Last month I enjoyed a stopover in Mauritius en route to Perth. It was a bonus, I’d never been there before and whatever expectations I might have had they were well exceeded.
It’s an interesting place, French for a short time then British and now independent. The population (1.3 million) is largely of Indian origin, the day-to-day language is Creole, French is used in schools and English is the language of signs and public notices. It’s within the tropics but only just and I was visiting at a time when you’d expect a fair bit of rain. And it’s said to be the most democratic country in Africa and, according to the World Bank, to enjoy a ‘high income’ economy.
I stayed at the Lakaz Chamarel, a boutique resort in the mountains, it’s at an altitude of about 260m. It was first class and, like the island, it exceeded my expectations. It has just 24 rooms which range from the simple, room only close to the centre, to the luxurious, sea view with a pool suites. I had the former and it was just fine. It meant that I was close to the bar. It was also close to a 20m pool which I swam in, alone, every day.
I took two tours, arranged through the hotel and more personal and better value that those you’d get with the specialist tour companies.
Tour one took me south where I experienced the natural wonderland of Mauritius, first at La Vallée Des Couleurs Nature Park and then at the Black River Gorges National Park (right). After that it was a dose of Hindu culture at the Ganga Talao Temple before lunch at Chez Rosy in Gris Gris, Souillac.
Lunch was a bit of a Soviet experience as I was told which menu items were not available. However there was still prawns and they were delicious, washed down with the ubiquitous Phoenix beer.
We drove along the coast and saw the entrances to the big international beach resort developments. However the resorts themselves were invisible and nowhere did I see any evidence of mass tourism. Furthermore the island seemed completely free of the plastic waste pollution which a friend had told me had been visible when he visited.
Tour number two took me north firstly to the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden which, given that I was too late for the flowering season, was not at its most colourful. I joined a tour group of 12-15 French speakers and the guide spoke in both languages but I reckoned that I always got the precis version!
We got to Cap Malheureux, where there’s a red church, an unspoilt beach and a couple of cafes, in the middle of the day and that seemed the right place for lunch. It was straight out of the guide books: lobster chosen fresh and cooked on the spot, table on the beach, feet in the sand and the sun up above. Perfect. I chose the Cafe Rose Marie and despite it operating with the bare minimum of overhead it happily took my payment using my phone and one of those payment systems which are nowadays so convenient.
I spent the afternoon of that day in Port Louis, the capital, and whereas the island I’d seen so far had been pleasantly undeveloped Port Louis was a bustling modern city with a developing waterfront of offices, restaurants and bars. All very exciting but different.
And that was it. Three nights, two full days and overnight flights in and out.
Check out https://adobe.ly/3Q8wgR2 for a few more photos.
And finally my five highlights as recorded in my journal:
- Mauritius itself. I didn’t research it before I came other than knowing that it was tropical and that I was visiting in the rainy season. It’s been a revelation. It’s a splendid, well-ordered and very ‘civilised’ country. There’s an emphasis on ‘being green’, so the plastic pollution I was warned of is no more, and the tourism is not of the high volume low value sort. And I experienced very little rain.
- The people. I know I always say this but wherever we holiday we find good, friendly, accommodating people. That’s certainly true here and add in an education system which turns out tri-lingual students and you get intelligent people with whom it’s easy to engage.
- Lobster on the beach. An absolute cliché but perfect and the café took credit card payments as well.
- The hotel itself Lakaz Chamarel. I really didn’t know what to expect but I didn’t expect it to be this good. It’s calm, spacious and decidedly not over crowded. Maybe it’s not full but you barely notice any other people except in the restaurant. The staff are brilliant and the management looked after me from the breakfast provided on my early arrival to the late check out on my last day. The food was fine but I’d grumble that it could have been tastier, at least there was variety, and I’d have liked a better choice of wines by the glass. There are fancy suites with their own small pools but I wouldn’t want one. I had easy access to the ‘main’ pool and the short walk to the restaurant was a bonus.
- Cocktails. I enjoy an occasional cocktail in the UK, more often than not a Negroni, but on holiday they seem a little bit of what’s special about vacations. And given that Mauritius is a rum producer, what do you do with all that sugar, it would seem right to focus on rum cocktails so I enjoyed a Chamarel Passion Mojito at the Lookout Bar on day one and a Pina Colada before dinner on the second day. Both were superb. Later I had a rum punch and a Cuba Libre which I don’t really think are cocktails. They’re just rum with a mixer added. The first two had oomph, extra flavour and more than the sum of their parts.
David Jenkins' weblog 
Leave a comment