flavoursome.

The dessert was our usual fruit and ice cream.

We retired to our room for an early night after what had been an exhausting day.

Mauritius- Day 5 – The Maritim Resort and Spa

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Breakfast has now fallen into a pattern……I get the toast, John gets the butter…he has cold meats and cheese followed by fresh fruit and yogurt…I have toast followed by pancakes with pure raw honey…Johns new best mate…The cat …. joined us for breakfast ….

After breakfast we went back to our room and put on our swim suits. Then headed in the direction of the pool. Nope!! no sun loungers…well there were a lot but people had reserved them with their towels….there were two which had been reserved for more than 2 hours and still no one on them……it’s a pet hate of mine….happens all the time when we are cruising…people get up early reserve there sun-loungers with their towels then go back to bed….or even worse they go out for the day knowing when they get back they’ll have a lounger…..it’s so selfish…really annoying…at least when cruising after 2 hours if no one has been to the lounger their towels are removed to free up the space,…grrrrrr..I went and asked if their towels could be removed and was told “no” …… this is the first fault we’ve found at this hotel….. any way there were two other loungers on the peninsula of the other pool leading out to the affinity pool edge….only problem was the umbrella appeared broken and one of the loungers had a pool of water on the mattress…we soon mended the umbrella and turning the mattress over got rid of some of the problem….and we were quickly poolside residents…

It wasn’t long before “Toto” the mallard drake joined me

He laid down next to my lounger, making himself comfortable and we were soon conversing in “ quackers” language.

A dip in the pool was short but sweet as yesterday’s rain seemed to have cooled it.

It was very nice sitting there watching the world go by…

We saw the ponies taking their mounts along the beach…a lovely sight..

A beautiful Red Whiskered Bulbul came to visit us…

Having warmed up again it was time for another dip..

The afternoon saw us having a snooze before going for an early supper in the buffet.

The cold meats…antipasto’s are very pleasant …

A trio of played music while we ate…at least I think some might have called it music…John and I thought we could sound better…..and for those of you who have heard our tuneless dulcet tones, you’ll know how bad the trios warbling really was !!!

We both decided on the themed main course..Italian seafood… I must say my tagliatelle looked better than it was…the pasta was on the uncooked side of cooked and the precooked seafood which was supposed to be heated in the sauce was stone cold …not good…so I left it..John enjoyed his fusilli but had difficulties finding the seafood….

So we both made up for it with the desserts…I defiantly went for chocolate overload..

My other mistake was I asked for a lime and soda, I got squeezed lemons and water…it was very tart….

So not such a brilliant meal but the starters and desserts were both very nice.

Feeling tired from such an exhausting day!!!, of doing absolutely nothing we retired to our room for a few games of cards and an early night…

Tomorrow we’ve booked a private excursion to the North of the island.

Mauritius- Day 4 – The Maritimm Resort and Spa

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Today was intended as a R&R day….a do nothing day. We breakfasted earlier today with the hope that the food would be better….there was more variety available but the same as the day before items like bacon were cold and cooked to a crisp…tough and tasteless….but never mind there was plenty of other items on offer…the pancakes are delicious especially with raw pure honey dripping from the cone…I sussed out the toasting machine, put the bread in twice and if it gets stuck turn it off and carefully use the bread knife to punch it over and get it to drop,…yeah cracked it !!!

After breakfast we went to reception and asked for transport up to the animal farm and Equestrian Centre. This transport is by way of a Golf buggy.

It’s here the giant tortoises have some large enclosures to roam in….

You could go in with them and feed them leaves.

There was just one dog in the stray dog sanctuary.

We asked about horse riding. The horses were very nicely kept. However they were ex-racehorses, thoroughbreds and light-framed so not used to weight bearing…Unfortunatly I am 9kg over the very low weight limit they set for riding !!! He did say we could give it a go and see how the horse felt but as a horse lover that was not something I wanted to do….my dream of riding along a beach will have to wait until I have lost some more weight.

There was also a cow and rabbits in the “animal farm”….but that seemed about it. It was all set in nice surroundings with several mango trees …

And a little Madagascar Giant Day Gecko which is considered an invasive species in Mauritius.

We wandered down to the Ruins of Balaclava. These are protected as a national monument…all very interesting.

Then we wandered around the cascades…although I think I would have referred to it as a babbling brook, or its proper name of the Citron river, rather than cascades!!

Then on we walked past the chateau Mon Desir – the fine dining restaurant.

In the beautiful chateau’s gardens, were fabulously well manicured, vibrantly coloured bougainvillea…a picture not to be missed.

We wandered down to the Old Mill and passed by the events field.

Continuing to ramble along by the River edge watching kayaking we passed by the obligatory- because all good hotels have one – giant chess set… and The Anno 1743 Restaurant and Nest Rooftop and distillery bar.

On we wandered up to the boat house where we sat for a while. We watched a lady of slightly lesser proportions to me struggle to sit on a kayak…doable but difficult…her fit daughter hopped on the front and off they went…or did they…no they just couldn’t synchronise….ummm yes enough to put John and me off…too much like hard work.

We were thinking of asking about a glass bottom boat when we saw an sign saying none today as it was too rough…an anti-cyclone is approaching…

The “Looky-Looky man fed some birds with a bag of bread…loads of sparrows, pigeons, Myna Birds, Red Fody, Red whiskered bulbul’s, and yellow orals came flying in.

We rewarded the “Looky-Looky” man by buying two shell ankle bracelets from him…John enjoyed watching me haggle the price which at £8.00 was still a bit to much…but the sob story came out… “he hadn’t had a sale all day” and the deal was done.

Passing a local fisherman…….

We walked back to our room, donned our swimming gear and took up residency on a lounger around the pool. We had a swim even though the water was a tad chilly.

Before going for a siesta we went to reception and read the speciality restaurant menus. Deciding on the Seafood restaurant we made a reservation and then we went for a snooze.

All, too soon it was time to get ready for our 7pm reservation, fortunately the heavy rain shower had passed . We wandered along the seafront path until we got to La Maree.

A lovely thatched restaurant with tables on decking in bomas on the sea shore.

We both selected prawn cocktail with pinapple to start with

….and Seafood, butternut Risotto as our main course….

John had a lovely coconut, mango and papaya cake and I had a sponge soaked in lemongrass and ginger with fresh fruit as dessert.

It was all truly scrumptious. We both had a soda…when the bill came they had subtracted our MUR5000 meal allowance from the total and we had less than £10 to pay….great deal…lovely meal.

We had once again dodged a heavy shower… the bomas we were in were about 99% waterproof….the 1% that wasn’t dripped down the back of Johns neck! A dog came and took refuge from the rain, sitting with pleading eyes at a couples table who were eating meat …!!!!

We ambled back to our room before turning in for an early night .

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.