I had arrived in Mauritius with more preconceptions than underwear. That’s not to say that I had travelled light on pants, but that I had brought a huge number of notions with me. I thought I knew what I’d find – white sands, blue seas, excellent food, a perfect climate, luxury accommodation, and welcoming, English speaking people.
I expected to spend my time swimming, eating and lounging – on the beach, by the pool and by my own pool at Maradiva Villas Resort and Spa, in Flic-en-Flac, on the southwest of the island. It’s the World Travel Awards best Indian Ocean Leading Luxury Villa Resort for 2022, and World Spa Awards best resort spa for six out of the past eight years, so my mind was set on total relaxation.
My immediate response when I landed, after a 12-hour flight that had provided neither sleep nor good films, was that I was right. There were welcoming people, there was English (and French), there was the sun rising, untroubled by clouds, against blue. I fell asleep within minutes of climbing into my taxi. When I next opened my eyes, I was surprised to see a giant looming ahead of me, his bulky physique casting long, dark shadows across the landscape.
The giant had a name, my driver said – Corps de Garde, or guarding corpse, and he was a 720 metre mountain that was so named because when the French had owned the island, they had established a military post there to watch for runaway slaves. If I wanted to understand Mauritius, to feel its beating heart and know its history, he added, then I should visit the towns and mountains. I should take drives past the island’s sugar cane and plantations, spend time listening to its native Creol tongue, visit its rum distilleries and colonial mansions, and hike through its wild mountains where I would discover landscapes split by rivers and ravines, torrential waterfalls and still ponds.
Source link : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/africa/mauritius/came-mauritius-expecting-beaches-luxury-wrong/
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Publish date : 2022-11-26 08:00:00
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