Mauritius with partner in Crime
Hello folks, I am back with another post on our recent wedding anniversary trip to Beautiful Mauritius Islands. This was our second trip outside country/continent . First being Europe which I forgot to blog.
So, after a lot of hullabaloo about which place to visit, we decided Mauritius as it fitted our budget and requirement.
Date of Travel = 05/05/15
Number of Days = 7 D/ 6N
Flight = Air Mauritius
Hotel = Coin De Mire Attitiude
Tripadvisor = http://www.tripadvisor.in/Hotel_Review-g488103-d505964-Reviews-Coin_de_Mire_Attitude-Grand_Baie.html
Day 1: Journey
The flight from Bangalore to Mauritius is like a Round Robin. The flight path is Bangalore -> Chennai -> Mauritius -> Bangalore. We boarded the flight at 5.25 AM and I slept like a kid in the plane . I got up only when they started serving food. Each passenger is also provided with toiletry kit and kids get an add - on, a bag filled with toys and drawing materials. Nice touch ,Air Mauritius. We landed at 12 PM and finished the formalities. The passport got stamped, collected the baggage and exited. The "Super Cool Mauritius" placard welcomed us and was told to convert currency if needed i in the airport as they charge no commission and offer better rates.
Please note, they exchange INR to MRU at the Airport.
Mauritius Airport Signage
A380 Super Jumbo in the SSR Airport
Outside Airport
Welcome Signage
We reached hotel and check in was smooth. They gave Blue Grass Drink and a scrapbook as gift. We had a Veggie Sandwich and rested for a while. Some photo-shoots at night , followed by dinner and we were done for the day. BTW, my better half is a hard core veggie and unfortunately there were limited options for veg people. So, on our request, Indian Bread and Dal was prepared. Sweet
Day 2 :Ille Aux Cerfs
After a sumptuous breakfast, we left for the Ille Aux Cerfs island tour. Before the Island visit, they took us to water sports activity. Newly wedded couples were eager to try out. May be to impress post marriage or genuinely interested? Some of the items are rip off. A goan type hat for 400 MRU(Mauritian Rupee) thats almost 800 INR. Poor husbands who bought. Lucky me. So, they had a package for activity + photos + lunch. We took only lunch for 300 MRU. When others were busy in water sports, we took a nice stroll on the heated sand and settled on one of the beach beds. Shade, cool breeze and heavy breakfast resulted in deep slumber which we avoided and had some self photo-shoots.
En-route. Lots of Sugarcane fields
Clear Sky and Turquoise Water
Resting place
Super clean beach
The lunch was had and then proceeded towards Ille Aux Cerfs. We were dropped at one particular place and from there speed boat transfer to the Ille Aux Cerfs Island. They tried convincing use to visit some water falls in the vicinity for 1800 MRU. We were smart and declined the generous offer. BTW, we didn do the water sports as it was not worth what they quoted and we had done it before.
Ille Aux Cerfs Island
Ille Aux Cerfs Island
Only I ventured into the water and had few photo-shoots. Back to pick up spot in the island and back to hotel by 5 PM. As usual, on our request Indian Bread and Dal for dinner with lots of salad .
Day 3: South Tour
This part of the tour had many places to visit.
a)Ship making factory
b)Trou aux Cerf crater
c)Sacred Lake and Grand Bassin(Ganga Talao)
d)Water falls and Seven Colored Earth at Chamarel
We visited in the order mentioned above. I was tempted to buy flights, cars in the factory but looking at the price, exited the factory without notice. Next some local shopping joints just for the formality and ended up buying nothing, This was when my spouse started worrying on how to buy things for herself and friends where prices are so high. Relief to me.
Almost finished ship models
Model flights
Next we visited crater where we had to strain our neck too much to get a glimpse of the crater of the extinct volcano. Then on the list was Ganga Talao, which houses many Gods . Here there is Lord Shiva statue too, which is quite tall.
Trou aux Cerfs - the crater of an extinct volcano
Sacred Lake and the temples
Lord Shiva statue
Our next pit stop was for lunch. Each Vegetarian Thali costed 400 MRU. Some of the couples shared in one thali. The thali was very minimal and limited. Again rip off. Next we entered Chamarel village and sighted Water falls first. Some photo-shoot and proceeded further. The best place of the tour was this Seven Colored Earth which is formed due to cooling of volcanic rocks at different temperatures.
Waterfalls
Seven Colored Earth
Reached Hotel at around 6PM. The dinner menu was same as previous day but with additional Tomato, Potato gravy.
Day 4 :North Tour
The day started with an early pick up to North Side of the Island tour. The driver realized that he forgot to pick up 5 passengers when we had almost reached the Port Louis city. Bang on! We returned to pick them and their hotel was very near to us. 1 hour waste. Our first stop was fort and we climbed to the top to get the city view. We bought Ship souvenir here.
Inside View of the fort
City view from the fort
Monochrome shot of the fort.
Next we were dropped at Claudan Water front which is Mall type. We went food hunting and settled for McDonald's. We got a glimpse of the local market, bus stand, street shopping and bought some items here.
Le Caudan Waterfront
Buildings opposite Water front
Signage
Bus Stand-Port Louis
Local Market
We had our lunch at McDi and just took a stroll in the mall . In front of the water front some Yachts were anchored and me being a fanatic in all these, photo-shoot was as must.
Casino inside mall
Different Colored Umbrellas
Japanese touch
Bright Fresh fruits
We reached hotel early and went to the beach outside hotel. We chatted for some time and when mosquitoes were started occupying their territory, we left for the hotel. As usual, dinner was with Indian cuisine.
Day 5: Catamaran Cruise
We had booked for Catamaran Cruise for dolphin sighting. We left very early from the hotel with packed breakfast. It was almost an hour drive to reach South-West part of the Island from North East part. The cruise was to begin from 9 AM . Some fair lady of the company catering cruises gave us heads up about the cruise and what to expect and what depends on our luck. We reached Catamaran by speed boat transfer. The captain welcomes us and explained facilities in the catamaran and offered us a spread of bread, jam, butter and beverages . Some more people joined in and finally we started on.
Speedboat transfer starting place
Catamarans anchored
Transfer of food items
Breakfast in Cruise
Instrument console in Catamaran
The weather was sunny when we started and the cruise was smooth . The Chinese national people were very escatic and were busy capturing photos in all possible ways. Spare the Captain and his co. We did few photo-shoots and settled in the corner , Sort of sun bathing. Past 2 hours in the cruise, the weather became inclement. We had to go in as it started raining. I am sort of person who like to stay outside in the open space always and not constrained in smelly indoors. May be due to non-veg food or some reason, I was not comfortable staying indoor and was bracing for rain to stop. It battered for some time and then it reduced. The Catamaran had BBQ facility and they started smoking non-veg. It was done when it was drizzling only. Not sure how it tasted. The lunch was spread and it was uber cold. We gobbled what ever out taste buds relished and had lots of Orange Juice. Had it not rained, snorkeling and diving would have been allowed. The waves were quite strong and this made snorkeling difficult. We left for the shore after some free time and reached hotel at around 4 PM.
Adios to other Catamarans
Some island in the distant
Side profile of the Catamaran
Our Captain
Neighbors
Sail
Speedboat tied to Catamaran
As usual, dinner was with Indian cuisine. BTW, I was nice dinner. I had lots of different salads, deserts and fruits.
Day 6: Free Day - Grand Baie Visit
We took it light this day and started things quite at ease. We decided to go Grand Baie which was 6 kms from the hotel. The bus stop was in front of the hotel and it costed 26 MRU per person. The Grand Baie is like a market type and we went to Super U market there. Its like Big Bazaar of India. We bought some chocolates and went out hunting for food. My lady found a cart where they were selling some Roti masala for a meager 12 MRU . We took parcel of them and noodles and left for the hotel. We had packed lunch in the hotel and rested for the rest of the day. On special request, at dinner time, cake was arranged for our anniversary. We cut the cake and had some photo moments.
Local Bus
Directions
Super U Market
Day 7: Journey
We packed our things and check out was as 12 PM. We had one Free Lunch at the hotel which we had on the departing day. We settled for 1 Pizza, 1 Pasta and a Mocktail. We had to kill 2 hours in the hotel lobby as the airport pickup was as 4 PM. The pick up van came at the right time and we bid adieu to the hotel staff . There were few pickups en route and then a long journey to the airport which lasted close to 2 and half hours. We reached at 6.30 PM and proceeded to check in counters. After all formalities, we decided to explore the airport .Alas! The airport is small and nothing much was there. We sipped a coffee each and explored duty free shop. She eyed on my favorite collection which I was waiting for. A scaled model flights. We bought and settled near the gates. Announcement was not soothing to hear . Flight delayed by 45 min., finally they started boarding and both were super hungry. We were looking voracious. Finally meals arrived. We savored each morsel of it and slept recollecting beautiful moments of trip.
Day 8: Home
We landed at 5 AM and after finishing formalities ran towards baggage collection. Both had to leave for office, the same day. We reached home, close to 7 AM and both got busy in office going.
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