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Published: July 11th 2008
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Le Morne
Le Morne After a very long 12 hour flight to Mauritius we started our descent over the island. The plane came to life as everyone craned their necks in anticipation to get the first exciting glimpse of paradise. Then my boyfriend pipes up and says 'oh, it looks a bit like Scotland'. Talk about passion killer, he may have well said 'your bum looks particularly enormous today'! By the scowl on my face he quickly retreated back into the High Life magazine and didn't volunteer any further thoughts. But I hated to admit it did look a bit like Scotland - very green and lots of mountains.
On the ground, thank God, Mauritius is nothing like Scotland. As we drove through miles and miles of sugar cane fields with the sun shining and in warm tropical breeze blowing into the car it became very obvious that we couldn't be further from my mother land. The sea along the coast road was turquoise blue and calm, but about half a mile out to sea we were mesmerized by the huge barrel waves crashed violently on to the reef.
The Heritage hotel we'd chosen to stay in certainly lived
Here kitty
Here kitty up to its brochure billing. As the car approached we were greeted by the beat of African drums and a cold face towel. The hotel was like something out of the pages of Conde Nast with infinity pool, slick wooden interior and the smell of orange and jasmine wafting around. The french creole cooking (croissant for breakfast, curry for dinner) was fatal and all of a sudden a four course breakfast seemed the norm. It's very easy to see why people arrive there and never leave their comfy pool lounger until it's back to the airport, but to me that just seems like such a wasted opportunity.
The South coast where the hotel is located is the most under-developed on the island. The hotel is along-side a couple of others on a old sugar estate called Bel Ombre, but aside from these hotels most of the south coast is made up of remote sandy beaches and small fishing villages. We rented bikes and it was possible to cover quite a bit of ground along the winding coast road, but to see more of the island we opted to hire a car for a couple of days.
Hotel
Hotel The main population of the island is Indian hindu, with a bit of french, african, creole thrown in for good measure. For such a tourist destination Mauritius has a very relaxed and friendly feel. Women in colourful Saris go about their day to day business, while the saga music beats in the background from roadside stands and the mangy dogs have a good sniff of each other in the middle of the road.
The major attraction for me was a wildlife park I'd seen advertisements on the island. Part of the park is run by a couple from Zimbabwe who operated a 'walk with the lions' experience, where you can take an hour long walk with the big cats. It sounded just too amazing to be true and I expected something a bit watered down and perhaps even a bit circus like. However, it has to be said it really was one of the best things I think I have ever done. The guide took us out into the bush where we waited while he went to collect the lions from their enclosure. We all stood there glued to the ground, it was a real
Black River Gorges
Black River Gorges wow moment when the two cats stalk towards you with the guide. Here puss, puss - fancy some Whiskers (I think not!)? Although the cats have been raised in captivity there are still very much wild animals, but it was possible to touch then and walk close to them as long as you are sensible. The man who runs the park was hugely knowledgeable about the animals. He had such a passion and respect for the cats and seemed a bit like their pack leader. We strolled along at the pace of the lions and had to wait while they decided to take short naps in the sun or just lick each other. I think I spent the whole time pinching myself - is this really real?
We made our little hire car work hard for us and I don't know how its poor hairdryer engine coped with the Mauritian mountains. We drove into the national park to try and catch a glimpse of the rare pink pigeon (no luck) but got some amazing views from the summit of the mountain down through the black river gorges to the sea. We also checked out the Charmel 'coloured earth' - which does what it says on the tin- there is earth and it is coloured!
I swear the holiday was on fast forward because I had such an amazing time it just flew. Even Oli is asking where we are going next! Result!
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