Blogging Around The World

Cover Design: Cara Williams Photography: Cara Williams Copyright 2006 by Cara Williams All rights reserved

By Cara Williams

CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Chapter 2: Chapter 3: Chapter 4: Chapter 5: Chapter 6: 3 5 7 8 11 12

Chapter One
Prologue Before I get into the holiday itself, I should say that the reason I ended up going to Mauritius is that I bought five raffle tickets at work, where the first prize was two free Virgin long haul tickets to fly to a place of the winners destination. I never win ANYTHING and so didnt believe it when I was told I had won first prize. It is ironic as flying is my LEAST favourite thing, but here I was trying to decide which exotic location to go to. I chose Mauritius as it was glamorous, but not Too far to fly... 26th September 2008 It was a strange day, as not only was I going on a trip of a lifetime, but it was also my last day of work at Transworld. After the embarrassing speech and attention, I left the office for the last time at 2pm, jumped in Jons car and headed to his parents house. After last minute panics, we were in Vinkas car, speeding down the motorway towards Heathrow. The journey started pretty much as any other where Jon is concerned. He managed to break a tooth in the car on the way to the airport. Noone was surprised. Once at the airport, we bought some superglue and sealant for him and headed to the bar and shared a bottle of wine. Long haul flights terrify me, so after the bottle of wine, I thought sleeping tablets would be a good idea. I took two, a diazepam and had another glass of wine for extra measure. I still felt terrified. It wasnt until we had taken off and I woke up lying in a puddle of vomit on Jons lap that I realised I may have gone a little OTT. Other than that, the 12 hour flight was (still horrific) but smooth.

27th September 2008 On arrival, it was cloudy and raining, but still gorgeous. It was at this point, that we realised we had left our guide book on the plane. Little did we realise how much of a problem this would be, but luckily Jon had pre arranged a taxi for us. Salem our driver talked nonstop during the 1.5 hour drive through five main villages to reach Flic en Flac, where we had pre-booked a studio apartment. I had fallen in love with Mauritius by this point; the scenery was amazing. Lush green fields, mountains, picture perfect sea. It is exactly what you see on postcards. On arrival at the place we didnt have an address for (we had to ring the owner and put him on the phone to the driver and direct him), I took out money to pay for the taxi and realised I had been given Malaysian currency. I was so disappointed at M&S. Mental Note: compensation. Our studio was arranged through a friend of ours and so we got a great deal; 250 for 17 nights. To give you an idea of how cheap that is, the hotel complex next door to us charged 500 per person, per night. That is average here. Oh how smug we were. The apartment was very basic and run down and we shared it with all kinds of wildlife, but it was saving us thousands of pounds. After dumping our luggage, we went for a walk to get our bearings and buy a guide book. The town consisted of two clothes shops and an array of surf/diving shops. But I suppose when youre in paradise, what else do you need? 28th September 2008 After doing a bit of googling in a cyber cafe to get our bearings, we went for a walk, during which we were introduced to a tropical rainstorm. It rained like it meant it.

The heavy rain gave us the perfect excuse to take cover in a restaurant and eat (more). In the afternoon, we walked in the other direction, (away from town) and came across the most amazing resort. Although I am not usually a fan of fancy, exclusive resorts, this one blended in to the scenery perfectly. We were pros at acting like we belonged there and managed to spend a few hours enjoying the amenities, before heading back to the apartment to shower...which is when war broke out. It was us verses the largest swarm of flying ants I had ever seen. We spent a good hour and a half trying to get rid of them from our clothes, bed, shower...they literally got everywhere. And then the geckos came out. I actually think geckos are sweet and harmless, but we had about 8 at any one time above our heads, under our bed and climbing on the ceiling. They often fell off the ceiling which was unnerving when we were trying to get to sleep.

Chapter Two
29th September 2008 The next morning we were woken by a farmyard of animals. Cockerels, horses, geckos, crickets and goats made sure we were awake at 6am, ready for the arrival of Robby (the mysterious man who was renting us this apartment) who had come to collect the rent. We had been charged 2000 Mauritian dollars to stay here for 17 nights (which is 38!). After paying up, we headed to find a bus to take us to Port Louis (the capital of Mauritius), as we thought that was the most likely place to pick up a guidebook. The bus cost 26 rupees (or 50p) for an hours journey through rough scrubland. Port Louis is a bustling, polluted town, where you are constantly hounded by locals to buy their food/jewellery/DVDs. Drivers beep their horns constantly and the traffic is in constant gridlock. I felt really uncomfortable. We walked down every street to find 5

a bookshop, but the only one we did find only sold French books. We asked in every shop but gave up after two hours and went down to the sea front to have some lunch. After a salad on the pier, we started to head back for a bus home, which is when I spotted a poster of Harry Potter and got ridiculously excited to find a huge Waterstones style bookshop. We eventually found a BRADT guide to Mauritius and headed to the bus station, feeling smug. We stopped off at a local supermarket to get supplies for meals for the next few days and Jon had a nap while I sat in a hammock reading the guidebook and munching on pistachios. We went to The Gold Beach Hotel for (what turned out to be) a very expensive four course meal. The service was great but the food wasnt. We have mosquitoes. both been mauled by

30th September 2008 Jon had a bad stomach today but as we had both run out of money, we needed to make the trip into town to get money to buy medicine for him. We flagged a bus to take us the mile and a half journey to the town, picked up supplies and went and sat on the beach, reading to give Jon time to recover. That evening, we went ate at Blacksteer Restaurant, (which was highly rated in our guidebook). It was a steak restaurant, but we were not impressed. The meat tasted cheap and bland.

We went back to the apartment and took our cameras up on the roof where Jon got some of the most beautiful night shots I have ever seen. The sky was stunning.

Chapter Three
1st October 2008 We were getting a bus to the North of the island today to Grand Baie. This is the touristy part of Mauritius, which we werent that interested in, but the guidebooks say it has some of the most beautiful coastline in Mauritius. We guessed where to get off the bus and went to try and find somewhere to stay. The place we had found in our guidebook didnt seem to exist and we stumbled across a guest house called Latenier, where we bartered the cost of our room down to 1000 rupees (10) for the night. It is normal to barter like this which is bizarre to me. We dumped our stuff and wet for a wander. I was soon tempted by the sounds coming from The Banana Beach Club, which was an open air restaurant/bar on the beach. We ended up staying in there and listening to DJ Sensation for about four hours. After about 6 glasses of wine, I stumbled back to the apartment. 2nd October 2008 Woke with a hangover, but had to check out and find some full length trousers for me. I had only bought a pair of shorts to wear, but over night, my mosquito bites had quadrupled in size and were angry and weeping. There were no trousers to be found in Grand Baie, so we decided to move on to Flacq (on the East Coast of Mauritius). We went to a tourist looking hut to find out how to get there, but the guy ended up persuading us the East Coast is boring and that we should head to Troll deau douce, where he had a friend who could rent us a bungalow for 800 rupees for the night. The drive would take about an hour and a half 7

and the driver would take us first to Bella Move (which is meant to be the most beautiful beach in Mauritius) and then on to the bungalow. This would cost us 28. We spent about an hour on the deserted beach, before moving on to Trou deau douce. It is a tiny fishing village, which is half slum, half Hollywood in appearance. We paid for our room, (6 each) in the bungalow and went to look at the cost of hiring a car. The quote came to about 50 each for two days, so we decided we would hire one the next day from Flacq. 3rd October 2008 We caught a bus to Flacq at 10am it was dirty and a slightly less stressful version of Port Louis. We spent hours trying to find the car rental place from our guidebook, but didnt seem to exist. A kind cab driver gave us a lift to the place where he thought it was, but it had been closed for the past two years. Dejected, we trudged back to the bus station and got a bus back to Port Louis and then on to Flic en Flaq. To give you an idea of how small Mauritius is, it took us five hours to travel from the East to West coast. We were hit by another rainstorm that evening so watched a film on the trusty laptop in the apartment. 4th October 2008 We went in search of a car hire place, in order to book a car for Monday. This hire shop was very informal and we didnt have to show any ID to hire the car, which was a bit unnerving, but we paid our 20 and arranged to collect it early Monday morning. The rain and thunderstorms started in the early afternoon and went on all night.

Chapter Four
5th October 2008 Spent the day at the La Pirogue resort. 8

That evening, we headed to a piano bar we had spotted previously, down the road from our apartment for some drinks. We were chatting to the barman, who told us we were about to see a Sega show (the traditional Mauritian dance). The ladies tried to pull me up on stage, but I needed more alcohol to do that. 6th October 2008 We got up at 8am and got the bus to the car hire place. By 8.45am, we were in our Nissan Micra, heading in the wrong direction (thanks to my appalling navigating) and ended up at Black River National Park. This had been on our wish list of places to see, but we werent meant to get to it until late afternoon. We started a hike to find the gorges, (which make this park famous), but were attacked by so many mosquitoes that we had to turn back, as we had lots of bare skin and no repellent. We drove on to find Chamarel; a village in southwest Mauritius that is home to two natural wonders - the Chamarel Falls and the colored earths of Chamarel. It was underwhelming to be honest, but pretty and natural. We then drove onto La Vanille Reserve des Mascareigues (Reptile Park), where we held a baby croc and fed huge tortoises. It was amazing to be so close to these massive creatures it was just a shame that were too slow to take cover as another tropical rain storm struck. There was 10 minutes of hard rain, followed by baking heat again. We got lost after leaving the park. We were heading for Valee des Coleurs (which was a lesser known but supposedly more impressive version of the Chamarel coloured sands, but ended up at Rochester Falls. We followed the signs to the falls up a rocky, steep path and were stopped by a local, who offered to take us down to the falls and the volcanic pool at the bottom. We headed down a steep, mountain path to reach the bottom of the falls, which were picturesque. We admired the falls for a 9

while and then followed the guide back up to the main road, where we paid him 300 rupees (6) for his efforts. Next, we went to the Valee des Coleurs, which cost 3 each to get in. The sight was more impressive (as much as a pile of coloured sand can be) and we walked up and down the mountainside to reach the viewpoint and see the sands from a distance. We got back in the car and went to find Grand Bassin (a religious lake for the Hindu community here). We got lost however and Jon started driving like a maniac around the mountain roads to make it back to Flic en Flac before it got dark. We stopped off for dinner at a place called Havelis, which was hidden within a cluster of restaurants and bars in the Oasis complex. Our entire meal (with drinks) came to 20 and I thought that was amazing value, seeing as it was the best meal of my life. We were both tired after dinner so head back to our apartment to start our nightly routine of checking the room for geckos, doing a sweep for mosquitoes, lighting the repellent incense coil (that we keep hoping will work), cover ourselves in DEET, get the small bedside fan into a position where we both get a little comfort from it. It is 90% humidity here at this time of year at night and there is no air con in this apartment. I have grown fond of the apartment and the wildlife (apart from the mossies) and still cant believe how much we have saved on this holiday by staying here. 7th October 2008 Went to the beach and snorkelled today. I wanted to go out in the evening, so we went to Shotz Bar for a cocktail, had dinner at Shooters, but left feeling really bloated and lethargic, so put our party plans on hold.

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Chapter Five
8th October 2008 Woke at 6.40am but managed to leave Jon alone until 9am even then he was reluctant to wake up. After breakfast we went down the road to see the Sugar Beach Resort, which is one of the most exclusive in Mauritius we used our tactic from La Pirogue and walked straight past Security and Reception to the pool area, but had to leave when it started pouring with rain. It kept raining all day, so we spent the afternoon catching up with news from back home. That evening, we decided to cook in the apartment. As I opened the door to the kitchen, something hit me on the head. It was a gecko. The plight of this little gecko worried me as it seemed to be paralysed after falling off the door and onto the concrete floor. I felt really guilty. We left the apartment to have some drinks and returned a couple of hours later to find the gecko (unmoved) where we left it, except now it was being mauled by ants. Nature is cruel, (as are doors). 9th October 2008 We went to buy souvenirs today and then went to the beach for a bit, but it was grey and rainy. 10th October 2008 Pretty much the same story as yesterday, except we have no water in the apartment and I got chased by two angry dogs. In the evening, my writing got messier as I drank carafes of wine in a piano bar. And then the karaoke started. I sang about five numbers, one with a really short Mauritian guy and some solos, culminating in Whitney Houston. It was a really fun night. I fell asleep in my toast.

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Chapter Six
11th October 2008 Hungover and awake early. Grrr. I sneaked out of the apartment to get some supplies and then headed to the beach to read. Jon joined me about an hour later and just as he did, a local guy approached us. We were sceptical as locals approach you all the time on the beach trying to sell you stuff, but Jack was just a really friendly and entertaining guy who liked meeting new people. He told us about his 5 week holiday in England and how much he loved the place. He moved on to another couple after about an hour and a half, by which time it had clouded over again. Jon insisted we went to Havelis again that evening and I didnt mind one bit. The Murgh Karahi is the most amazing dish. We insisted on complimenting the Chef after the meal and he gave us the recipe, (which I have since tried and failed at). 12th October 2008 Started packing and went to get a quote for a cab to the airport for tomorrow. We were quoted 1600 rupees (35) but bartered down to 1300 rupees. We didnt realise how good we had it with the cab driver on the way here, (Salem), who charged us 1000 rupees, which we thought was expensive at the time. The weather was amazing today so we spent it in the sea and pool. After watching our last amazing Mauritian sunset we went for our last dinner at...Havelis! We had a cocktail at the Golden Beach restaurant on the way back to the apartment and the owner said they were opening a Golden Beach Hotel in December, which would cost 30pppn, which is the most reasonable accommodation I have heard of in Flic en Flac.

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13th October 2008 Sad day. We had a last walk down to the beach obviously the weather was stunning, but we had to leave at 10am for the airport, so couldnt enjoy it. While sitting in as hammock contemplating my holiday, I was struck by how sad I was to be leaving. Mauritius is beautiful the scenery is stunning mountainous, green and lush on the North coast, a series of sugar cane fields in the mid region and gorgeous, sandy beaches on the West coast. The fact that the flights were free and the accommodation was dirt cheap was a huge bonus. A fantastic holiday.

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