Flic en Flac old and new

Gris Gris old and new

Botanical gardens old and new

Botanical gardens

Buildings old and new (yes the one on the end is s new one!)

Well where to start? After a 48 year wait I finally returned to my birth place taking my lovely with me! I had booked the trip in a bit of a strop early hours of New Years Day, this meant that I didn’t really read the details of what I was organising. This left us with a honeymoon that we needed to prove we had been married within 18 months, (we got married in 2009) and a booking for a ‘person’ on who we would be able to call to organise our needs.

After a 12 hour flight with a very quick stop off in Dubai we landed in paradise (with just a few tears from me). As we were tired and had never had a ‘person’ before we ended up not really managing to meet them and instead ended up in a taxi. This however turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because we met the lovely Vijay. The drive to the hotel took about an hour and by the end we were both very well educated and acquainted. We arrived and after sorting out booking into the ‘honeymoon’ we had a very strange green drink and set off for our couples massage.

We had arranged with Vijay the list of things we wanted to visit and after booking him for 3 days we settled in to the resort. The food was fab, the drinks were free and the sun was shining. Before we get into the days out explanation there are a few memories we want to make sure we write down. These are basically a list! There was the lovely bar tender who made us fab cocktails and the best Mauritian rum thing that tasted amazing. There was the lady who looked after the room, god forbid you moved her flower arrangements on the bed! Then the squeaky pedalo, we even enjoyed hearing other people using it during the week. Next came the cake, which arrived one dinner time as a congratulation to our recent nuptials. All this was topped off with the ‘it’s a red light because it’s romantic’ dinner on the beach. Jez ate an amazing Australian steak and we were kept company by Gethlen the crab who kept us entertained. We tried many very early mornings to watch the sunrise, and manged it but through the early morning cloud. We tried many late nights to see the milky way, we got caught in the rain, had to avoid crabs in the dark and saw a clear view of Scorpio and really only saw the edge of the milky way but had fun doing it And all this without even leaving the hotel.

When we final did leave the hotel the first thing we got was the shock of our lives, or should I say near death. On the first day we had with Vijay we met in the early morning and set off in his car. Just to say the hotel was on the beach, but surrounded by fields and in the middle of nowhere, so when Vijay said ‘just a little surprise’ pulled off the road into a field and pulled a 12″ knife from the passenger seat we really thought I was going to end as well as begin in Mauritius. After he ushered us out of the car he wandered into the field, Jez and I were just left looking at each other wondering if we should be saying our goodbyes, however Vijay looking completely relaxed appeared, with a branch of sugarcane and proceeded to prepare it for us to eat. Thus beginning the many ‘little surprise’ of Mauritius.

Day one we firstly went into Port Louis the capital. We saw the different buildings and history and visited the citadel overlooking the port. After that we went to the history museum, and looked at the Dodo, and into the spice market where we spent far to much money on spices. We did however get treated to a local meal of pakora and yogurt drink all while sitting with the locals in the market. Vijay showed us the temples and the brightly coloured castings. Part of the day was wanting to visit the botanical gardens as I have photos from when my family lived there, and I was able to recreate some of the images. I was lovely being able to see things that have not changed in many years that my family would have also seen. Then we had another ‘Little surprise’ as Vijay stopped in the middle of a village and led us to a cave in the middle of nowhere. It really was lovely but strange as it was just in the middle of the street. The final visit of this very busy day led us to Flic en Flac where my family spent their down time. It was strange being in the same space and a bit emotional as I have photos of my Dad camping at the beach.

On our second day exploring the island we headed to Gris Gris again this was lovely as I have photos of my dad at this beach and there was a tower similar to those he maintained for the navy. Another ‘Little surprise’ of a flooded volcanic crater. This was on the way to the Black River Gorge and Alexandra Falls. This is where we discovered the joy of salting pineapples and adding tamarin to make it taste fantastic! Next Vijay took us to a local restaurant and we had palm salad and Jez had a local beer again amazing!! Then onto the Seven Coloured Earths, this is a strange phenomenon where in a fertile area of land, there is a large space that nothing grows and the different minerals in the ground make it beautiful colours. Then we stopped at the gorge itself and saw a lovely rainbow in the waterfall. Finally ‘Little surprise’ the biggest statues of Hindu gods ever. It was a sight to see.

Our final day exploring took us round on our way to Vascous in search of where my family had lived and worked. All ending in a sunset on the beach at La Preneuse beach.

We had a wonderful time and a holiday to never forget!