It is of no wonder that Mark Twain once said “Mauritius was made first, and then heaven, and heaven was copied after Mauritius”.Having heard a lot about the beauty of Mauritius, we decided to visit this island and booked a seven day package with travelchacha.com, an Indian based international holiday planners. An island located in the Indian ocean,the beauty of Mauritius was truly beyond our anticipations.Iam glad to recall our days at Mauritius for the readers out here.

We boarded Air Mauritius from Bangalore and landed at the Sir Seewosagur Ramgoolam Airport, Mauritius by afternoon. It was the soothing breeze and the serene nature that welcomed us, rather than the welcome placards. We got into the coach arranged by our travel agents, and we were dropped to Hotel Coin De Mire Attitude, where we were to spend our week. It was a beautiful hotel, facing the crystal clear sea and the rooms surrounded with an astounding natural beauty of lush greenery and coconut plantations. It was almost dusk by the time we freshened up and we headed towards the dining area for dinner. After a delicious Mediterranean buffet dinner by the pool side, we were back to our room to welcome the next day.

Into the emerald waters!

It was a beautiful morning, and we were all excited ,looking forward to the water activities we had in our plan for the day. The breakfast menu was just perfect, with a mix of pancakes, varieties of breads, eggs prepared on your choice, sausages, bacons, chocolate drinks, juices and salads. Our pick up van was waiting for us, by the time we were done with the breakfast. We, along with a few other couples were taken to the sea side at Grand Baie, and we were all set to plunge into the emerald waters and enjoy the water activities there.We booked a package that included the Undersea walk, Parasailing and Tube ride.

I must say,being under the sea was just an unbelievable experience that one should never miss out in life.We were taken to the diving platform in the middle of nowhere in a boat. It was a scaring yet an exciting moment for us, visualizing ourselves under the water in the moments to come. We were asked to set our footsteps down a ladder that went into the sea and giant helmets(supposed to be 42 kgs!) were fitted on to our heads. And…before I could think what it was I could see myself at the bottom of the sea surrounded by a shoal of coloured fishes! It was a moment where I couldn’t believe that I was still breathing! An instructor underneath the water accompanied us,capturing our pictures,and we had a 15 minutes walk under the sea.We had an excellent view of the beautiful corals and few other patterned fishes and even had a chance to feed the fishes.The fifteen minutes under the water passed like just fifteen seconds, until we were signaled by our instructor to move up .

Back at the shores,we waited for our tube ride.We were provided with life jackets and were seated on a tube, having just a handle on both sides to hold on, and our tube was pulled by a speed boat attached to it. The strives we had as we both clung on to the handle to hold back our bodies, the screams we made out of joy, the waters splashing on our faces all made a ten minute ride through the dashing waves an indelible experience.

After the fun filled activities under the sea and on the sea ,now it was our turn to fly over the sea when we boarded the boat for Parasailing.It was a breathtaking experience as we flew over the crystal clear waters and enjoyed the enchanting beauty of the island from a bird’s view .The flight lasted for a few minutes and like a small kid, I couldn’t express how badly I wished for a second ride on it.

After a traditional Mauritian lunch,we were taken to Ile Aux Cerfs island, which is known to be a privately owned island in a speed boat, The speed boat ride to the island was just awesome and the view of the island with its swaying palm trees, clear blue waters and its white sand beaches was just as if we looked into a beautiful painting.

Along with the Lions

Our next day was actually meant for the Catamaran cruise, but unfortunately due to the bad weather conditions, we had to cancel it. We were initially upset ,yet with the help of our travel agents, we planned for something daring! It was to a visit to the Casela ,a nature park , to experience the interaction with lions.

It was a long journey,more than an hour from hotel, and this was our opportunity to explore the countryside of Mauritius.We passed by vast sugarcane fields and tea estates, enjoying the beauty of the coastal plains afar, and reached our destination in the western part of Mauritius, the Casela nature park.We could see a lot of visitors from different parts of the world queuing to get the entry tickets.. It was a perfect spot for adventure lovers, with a lot of activities to try out. We had opted for Jungle Safari and Lion Interaction. The highlight of that day was the interaction with lions, an ever first experience in my life. We were welcomed into the lion’s encounter provided with sticks to hold with us which they considered as a safety measure! (Well, I wondered how a stick could be a safety measure against the lions!).We were in a group of four along with our instructor. Thereafter were the awe inspiring moments as we patted the lion, sat beside it and posed for pictures along with them.

The park covered such a vast area that we were almost lost on our way until we reached the starting point for Jungle Safari. It was an hour ride in their Safari bus through the Casela jungle stopping at points to watch zebras, antelopes, ostriches and giant tortoises . It was fun watching the ostriches come near to us and gazing at us through the window and at times it even tried to get on board of the bus!

Sightseeing - Mauritius South and Mauritius North

During our next two days, we were taken to the North and South East regions of Mauritius, stopping at various sightseeing spots. The capital of Mauritius, Port Louis being the main centre of economy remained unpolluted and the roads were clean and well maintained. At Port Louis, we stopped at the Fort Citadel, an old fort which was built by the British around the 19th century. On climbing up, you get a fantastic panoramic view of the whole city with its French colonial buildings, the harbor and the faded view of distant coastal plains, making it a perfect spot for photography. We took our time to click some snaps, and then we were taken to a nearby shopping center, right besides the waterfront, the Le Caudan Waterfront shopping complex. The place seemed to be an all time hangout street with a lot of shops for jewelers, souvenirs, chocolates and handicrafts, restaurants, ice cream parlors, movie theatres and a casino too. The streets were just amazing with colorful umbrellas hanging all over, was something which I really loved there. A team of professional bicycle riders were performing a bicycle stunt show on those streets and it was a thrilling experience, to watch them play wonders with bicycle.