"Where the hell is Mauritius???" That's a question we got a lot when we told people we were headed to Mauritius for our Summer Holiday. Mauritius is a teeny tiny country about 1000 miles east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. It's heavily French influenced, but was also occupied by both the Dutch and English as some point or another. Interestingly enough, most of the people that live there are of Indian descent, but they speak a sort of French Creole.
After a 13 hour flight, we arrived bright and early in Mauritius. We were able to get a taxi to our hotel right away. Unfortunately, the ride took an hour and a half, but our driver Sanjay was very nice and as we were driving from the far South of the island to the far North. He aptly pointed out where all of the breweries were for Mike and really showed how Mauritius, unlike a lot of island nations, is very self-sufficient in creating most necessities on their own soil.
When we finally arrived at our destination, the Le Meridien Ile Maurice it was about 9AM. As soon as we arrived we were ushered to some very comfy chairs in the lobby where we were brought our forms for check-in. Since our room wasn't yet ready we were comped breakfast at the buffet. After breakfast we were brought to our room via golf cart. It was in the Nirvana section of the hotel which had it's own private restaurant, bar, and pool which were both kid-free. The room wasn't up to Mike's standard...It was a "Mountain View" and not a "Sea View" so in true Mike fashion he bitched, moaned and complained until finally we were switched to a very nice ocean view room by 2PM.
While we were settling in we had decided that we wanted to sign up for some activities. We chose to do an all day catamaran cruise and an experience of a lifetime...Walking with Lions at Casela Park. Needless to say I wasn't too keen on the lions, but Mike assured me that I would be able to watch the group before us on a viewing platform and if I wanted to back out after that I could (More on that later!).
The weather in Mauritius couldn't have been more perfect. It was about 80 degrees every day with little humidity and a fairly strong, steady breeze. You never felt overly hot, but it was still warm enough to swim in both the pool and ocean.
On Saturday we went on the Catamaran. It took about an hour to get to the harbor where we caught the boat and we were happy to see that we were on a smaller boat with about 10 other people...A family of 4 from Britain, a couple from Britain, 4 Germans and 2 Frenchies. Mike and I were the first ones on and claimed our spot for the day on the trampoline type things on the front of the boat. The first part of our excursion was dolphin spotting. I don't think Europeans see dolphins very often because they were really into it. As with any touristy thing, we weren't the only ones looking for the dolphins and about 20 boats were following each other around this small area trying to catch a glimpse. We did se a few, and that certainly made the people on our boat happy.
Next, we went to snorkel on the reef. The fish weren't as colorful as they were in Tahiti, but it was really nice swimming in the ocean. The fish we did se were these friendly black and white ones and Mike said he even saw a few tiny jelly fish. I didn't see them, otherwise that would've been it for my ocean going swimming! After snorkeling, we had lunch. The crew of the catamaran bbq'd sausages, chicken, shrimp, and seafood skewers along with salad and baguettes. It seemed like the food just didn't stop coming...and neither did the drinks. Mike and I had out first taste of the local beer "Phoenix" which was kind of like Lowenbrau. The rest of the day was filled with basking in the sun and swimming here and there. When we got off the boat, we were both exhausted. It was a really good day though! Mike has since decided that were are going to buy a catamaran in our retirement and sail the world's oceans in it....I let him dream! :o)Our second excursion is the one that was keeping me up nights thinking about it! When we got to Casela (yes, another hour long drive--they really should build a highway in that country) we checked in for our two activities there...Walking with Lions and a mini-safari. We boarded the truck that brought us to the lions with a group of about 6 other people. It comforted me somewhat that there was a pretty big English Rugby player who was as scared as I was...although he kept talking about it. I just kept my palpetations to myself! I really felt like I was going to vomit when I saw the lions that we were walking with. Mike told me they would be little cubs...cute right? WRONG...These lions were about 20 months old and full grown. Our guide, we called him Jungle Jim, told up that the female wouldn't gain much more weight but the male, who had already began growing him mane, would fill out in the next year or so. Remember that viewing platform I mentioned earlier---it only existed to look at the lions in their 100ft x 100ft pen. At this point I was stuck! I had to go!
We started on the walk with Jungle Jim giving us each a 3 ft stick (By the way---that's the only protection he had as well!) and we started on a path into the woods...No lions yet! On the way he gave us some rules 1. Always look the lion in the eye 2. Never crouch down--the lion will think you're a small animal 3. Always keep the lion in front of you. 4. Stay in the group. If you go off by yourself the lion thinks your the weak link and will go after you. Next thing you knew, 2 lions came charging at us! I was in the very back of the crowd. I was lagging a little...I don't think my legs were working properly at first...until Mike told me I was starting to separate myself from the pack..THEN, I sped up! The longer we were with the lions the calmer I felt being around them. We took several pictures with the lions and followed them to different areas of the park. It was an hour long walk and by the end Mike was walking with them by himself--me not so much! There was only one really scary moment when another girl with us dropped her 3ft stick and bent down to pick it up...The girl lion started to go after her!!!!! Jungle Jim quickly put the lion in check and that was the only time that they every had to hit them. While I did get more comfortable with the lions as the walk went on, I was more than happy to get it over with!
We had a light lunch in the park, and then headed out again on our mini-safari. It was really kind of like the safari at Great Adventure--more of a children's attraction than anything else. We got to see a tortoise, monkey, some zebras, antelopes, a few ostriches, etc. We thought we might get to see a giraffe, but no such luck!
We had hired a car and driver for the day so we asked him to bring us around the "scenic south" as they called it there. The major attractions in this very famous part of mauritius is a very high, but very skinny waterfall, a dirt pit that is supposed to have 7 different colored soil, a giant hindu statue, and a dormant volcano. I guess the people don't really visit for the attractions!
Overall, it was a really great trip. The resort was top notch, though the beach was very European--quite rocky. We spent most of our time at the pool. The restaurants at the hotel were good, though a little pricey. Honestly, after talking about it, I think Mike and I would rather head to the Carribbean. The Beaches are nicer and it's a lot closer! It was a neat experience though!
On our way home, we decided to make our layover in Paris a 3 day side trip. When we arrived at Charles deGaulle Airport we got in a taxi and headed to the hotel. It was around 5PM when we got in, so it was the heart of the rush hour. Traffic reminded me of Lincoln Tunnel traffic. When we go to the heart of the city we drove right past the Arc de Triumph and through a traffic circle from hell! Our hotel was really swanky and right near the Louve. When we got in, we were both hungry so we ventured out to grab dinner. We had a nice dinner at an outdoor cafe and headed back for some shut eye! 11 hour flights can really take a lot out of you. Besides, the next day was chock full of activities.
With morning came a quick stop at a brasserie for some omelettes and then off to the Eiffel Tower. We were taking a bicycle tour of Paris which met there. The company we went with was called Fat Tire Bike Tours. They also have tours in Berlin, Barcelona, and London. They are an American owned company with American guides (ours was an LSU grad from Texas). The reason we liked it so much was that the tour (while it brought you to all the major attractions) gave you the American spin on things. I think the funniest part of the trip was when our guide LOST A GIRL! We were on the tour with a bunch of Aussies doing a "Drive About" a trip they do on a bus throughout Europe. This girl who really wasn't friends with anyone else and had never been anywhere decided to leave the group...who knows where she went or how she did it. We never found her though! Like I said, we hit all the major attractions--Napolean's military school, Louis XIV's palace, some churches, the Louve, etc. etc.That night we had reservations for dinner at the Moulin Rouge. Stupid Mike and Tara decided to follow the "elegant" dress code and were wearing clothes FAR nicer than everyone else there. Unfortunately, we don't have an photos there as it wasn't allowed to photograph it. Perhaps it has something to do with all of the topless cabaret dancers? The show was fun, and a little different than what we were expecting...There was a ventriliquist, a juggler, etc. Not just the topless dancing girls running around doing the can can. By the time the show was over and we were back at our hotel it was after midnight. We were exhausted!
The next morning it was cold and dreary. We really weren't prepared well for the weather having coming from a beach vacation. We got to Notre Dame--no sign of the hunchback though. But after that, it started to full on rain. We took their metro to the Arc de Triumph to grab some shots there and walked back down the Champs Elysee to our hotel. We had a flight at 4PM so we just grabbed some lunch and were on our way back to the airport.
We spent a week relaxing in Mauritius and ended on a real whirlwind, jam packed adventure in Paris. Paris was a city that surprised us. It was really quite beautiful, the food was great, and the layout was easy and convenient. We still don't like French people, but I'm not sure that will change any time soon. We're even thinking of ringing in the New Year there!
It was good to be home though. Especially when we had the whole weekend to unwind before Mike had to get back to the grind on Monday!
