Mauritius

March 22, 2018 The Muse Drop 8 Comments


Magnificent Mauritius

Bonjour


The crystal clear waters, the beautiful palm trees against the backdrop of a mesmerizing ocean, the calm weather and soft, hair-whipping winds... Aah, the perfection of an island.

I am obsessed with islands. I absolutely love them! How can you not relax when the ocean whispers so soothingly into your ears, calming all those crazy nerves?

For our honeymoon, my husband surprised me with a trip to Mauritius.

We flew from OR Tambo International, Johannesburg, South Africa. It was a five hour flight straight to the island.


When we arrived at the hotel, we were met by friendly staff who offered us refreshing towels and welcome juice.

Hotel: Solana Beach Resort
Island rating: 4
Hotel rating: 3.5


Food

(If you’re not a Muslim, you might want to skip this part as it focuses on halal food)

I was worried about the halal food because apart from being quite halal conscious, I am a major foodie! Good food excites me.

After our welcome drinks, we were greeted by the manager of the hotel (I think his name was Ahmed, but I cant remember so we’ll just call him Ahmed). Ahmed told us that the island had about a 25% Muslims population and that almost all of the food was halal because the butchers were Muslim owned. He then gave us the prayer times and provided us with other important information.

Now I am pretty finicky when it comes to halal food so I was not completely convinced. That was up until we went to the dining hall and realised that quite a few of the chefs were Muslim!

The bar was situated away from the kitchen so that was a good thing. I dont usually eat at places where they serve alcohol so I was relieved.

We specifically asked the chefs every night if the food was halal. However, we opted for fish, just to be safe.

Unfortunately for us, they served pork at the hotel (like almost all hotels) but when we saw the way they prepared it, we were at ease. They had completely separate utensils and were careful not to contaminate the food.

On one evening, as I walked towards the buffet, a waiter ran up to me and told me to stay away from a particular dish because it was not halal (even though it was clearly marked, he ensured that I did not even go near it!)

Every day, we would also ask about the desserts, just to be extra cautious. They did not include any alcohol in their desserts and assured us that they were halal.

We ate outside the hotel thrice. On one occasion, we bought pizza and on another occasion we went to McDonalds. The McDonalds actually had a halal certificate which was great! We also went to a small Muslim-owned takeaway after hunting for a specific restaurant that a friend had recommended - we couldn’t find it and we were starving so we found this takeaway.

However, like in any country, you should be mindful of what you eat. Remember, when in doubt, dont put it in your mouth!

Room


Our room was on the second floor and it was ocean facing. The room was floored with wooden flooring and the furniture was wooden too. Although, Im not a fan of wood, the room was quite nice because it felt cozy.

The bed was a large king-size bed with plain white sheets and two pedestals on the side. The entrance of the bathroom did not have a door but the toilet stall did (I will never understand why some bathrooms don't have doors!) The shower was an average size, and there was no bath tub.

The room was poorly lit but many could argue that it complemented the ambiance, giving the room a romantic feel. 

We had a beautiful view of the ocean from our balcony. It was one of those breathtakingly-picture-perfect-am-I-really-here views.

Activities and tours


There are countless water sport activities that you can do in Mauritius. As we walked along the beach, we were approached with various water sport options which sounded fun!

We went parasailing and it was super exciting. The way the para-sail lazily lifted us in the air and as we looked around, we gasped at the sheer beauty we were surrounded by… However, if youre afraid of heights, I suggest to steer clear from this activity.


We did not choose to do all of the activities with the hotel. Instead, we did most of the activities with those selling tours on the beach. Theyre cheaper and you can custom pick what you want to do.

We spent a day dolphin watching and touring certain places. On that day, we went with a tour guide from the beach who organized us a taxi and took us for a few activities.


Since Im not a great swimmer (and an extremely lazy swimmer), I wore a life jacket at all times. The snorkeling gear took a while to get used to but once we got used to it, it became so much easier! Although, I had to remember to breathe through my mouth and not my nose. Also, you need to ensure that the snorkels are attached firmly to your face, otherwise you will have water seeping into the goggles and that leads to extreme frustration.

After swimming with the dolphins, we were taken to an area to snorkel for about an hour or so. By then, I was feeling quite cold because it was a pretty windy day. Wet clothing coupled with wind is bound to make anyone shiver!

So while I sat on the boat, my husband spent some time snorkeling. Apparently there were hundreds of multicolored fish and I really missed out. Oh well, I was too cold to care at that point.

When we got off the boat, we changed into dry clothes. The husband had to hold up a towel and conceal me while I (very awkwardly) got into some dry clothing.

Thereafter, we hopped into a taxi and we were off to our next stop. We arrived at some kind of park that had a hiking trail. We walked for a while before I got tired (#thatlazylife) and wanted to head back to the taxi so that we could be on our way to the next stop.

We then stopped at the dormant volcano. There were lots of monkeys in this area but they didn’t really bother me. In fact, they were pretty entertaining.


We stopped at the beautiful waterfall. It was stunning and peaceful. Here, we walked towards a quiet area and we prayed our mid-day prayers (Dhuhr salaah). We had packed a bag for the day and this included our travel prayer mat and a compass (although you can use your cellphone as a compass).

For our last stop of the day, we made our way to the coloured sands. This was absolutely beautiful and it really got me thinking. As my eyes caressed the many different colours of sands, I was in absolute awe. Each of the different colours of the sand reminded me of the many different skin tones on this diverse earth (too bad we all can’t live in harmony and in sync the way these sands do!). Its truly an enthralling experience.


One of the other tours we tried was the Catamaran/Ille Leux Cerfs island. Unfortunately, we only spent about an hour on the Ille Leux Cerfs island and the rest of the time on the catamaran. The island was beautiful but our time exploring it was too short.

During our catamaran ride, there was a braai/barbecue. We did not end up eating any of the food because it was stored too close to the alcohol. Also, there was only meat and no fish.


On the Friday, we decided to rent a car and drive around the city (you're allowed to do this with a South African licence so that's a plus). We used the maps on our phones to navigate through the island. We stopped at a mall and the markets for some shopping.


We found multiple mosques (masjids) along the way but just before the Friday prayer (Jummah), we met a Muslim couple who we bought a few things from. They insisted that we join them for lunch but we politely declined. They then took us to the mosque and gave us directions for a few restaurants/takeaways that we should try.

Thereafter, we made our way to the botanical gardens where we spent the rest of the afternoon. We prayed our late afternoon prayers (Asr) in the beautiful gardens.


On our way back to the hotel, the stunning sunset caught or eye so we stopped there, prayed, and headed back to the hotel.

Dinner on the beach


As we had the honeymoon package, we also had the opportunity to have a romantic dinner on the beach (if you do not have the honeymoon package, you can always pay for this extra service.)

We chose a seafood menu and received a personalized menu before our meal. It was super cute!

The food was okay, nothing to brag about but the ambiance was wonderful! Sitting on a quiet beach and having a candlelight dinner with the stars glistening on cue is something that should be on every bucket list!


Miscellaneous notes 


It should be noted that there are quite a few stray dogs on the island and a few cats. This was a bit of an inconvenience because I am extremely allergic to cats. Fortunately, I didnt see many cats but I did see a lot of dogs. Most of the locals that sell tours will have a dog with them.

Also, on some parts of the island, the sand is not that soft because of all the dead coral or broken sea shells. So make sure you take beach slippers with because its not fun to walk on rough beaches!

All in all, our honeymoon was absolutely wonderful! I wouldnt change a thing about it. It was fun and relaxing and oh-so-special!

If you’re planning a honeymoon or even just a romantic getaway, I would suggest going to Mauritius. You won’t regret it.



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8 comments:

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  2. I wish I could go back... I adore Mauritius. How was the beach at the hotel itself?

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    1. There was a lot of coral on the beach so it wasn’t a walk on the beach (see what I did there😜). However, it was pretty quiet and once you get past the first few meters of the ocean, the sand starts to get much softer. Also, there were so many wonderful water sports offered on the beach.

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  3. Love this. Looks peaceful and blissful

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  4. We also honeymooned in Mauritius and then had the opportunity to visit again last year. It’s truly out-of-this world in its raw beauty. I would go back again and again! Thanks for the great review and for rekindling my own fond memories of my stay :)

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