As both day 10 & 11 are beach days I will post their blogs together tomorrow…but in the meantime here are three videos Irfaan made of trips he does to the northern & southern areas of the island …Unfortunatly he wasn’t our guide the day we went North….but he does similar tours……only with far less walking !!!! …..
The Marina shopping area in Port Louis.
Cap Malheureux, the most northerly point of Mauritius, where the British landed in 1810
The final video is taken in the South where we visited two days ago…it is at Ganga Talao – The Hindu Temple area
We hope these videos Irfann Neamuth has made shows you some of the delights Mauritius has to offer.
Thank you Irfaan for allowing us to show case Mauritius through your videos.
Once again we had booked a tour with Hello Islands. It was a full 8 hour tour to see the South of Mauritius. We approached it with a little trepidation….. although we had enjoyed seeing most of what we’d seen on our North Island tour, we had not enjoyed the amount of walking, lack of comfort stops or drink stops or the rather negative driver/guide who was very good at telling us what he couldn’t do but not what he could do to make our trip more comfortable and individualised for us and our interests. We considered €170 for each trip quite a lot of money so we were keen not to feel disappointed in any way this time….
Our apprehension was totally unnecessary, from the moment we met Irfaan Neamuth we knew we were going to have a wonderfully happy day.
This young man is a real asset and a credit to Hello Islands.
He started by saying he wanted us to have a day to remember and he told us what the plan was for the day….then he asked if there was anything we wanted to change..we said we didn’t want to go to the “winery” or the rum distillery. We are not drinkers and consequently having been to both of these several times in numerous countries we didn’t feel the need to visit again. Irfaan was fine about this and said he could already think of somewhere else we could go to instead.
He was a chatty young man with a zest for life. He had started making videos of his tours and he enjoyed photography…he could see this was a passion of ours as well. He also said he’d be our model at the various different places we were going to, he wanted some photos for his social media…..great we love a good model!! It would save John from doing his “man at C&A pose”(as our camera club friends call it!!!)
Irfaan automatically slowed the car and wound the windows down when there was a view he thought we’d like a picture of.
We learnt that this was the second highest mountain – Pieter Both – and stands at 820 metres just 10 metres shorter than the highest mountain on Mauritius. The balancing rock is a natural feature caused by erosion….ahhh our companion for the day was not just our guide, driver, photographer, videographer, historian but also a geographer….we’ve fallen on our feet…someone with the same interests as us…..
Our first stop was at a shop which made model galleons….although rather touristy the actual workshop up a ramp at the back was fascinating.
We declined from buying one of the hundreds of boats they had for sale but we did buy a hanging, with dodos on it….as we have no wall space available we can hang it from the ceiling at home.
Our next stop was the dormant crater , Trou aux Ceres which is a dormant volcanic crater about a kilometre from Curepipe, the second most populated town, after Port Louis. The crater is a magnificent canopy of dense vegetation.
The crater is 300 -350 m in diameter and 80 m deep, it is 605m above sea level. It last erupted 700,000 years ago.
Our model Irfaan
The weather station next to the crater stood moodily in a threatening sky
A vender was selling some very appetising looking wild raspberries
Because of the height we also had a fantastic 360 view
It was however hazy as the clouds moved in..We headed on to our next sightseeing, a Hindu temple complex…on the way we passed the reservoir which supplies the south of the island with water..
As we continued the heavens opened and the visibility was very poor….Irfaan now became a weatherman, as well as his numerous other skills, and decided to reroute us and come back to the sacred place after the rain..
So u-turning we headed for Black River Gorges National Park where the sun was shining. This is the largest protective forest of Maurius. It’s a national park with over 50 kms of walking trails under the thick vegetation canopy. You can actually walk through the national park to Mauritius’s highest peak – Black River peak, Piton dela Petite Riviere Noire – which is 828m high.
The park is also home to many species of birds which are unique to Mauritius. During our short visit we had a brief glimpse of the Echo Parakeet – John saw its head but I didn’t, we also saw several Long-tailed birds. They are also known as the tropicbird. We saw several White Long Tails soaring down in the gorge over the canopy but Unfortunatly none of the rarer Red Long-tails.
Our next stop were the waterfalls at Chamarel.
We passed passed through the pay booth. It’s quite reasonable at MUR 800 each around about £12 each. We went to the view point. The waterfall drops nearly 100m off a cliff. It is fed by 3 distinct streams.
Irfaan took a few pictures of me at the falls while John climbed the 80 steps to a higher view point so that he could capture the full drop.
Chamarel is named after Charles-Antoine de Chazal de Chamarel . He and his brother inherited the land from his step father and descendants later opened up the vast estate to enable the waterfall to be seen and enjoyed as well as the coloured earths in the Geo Park.
We drove quickly on to The Geo Park as the sky once again looked threatening.
We were excited by this as we have seen coloured earths on the TV in South America and I think Azerbaijan but we’ve never seen it in real life ourselves…
It was very easy to understand…there were 7 coloured earths and they are either iron oxides or aluminium oxides.
These differently coloured sands settle in different layers acquiring a surrealistic, striped colouring originating from the decomposition of volcanic rock.
It is now one of the Islands main tourist attractions.
Our model!!
There is a walk way around the area and further explanation boards
There are also beehives and explanation boards ..
…and a giant tortoise breeding area…there were quite a few small tortoises in the nursery area which is covered with wire as well as the bigger enclosures for the adults
We spent quite a while thoroughly enjoying gazing at the coloured soil…it’s really quite something…..We left just in time as it started to rain..
Then Irfaan took us to a view point which wasn’t included in our tour, it had magnificent views looking at Le Morne Brabant, a rock with a sad history – it is a 556m monolith on a peninsula at the South Western tip of Mauritius. It is a designated world heritage site and served as a hilltop shelter and fortress for runaway slaves in the 18th & 19th centuries. It soon became a global symbol of the fight for freedom. Many slaves committed suicide here rather than be captured again…the inscription on the rock says that “people chose the kiss of death rather than the chains of slavery”
From here we went back to Ganga Talao the Hindu sacred lake located in a volcanic crater. The name translates as The Lake of Ganga – Ganges. In 1972 some holy water from The Ganges River itself was mixed here establishing a symbolic link with India’s sacred river. The lake was then renamed Ganga Talao.
There are 2 statues both 33 metres in height at the entrance to this holy area. The first is Durga Mata Murti …..
The second is of the Hindu god Shiva. It’s been copied faithfully from the Shiva Statue in Gujarat.
There are many other temples dedicated to other gods.
Driving through to the next temple we saw a lovely sign …
We dutifully took our shoes off when entering the temple ..
This was the final stop for our tour….we drove back to the hotel. Irfaan kindly stopped so we could go to the supermarket and buy more water, sugar free coke and lots of lunchtime yummies to nibble on for the rest of our stay.
We felt very blessed that Irfaan had been our driver, kind and considerate. He parked in the disabled bays to cut down on the amount of walking I had to do, he thought of everything a man with so many skills , and not least of all good fun to be with….Thank you so much Irfaan for a wonderful day…we learnt so much and truly enjoyed ourselves and it was all thanks to this wonderful driver/guide.
We ended the day with supper in the buffet and an early night.
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.
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 .
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…
