Day 1 - As we arrived at Mauritius, all so sleep-deprived with the 12am check-in, 2 am flight and nearly 6 hours of flight, we very much tired. But the resort(there is no other word - it was just magnificent) was so very inviting with the beach view that we almost forgot about sleep (well, temporarily!). And after a hot shower, we remembered all that we temporarily forgot and slept like logs. We woke up right in time for dinner, and after an African buffet, we walked around the resort and really appreciated it for what it was(in a woken-up mode). The room was lovely with the balcony opening up to the pool, garden and a fragment of the beach. The beach there is formed by coral reefs, and the area is so very clean that we fell in love with the place.
View from lobby:
This was what I loved the most at the resort (the bridge to heaven, as I called it...):
Day 2 - After an English breakfast, we decided to go through the various options available for us to spend the day, and after a lot of thinking decided to take the submarine ride - which according to the catalog, is available at only 3 places in Indian Ocean. The Blue-safari was indeed breath-taking, where we went 35m down the surface, and saw fishes kissing(I guess that's what they did) against the window-panes and the wreck of an old Japanese ship. The beauty of coral, the white sand and the uninterrupted calmness of the ocean surprised us.
After the submarine ride, we visited a public beach (which sadly had a French name which if I had to learn would not have given me the time to absorb the beauty surrounding me!). Then followed a walk along the roadside shops(which again were quite few in number and very clean), and visited a mall there - 'Jumbo'.
On the long ride back, we noticed how the driver sped the car carefully and swiftly across the tracks, and followed all traffic regulations(which again is quite a sight for someone living in Bangalore :)
Late evening, we took a long walk along the beach adjacent to our resort, and checked out the view from lobby, the Spa and the sports center.
Day 3:
This day was reserved for city(North Island) tour(that is - a day when we will not get wet), and did not turn out to be all so exciting. We visited the capital town - Port Louis, where there was a beautiful church atop a hill, and a fort close by it. After that we visited Apravasi Ghat, where Indians were brought by British to work on sugarcane fields in unhygienic conditions and very low wages.
After this we went to the Le Caudan Waterfront which is more like a small city by itself with its French buildings and wonderful shops which included Souvenir shops. We also walked around the China Bazar nearby with its many streets reminding us of Commercial street.
The drive back to the resort was wonderful as it was along a road by the side of the sea. I have no idea how an hour swept by and we reached back home - it was a truly beautiful ride.
Day 4:
This was most definitely a great day and off we went to the South Island. We first visited a souvenir-ship factory where they made souvenir ships(I can hear you say that it was obvious, but nevertheless..), and Adamas outlet where diamonds imported from South Africa are cut and polished.
The crated of an extinct volcano was quite nearby and once we reached there - the view was indeed breathtaking. The place was soooo very beautiful that I think we spent a lot of time gazing around and taking pictures. There was also a Siva temple nearby opening to a small river which they call as black Ganges. From the volcanic eruptions had formed Charamel - seven colored earth (I can swear that I counted more than 7 colors though!), and near to the Charamel ground was a beautiful waterfall (between - did I use the word beautiful again?).
We decided to call it a day and embarked on a journey back to the hotel (again along the beach and which indeed helped him as his lens would not have allowed him to take a nap and any journey along boring roads would have been a trauma since it was a drive of nearly 2 hours).
But hey, the most exciting part of the day was yet to come. We took a pedal boat from the beach and chose to ride along our resort, and as we pedalled rigorously we quite crossed our resort, and another, and well, another! But this was a wonderful ride with the current and as we were thinking of going back, a speed boat came to us(which had the boathouse-keeper in it), tied our boat to it and pulled us back to our beach (by them - it was dark, and he decided to give us a ride back since it was nearing the boathouse closing time). Oh man, the ride was wonderful and as he saw we enjoyed it, he took us a little further into the sea on our way back. It was too good and very much like the water sports we were to see in the next day.
And during the course of our dinner, we saw girls taller than me walking as a hoard(well, that captured my attention), and later got to know that Ms Mauritius 2010 was happening at the resort we had picked. Entertainment followed :)
Day 5:
We were all set for water sports, and off we went, straight to the dock from where we can do under-sea-walking. Here, they put a square-glass-helmet around our neck(which makes sure that our face does not get wet and that we get enough Oxygen), and stones around our hip to make us stay under water and experienced divers pull us down and straight to the bottom of the sea. Once we get used to the pressure levels there, we could walk around with fishes sniffing us(do they really, now?), white sand under out feet and corals all around. It was a different and un-worldly experience and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Especially the part where the diver pushed a piece of bread to my hand and I felt all the fishes swarming around it. It was just magnificent. After the 45 minutes under-sea-walk, we sped off in a speed boat to see a waterfall in an island. That was (again) a beautiful sight in itself, to go by a waterfall in a boat with water splashing all over you(and knowing that you are no longer in WonderLa but out in the sea!).
After this, we went to an island and went for para-sailing. That was the first time for both of us, and we truly enjoyed the panoramic view from the parachute. In between was a dip in the sea after which we were raised back to the air. This was indisputably the best part of the trip and as were dropped back to the land, we made a perfect landing. After that we explored the island for some time and then decided to call it a day.
(Between - that's us in the pic :)
Day 6:
Not a great start to a day, since it started with a Tetanus Vaccination(I had a small scratch on my leg caused during under-sea-walk and by no idea what but most probably rusted iron from the ladder we used to climb back). Since we had to fly back that evening, we decided to just spend the day in the resort, and did just the same. Walked round the place, said bye to everyone and everything, took a few last-minute pics and hopped in to a cab to the airport.
One of the things we said bye to ( from the beach with its many elements):
Day 7:
You might be wondering why day 6 came to an abrupt end at the airport - well, the trip ended there and on day 7 we were at Bangalore - he, at office, and me shopping for household stuff with my father and aunts. We thought that the chapter called 'honeymoon' in the book named 'life' has come to an end, and as we look at life now we know that it's not true - it never ends!!!
