Mauritius – See? No Sea! Part-1
An Island vacation? We have all been there, done that. Or that is what I thought. More so, since it was my third visit to Mauritius.
I had received my itinerary days in advance. A sense of déjà vu kept me from going through it. I was all set for the utter predictability of an Island holiday – lazing around on the beach, sipping a fruity cocktail, indulging in some seafood fine-dining, beer by the poolside, gazing at the sunset, a spot of water sports around the island and admiring colourful fish with a snorkel stuck in my mouth.
After landing at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, and checking into an idyllic resort (aren’t they all, in these beach destinations?), I spent a predictable lazy evening at the spa. That night, I browsed through my itinerary. There were some words in it that seemed out of place, but I was too sleepy to pay much attention to them. Before retiring, I just made a mental note of the time I needed to leave in the morning.
Of Reptiles, Amphibians, and more
My transport was punctual, and I got into it with my camera gear. Soon, we were cruising down a narrow, yet smooth tarred road. I leaned forward and checked with my driver about our destination. “La Vanille Reserve des Mascareignes…” he said. I must confess, for me, French is Greek. I again leaned back to sink deeper into my seat and left myself at his mercy.
We pulled into a car park and the only entrance was through a ticketed-turnstile. Since I was there on the Mauritius Tourism invitation, all the tickets were pre-purchased. So, getting in was not much of an issue. Once inside, I waited for the guide. It surprised me that the guide came dressed in safari attire. This is when my senses hit a red alert!
For the next couple of hours, I went around a well-landscaped nature reserve where I got photographed with a baby crocodile, fed a few fish to full-sized crocodiles, walked amidst many 100-year-old tortoises, patted a month-old turtle, posed with colourful, yet menacing-looking iguanas, and visited a private collection of bugs, beetles, butterflies and more – in fact, over 25,000 of them – by Mauritian scientist, Jacques Siedlecki! Even the restaurant here served a ‘crocodile platter’, which was interesting as the texture of crocodile meat is like chicken!
Adventure like no other
For lunch, they drove me off to La Vallee Des Couleurs Nature Park. This private estate sprawled over a few hundred hectares of hill terrain and scenic waterfalls. It offered a multitude of adventure activities that spell fun for the entire family. I whizzed down the world’s third longest zip line – 1.5 kms long – that offered a stunning view of 23-coloured sands (volcanic lava), waterfalls and the Indian ocean on the horizon.
I had just about recovered from this exciting adventure when the guide shoved a helmet towards me and told me to go out into a parking lot. Over two dozen quad bikes were crowding it. They asked me to get on to one and await instructions. These instructions were enough for a ride. Except, during the actual ride, this powerful hunk handled differently from any bike or automobile I had ever been on. The terrain was undulating and unpredictable. And this doubled the thrill!
It was only my first day in Mauritius and I had already clocked many ‘firsts’! That night, I paid a great deal of attention to the rest of my itinerary. While it talked of many on-sea and in-sea activities, what fascinated me was the vast variety of unique experiences available on land!
Over the next few days, my list of interesting encounters grew. A lion safari like no other, a plantation experience, and Hall of Illusions. All that, coming up next week!
