We both slept well, something to do with bellies full of exquisite beef fillet!! Yes we like the good life ! So we rose early had breakfast …the breakfast floor manager out by the tables seemed to be telling his most diligent member of staff off….she is a lovely lady….so we called him over and said how wonderful she was and how she made everyone so happy with her smile and her attention to detail…and that we hoped he valued her…he said she had been there for 35 years and they had had a celebration in her honour to commemorate her long service… we said he was very lucky to have such a diligent member of staff…she beamed and thanked us for the compliment. We didn’t add that as yet we hadn’t seen him lift a plate or serve a customer infact we had only seen him bark orders at people….we hope our comment inspired him to lead by example…he is in fact the only member of staff we have come across in the whole complex who acts like dealing with a guest is beneath him….I guess he stands out because everyone else is so very nice, kind and helpful.
So after breakfast we waddled because that’s what you do after a 3 course breakfast, up to reception…. We waited a few minutes to speak with Melanie – the lovely lady who arranges taxis.
We asked her to kindly call the Pamplemousse Botanical Gardens and book a buggy for us ( you have to book it on the morning of the day you want to go). She booked it for 11am and then phoned Sachin to ask him to pick us up at 10.30. – We had already WhatsApp Sachin the evening before to ask him if he had 3 hours availability some time over the Thursday or Friday. He had replied that he was free between 10am and 4 pm…. So we knew he would agree…he is the lovely taxi driver who took us to Mon Choisy for the Hindu Festival the previous week….he works for Maritim Taxis where as Irfaan works for Hello Islands and the two companies don’t cross mix/share drivers – that is why we hadn’t had Sachin for our excursions or Irfaan for our taxi rides..
Sachin was as always prompt and happy…..off we went to the gardens..we asked him to come with us but he was hesitant and finally said it would cost us money…we said no problem it was our treat because we wanted to enjoy the experience with him….so he agreed.
The tickets into the gardens are MUR 300 for tourists – around £5 each and MUR 25 for locals -about 40pence!!!! The buggy was MUR300- £5 per person. Tickets bought we were soon on our buggy- Raja introduced himself to us …what a cheery, knowledgable character he was…full of fun…his first question was “ Did we know Mauritius had won the football World cup?” We looked slightly bemused by this so he continued to tell us that Mauritius had been under British Rule in 1966 when they won the World cup so that means Mauritius also won it……Mauritius only gained its independence 1968….. we howled with laughter and that set the scene for the next hour….
Raja had 20 years of experience in the gardens and his knowledge was second to none as were his very many numerous anecdotes …. Off we went..Raja gave us a running commentary of everything we saw….. The gardens were started in 1770 by Pierre Poivre ( Peter Pepper) a French botanist, naturalist and horticulturalist who was the Governor at the time.
Raja talked to us about all the plants and trees giving us its proper botanical name and his ‘pet’ name for everything….like the furniture tree because its roots stood out like a sofa!
We stopped at the giant water lily lake…… it really is magnificent
Sachin also pointed out an eel in the lake and numerous fish but they didn’t photograph very well ….
We moved from here to the Monet water lily lake with its vibrant coloured lilies….
We continued around the gardens with Raja giving us both the botanical information as well as causing great hilarity..“ The crocodile plant”…
There is an area where visiting diplomats have each planted a tree..such as Nelson Mandela, Princess Margaret, Gandhi, President Macron etc… and a uniformed plaque sat beside the tree they had planted….
Around this area is also a memorial to the first prime minister, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, it is a beautiful memorial of a Lotus flower .
We past gates which were the original entrance to the gardens. Raja said they were a miniature version of the gates at Buckingham Palace, we think he is probably correct …
Raja hopped on and off the buggy getting leaves for us to smell and guess the plant …we had cinnamon, 5 spice, eucalyptus etc etc.
He told us all about the different palm trees and which one he called the Jamaican Rastafarian tree…because it had dreadlocks!!!
We didn’t know that the Trochetia Boutoniana or the French Boucle D’Oreille was the national flower of Mauritius.
We continued along beautifully manicured avenues, often called Broadway,
We passed the ‘Donald Duck tree …..
We carried on past a tree which had numerous fruit bats hanging from it..
So many beautiful plants and trees ..
On we went until Raja asked if we’d ever climbed a coconut tree…of course not was the response and he said he’d show us how it was done…
The tree had been blown horizontal by the winds but, as seen, had eventually grown upwards and produced coconuts!!!
There was also a medicine garden and a spice garden
Finally our hour was up and Raja dropped the three of us at the animal corner where we could wander around on our own.
We said goodbye to Raja and thanked him profusely for such an informative, entertaining tour.
Some of the ladies dressed up for visits to the garden and we asked this family of 3 generations if we could take their picture….beautiful..
In the animal corner we saw both giant tortoises and Javan Deer .
Sachin also pointed out a papayas tree in fruit and a bread fruit tree with some very small fruit starting to grow..
We headed back to the car on foot…Sachin soon had us nice and cool again.. He discussed where else we could go…but to be quite honest we had seen nearly all the land sights of Mauritius. So we suggested that he took us to the sugar cane museum so we could all have a nice fruit cocktail in their restaurant bar…as we had previously on our trip to the north. It was only 900m,- according to the sign, away from the gardens.
We were soon there and the refreshing fruit drinks were very enjoyable as was Sachin’s company. I had the same Ginger, mint and lime drink, John had the same pineapple, passionfruit and grenadine he’d had before and Sachin had a lemoncello – lemongrass and sugarcane syrup, they were very refreshing…
John and I were piggy’ and had 2 each….they really give you a boost.
Walking back to the car Sachin showed us a Tamarind pod and how you open it to get to the chewy tamarind.
After which we went back to the hotel once again via the Vava voom supermarket to pick up more cashew nuts , mini cakes and biscuits for our snacks lunches.
We said a sad farewell to Sachin…he really is a great taxi driver and guide as well as being good fun to be with. Thank you so much Sachin for another lovely day out. We’ve been so fortunate with meeting you and Irfaan…you have both given us such happy memories.
We went inside to thank Melanie for booking the trip.
Once back at our hotel room I realised we’d forgotten to give Sachin back his mosquito repellent which he had lent us for the gardens, but we hadn’t needed…so I messaged him and said I’d leave it with Melanie….which I did and added an extra bottle for him as I’d bought 2 and we haven’t finished the first one yet.
We then headed off in our swim wear for an afternoon around the pool.
We wandered down to La Maree for our supper. As we walked along the seafront the Executive Chef caught us up and once again apologised for the mistakes made two nights prior. He was very gracious in his apology, no excuses just sincerity. We were very touched. We were given a choice of two tables and chose the one under the lapa with a hard floor rather than sand …it was beautifully dressed with bougainvillea, and a view out to sea.
The Executive Chef came himself and said he was making a special meal for us.. smoked marlin and smoked salmon terrine, followed by a seafood platter with mussels, calamari, giant prawns and line fish, and a dessert of chocolate cake and ice cream…. We said it sounded wonderful ….. and it was….
The main course…
The proof of how yummy it was ……
We really couldn’t manage chocolate cake after this so we asked if we could just have ice cream.
It was a really excellent meal, cooked to perfection and beautifully presented. When we asked for the bill we were told there was no bill, it was to make up for our disappointment. We hadn’t expected this…and we were very touched by the generosity….. The Maritim Resort holds itself to very high standards and when it doesn’t quite meet those standards it goes the extra mile to make up for it….thank you so much…we greatly appriciate it …we highly and unconditionally recommend this hotel to anyone wanting to visit Mauritius.
