The Letter B.....
Our final week in Mauritius has been quite an adventure! After exploring the South last week - with its leafy green national parks, rivers and waterfalls we wanted to see what else Mauritius had to offer. Exploring took place over a number of days as we wanted to appreciate each destination, relax and enjoy the beautiful weather and the views.
B IS FOR BEACHES
Adventure number one took us around the Northern coast of Mauritius! We ventured out via a local taxi. The cost for a taxi for the day is 3000 rupees with the main purpose to explore the Northern area. This currently works out at around £66 pounds. Now there are many benefits of the taxi service to include the following:
The taxi driver will happily take you wherever you want to go!
They will provide ideas on where is good to go - off the beaten track suggestions!
Dropping you off at any destination and agreeing a time to re-pick you up!
They provide some great knowledge on the local area -without having a tour guide!
We specifically asked our taxi driver for a tour of the best beaches! We had dreams of seeing white beaches and glimmering blue sea! He certainly tried his best to give us a variety of what Mauritius had to offer! Our reactions to some of the beaches surprised us though! But I think we had set our expectations too high! In my head a beach on a weekday in Mauritius would still be deserted and tropical - whereas in reality they are naturally busy all the time - after all people come here on holiday so of course the beaches would be busy.
The following beaches were visited during our day out and each and everyone one of them were beautiful in their own right! They are in a different league compare to a UK beach. If you want to avoid the crowds however I would opt to go to Pereybere or at the secret destination our taxi driver found us just up the coast from Trou aux Birches.
Trou aux Biches.
Pereybere.
Mont Choisy.
Grande Bai
The more popular beaches are stunning, but are crammed to the brim with people! On reflection I am gutted we didn't get up a few hours earlier to venture out this way for sunrise! We would have had an empty beach and some gorgeous views! Lack of preparation hey! We still managed to enjoy our time in these locations though - soaking up the sun, relaxing and swimming in the clear blue waters.
On a separate day we ventured down the east coast to Ile aux Cerfs. It took around an hour to drive down from our hotel to a jetty to catch a boat across to the island. With my general ability to get seasick I was glad to see the sea was calm and that our journey was under ten minutes! Although one of the key destinations people visit while in Mauritius we were conscious that this place would be super touristy! We were not wrong and it was very much as expected. There were lots of people, lots of restaurants and lots of selfie sticks! Well if you can't beat them you might as well join them hey! The selfie stick was quickly whizzed out the bag and some hilarious photos began to emerge!
Now you will be surprised to hear following my previous seasick comment that one of the highlights of this trip was a further boat trip we took! Yes I voluntarily put myself on another boat. There are lots of boat skippers trying to sell activities from the island. They certainly do try their luck price wise, but bartering certainly works. Or in our case just us repeating we didn't have that much money with us drove down the price! We more than halved the cost of our activity and ended up paying 3000 rupees to be taken out on a speed boat to an amazing waterfall. Despite a slightly bumpy ride, the 20 minute boat trip to the waterfall was fun! The sun was shining, the sea spray was flying and we were racing around super quick. The trip got better and better though as we got to meet the most adorable family of monkeys! They were super tame (way over fed by the boat skippers) but we were sucked in and loved the fact the monkeys wanted to come right up to the boat. Our end goal of the boat trip was also to visit a waterfall at the end of a small river inlet! Wow - the waterfall was amazing and we were lucky enough to be taken right to the bottom! Breathtaking views and even some locals taking a shower!
Ile aux Cerfs itself was beautiful - despite the volume of people. There are two sections of the island divided by a small inlet of water. I decided to be brave and venture across the inlet with camera in tow ~ Garry looking on from the distance assuming I would drop everything in the water as the current was relatively strong! I survived though and quickly smirked across from the other side of the island! I now got to appreciate some long sandy beaches, beautiful views of the coral and to have a further paddle in the clear blue sea.
B IS FOR BOTANICAL
The north of the island also has a beautiful botanical garden! This had been recommended to us before leaving the UK so wanted to make sure we visited. It was suggested that to get the best out of the gardens was to go on a guided tour. Sceptical at first we then saw that a guided tour was only 50 rupees per person. We thought we would give it a go and to our delight it was worth every penny! Our guide was hilarious - making jokes, telling us stories and even playing music on the trunks of the trees. He took us on a tour of all the main areas of the garden to include the giant lily pads, bamboo (taller than you can ever imagine), elephant palm trees and also showed us lots of plants that smelt of mint, cinnamon and cloves. We also got a surprise at the end of the tour as they had a massive enclosure for tortoises. There must have been at least ten all huddled together sun and shade bathing! Never seen so many together in one place!
Two main things to remember for this tour! Bug spray! Those darn midges get everywhere and will eat you alive. Secondly - water! We went around 3pm in the afternoon and even in the shade it was super warm and water was our friend for sure.
B IS FOR BRAVE
Yes - although this sometimes surprises people, I am not very brave. If I know what I am getting myself in too I am all over the activity, but if I feel out of my depth I automatically retaliate! Some of you may have seen this reaction if you have ever asked me to do karaoke or to do a presentation in front of people. I run away like the wind! It is often similar with things I can't control! So when Garry suggested we went up in the sea plane from the hotel I was initially a little bit hesitant! I was wary of being out of my depth. This maybe why we left the activity until the last possible chance! Yes the last sunny day forecasted for our trip! With time and weather slipping away from us I decided I needed to be brave! What is the worst that could happen......
.....The sea plane could fall from the sky
.....We could be hit by a sudden storm as the weather changes all the time
.....I could fall out the plane -it didn't have doors
.....I could scream the whole way round
.....Turbulence
With all this in the back of my mind we eagerly went down to meet the pilot! The company running the flight was called Island Wings Mauritius. The pilot and crew helping to get the plane ready were all really friendly and quickly put my concerns at ease. They said the weather was perfect for a flight and knowing the pilot had over 20 years flying experience I felt in safe hands!
Now the scary part is that only one person can go up at time! Garry kindly volunteered me to go first - but that suited me. Within minutes I was in the plane, buckled in with big headphones to protect my ears from the noise and a microphone so I could talk to the pilot! Gulp..... off I went!
The flight itself was probably one of the least scariest things though! After motoring out to some deeper water for take off we easily glided into the sky. It was seamless and we were quickly soaring! With no time to worry about being off the ground the views appeared before me! They was incredible! More than enough to distract you from being scared. With 25 minutes up in the air I got the opportunity to fly over the coral reef and see a large section of the east coast. With the water being so clear it was even possible to see turtles swimming in the bay! Truly amazing!
It was all over far too soon and the beautiful views came to an end with a steady landing back in to the sea. Totally worth the initial fear and I would do it again in a heartbeat!
It has been amazing to experience so many different things on our trip!
- from the green south to the golden north
- from the comfort of a taxi to a speeding jet boat
- from a pedalo to a sea plane
- from the waterfalls to the beaches
Mauritius you have been an amazing adventure and truly...........
BEAUTIFUL!