Mauritius

Mauritius

Mauritius is one of the many small islands in the Indian Ocean. Belonging to the African continent, Mauritius is a good tourist attraction. The total area of the island is only 2090 sq. km. and the distance between the north and south is 65 kms, so you can imagine how small the island is. Although it is small, it has some unique places which are different from what you see elsewhere.
The currency here is Mauritian Rupee which is double the amount of an INR.
You get Mauritian Rupee is available in all forex, but better is to exchange there, either at the airport or outside. The conversion rate is better there, than in India.

Let me take you through some of the attractions here.

We had booked a 6-day package with a tour operator. Booking a tour package, has its own advantages, as they show you the famous attractions, and you do not have the fear of getting lost. But of course it comes at a cost, as they seem expensive and not suitable for budget trips. Nevertheless, this was a package trip where 4 days were already pre-booked and 2 days were left to our leisure. So let me take you through each day.

Day 1:

The airport is on the southern part of the country while our lodging was on the northern part, at a place called Trou Aux Biches. Mauritius was a French colonized country so you get to see lot of French names.
The visa is free and on-arrival for Indian citizens. Since the whole flight had Indians, the line seems a bit longer at the immigration. After immigration, we set out towards our destination.
Our journey was a bit lacklustre as it was an hour long journey. However, we got to see the Sugarcane fields, which is Mauritius' main income, and the capital city of Port Louis. We reached the resort and checked in for some good rest.

Day 2:

This day was planned for the southern part of the country. First, we visited one of the dormant volcanoes here -  Trou Aux Cerfs. It has huge crater filled with water now. Its on a hill and the view from here exposes the city which was beautiful. After this, we visited the boat manufacturing industry which is famous here. From there, we went to a Hindu temple - dedicated to Lord Shiva, called the Ganga Talao or the Grand Bassin. 

(Lord Shiva statue at Ganga Talao)

From the temple, we visited out main attraction, La Vallée des Couleurs (Valley of Colors). The name is so called because here you get to see 7 colored soils. The colors are because of deposits of Iron and Aluminium in the different mixtures, that give different colors.

(Stipes of colors)

The place is a national park and holds deers, turtles in it along with a waterfall within it.

(Waterfall in the valley)

(A stag)

We were back into our resort for a comfortable rest.

Day 3:

This day the trip was planned for the northern part of the country and the capital city of Port Louis. Since we were already located in the northern side, the day ended quickly. We started with a visit to 

Red Church at Cap Malheureux. This is at the northern most point of the country with the sea behind it. It is one of the popular churches and one might have seen this in many movies.

(Red Church)

From here, we visited the Citadel Fort. This was built by the British and is perched atop a hill of about 100m from sea level. The fort provides breathtaking views of Port Louis.

(View of Race course from the fort)

(View of Port Louis)

(Inside the fort)

From the fort, we went to the Marie church, the Queen of Peace. This is a popular place in Mauritius and one would have seen this in the Hindi movie 'Mujhse Shaadi Karoge'.

(Mother Marie church)

The rest of the day was left to us and we visited the biggest mall of the country - Le Caudan Waterfront. With multiple restaurants, shops, casinos, this is one place to visit. We retreated back to our resort from the mall.

(View from the mall)

(A French restaurant)

(View of the mall)

(Ocean overlooking the mall)

(One of the casinoes int the mall)

Day 4: 

This day was reserved for a trip to Ile Aux Cerfs - one of the famous island attraction. The island is around 50kms from Port Louis and is towards the eastern part of the island. The island is famous for its white sand beaches and lagoons. We took a boat ride to the island from the main land.

On the way, we also did under water walking and visit to a nearby waterfall (name unknown).

The whole day we just roamed around the island and on the beaches before returning to the resort.

(Waterfall near Ile Aux Cerfs)

(Lagoon in the morning)

(The same lagoon dried up in the evening)

Day 5:

We booked a trip to Casela National park and dolphin watching.

Early morning, we left to the west coast for dolphin watching. We took a speed boat and after a 45 min ride, we stopped in middle of nowhere. As per our guide, the place was nest for dolphins. Accordingly, we began spotting dolphins. With snorkelling gear, we could see them under water as well and this was a tremendous experience. Unfortunately, I couldn't click any photos here. From there, we visited the Casela National Park which around 40kms from Port Louis. What makes Casela famous is that we could interacts with big cats - lions, tigers etc, feed giraffes and also Ostrich safari.

(Lioness interaction)

(Casela)

(Ostrich safari)

(Giraffe feeding)

Day 6:

This was left to our leisure. So we visited a beach around 5kms to a place called the Mont Choicy Beach. This is one of the spectacular beaches, with turquoise water and sports activities like jet skiing, parasailing, tube boat, banana boat etc.

(Mont Choicy Beach)

In the evening, we visited the Grand Baie area, which is a large tourist destination. We could see the Mauritian famous boat called the Catamaran boats around here. This place also has some good shopping malls.

(Grand Baie)

(Catamaran Cruise)

Day 7:

Our trip was coming to an end. We had our flights in the evening, so we still had some time left in the morning. We visited the local Trou Aux Biches beach and strolled around before returning and packing our bags. We left Mauritius with lots of memories.

Mauritius is definitely a place to visit. Although, it may seem a bit costlier, the attractions are worth seeing.