Mauritius, An Island of Emotion

Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of the African continent. Together with my Diva friend, we travelled to Mauritius in 2014 for our first ever girls trip or what we called as our "Elephant & Hippo Honeymoon". Although Mauritius is an island, the entire island is at least twice bigger than Singapore. Flights to Mauritius are somewhat limited. The airlines that flew to Mauritius include Air Mauritius, Emirates, British Airway and Air France. From Singapore, it took about 10 hours to reach Mauritius, including an hour transit at KL.

Despite the long haul flight, I would say Mauritius is worth the visit at least once in your lifetime. I'm glad to have traveled with my Diva friend to this exotic place.




Having some photo fun at Changi Airport





Having some photo fun at Changi Airport



The air ticket for Air Mauritius wasn't cheap. In fact for the air ticket price paid, we could have flown to Paris. However, to my disappointment, the plane was small and the seats were stiff.  This was not a comfortable ride at all. Food was also not to my expectation. I wouldn't fly by Air Mauritius if not for the limited flights to the island.

 



Wefie with my Diva friend





Curry chicken rice with veggie



Finally reach Mauritius International Airport "SSR"

After more than 10 hours of flight, we arrived at Sir Seewoosagur Rangoolam International Airport in Mauritus. The people of Mauritius are multiethnic and multicultural. Most Mauritians are multilingual and Mauritian Creole, English and French are their main languages. Another interesting fact that we were told about Mauritius is that it was home to the dodo bird, which became extinct after the French settled at the island and ate up all the dodo. It was evening when we finally cleared the custom. Our driver from an agency known as Taxi Mauritius will be driving us around the island for the next 6 days. I could still remember the driver's name as 'Shah' whom I thought was too talkative at times.

By the time we reached our hotel @ Grand Baie Suite located at Grand Baie in the North of Mauritius, it was 8pm (Singapore time would be 4pm). We quickly put down our bags and went to the Super 'U" mart next door for some grocery shopping. As the season was early winter, the night temperature was quite cold at 16 degree. 


Our apartment stay for the next 2 nights





Grand Baie Suite apartment was spacious and very clean. It also came with a kitchenette equipped with all the pots and utensils for travellers to cook up some nice dishes. Although, there were many restaurants down the street, they were not cheap. Therefore, if you would like to save more money for the activities, it's better to self cooked some of the meals. After a long flight, we were dead tired and were knocked out immediately when we hit the beds.




Time for some camewhoring before we head out to the beach



The weather was great and we woke up early to have some time to venture to the nearby public beach before our guide came to pick us up. We decided to take a stroll at La Curvette beach which was a 20 min walk away from our apartment. La Curvette beach was a small public beach located near the Veranda resort. Despite being a public beach, the beach was clean and well maintained. The sea looks amazing in its layers of blue from dark blue to turquoise green. The sea water was clear and pure like spring water.



Lots of clubs outside our apartment




The 1960s bus





Pretty blooming flowers



 

We girls had fun camwhoring in the early morning at the beach before heading back for our first adventure of the day at Casela Safari Park. Casela Safari Park covers an area of 14 hectare and housed a variety of birds and of course the lions and some impressive giant turtles. The park is set up with a variety of beautiful exotic plants and flowers. Moreover, located on the grounds of the park is the beautiful lookout point with stunning views over the west coast. There were plenty of activities in the park such as the Safari ride through the jungles, where animals such as Zebras and Ostrich roamed freely in the open field. For the more adventurous ones, you can enjoy activities such as the ATV ride through the jungle, walking with the lions and ziplines through across the river.

We had fun with the Safari and the ATV rides through the jungle. It was an exciting and memorable experience for us. The best activity we had however was walking with the lions, a 2 hours walk and close interaction with the lions. The lions that accompanied our walk were only 4 years old. They were just like a big cats and not at all frightening. They have got names too but I've forgotten their names.

 

We were told that Casela owns about 9 lions of three generations and 4 cheetahs. These wild cats were tamed and hence we felt safe to interact with them. We get to walk with them side by side, stroke them and even take pictures with them. We also had the opportunity to observe their movements such as how agile they were when climbing the trees or how they rolled on the grasses and played like kittens. 



Inside the safari truck




The Safari truck




Zebras roaming freely

 

There were fixed time for the activities in the park. Therefore, it will be good to check out the timing and plan your activities wisely in order to maximize your day at the park. We had a memorable day at the park. All the activities were fun and we could never forget the thrilling ATV ride where I rode like a man over steep slopes or the heart thumping walk with the lions which turned out to be just 2 big cutie cats. It was a pity that there were no cubs during our visit for some cubs interaction. I would love to do that. 

Both the ATV ride and the lion walk were not cheap, costing us about SGD220 per person. Nevertheless, the money was well-spent. 




An exhilarating experience but the ride was a dusty one




Amazing view along the way



After we completed the walk, we were given certificates as an appreciation from the staff. We ended the walk with some refreshing barley drink and a stunning view over the west coast.



Stunning view of the west coast




I bought a mini lion, so cute



 

It was evening by the time we arrived at Grand Baie. Our guide was kind enough to drive to the Macdonald to buy our dinner. The Macs at Mauritius weren't really fantastic but still edible. We then enjoyed our favorite show "Fei Chang Wan Mei"  and kept ourselves busy with the critics. That was all for day 1 @ Mauritius.