Mauritius

Beautiful Beaches and Big Speakers

We spent a full month in Mauritius, making it feel truly like home. We celebrated Christmas and New Years there. We enjoyed beaches, hiking, shopping, pool time, animals, bowling, and downtime at our apartment. The grownups even enjoyed a few date nights thanks to a local babysitting service for tourists. We quickly learned that coffee shops do not open early and that Mauritians love loud music and good vibes.

We stayed at Nayuha Buildings Apt B2, a three bedroom apartment a short walk from the beach. Our host was extremely hospitable, very quick to address any concerns or questions. We enjoyed the two minute walk to the beach through the cemetery, short walk to town, the small pool that fit our family and allowed the littles to swim more freely, the small balcony with a view inland, and the roof where we could hang clothes and enjoy more views. The short walk to the beach meant easy sunset strolls or evening fireworks at the beach. When we got stuck in Mauritius a few extra days, we needed to shift to this apartment further inland. This was more space and the pool warmer but a bit of a hike to the beach and town.

Beaches

In Mauritius, we spent a decent amount of time at the beach. We primarily walked to Flic en Flac Beach, which is a combination of beach and wooded park space. On the weekends, the park would fill in with Mauritians with elaborate setups including tents, a cooking area, and sitting area, and big speakers. There were often generators involved as well. I primarily enjoyed relaxing on the beach while kids swam or played in the sand. We also bought snorkel gear early on that we used throughout our visit and left behind. During the short time we rented a car, we also visited Trioux Beach, Tamerin Beach, La Morne Beach, and Blue Bay. It is worth noting we all needed showers and wash our bathing suits after Tamerin Beach because of the silt.

Hiking

is generally not for the light hearted on Maurtius but we managed a few good hikes. The first we went on was the Seven Cascades Short Loop, which we should have hired a guide for. It was short but steep with beautiful views. The trail was a bit rough, including clambering over rocks, and we managed to lose te trail and take a significant and steep detour. The grownups were getting a little concerned about the sun setting before we escaped. Once back to the trail we found some local hikers that helped up stay on the trail. We managed it to the end. Sweaty and dirty, we celebrated the finish with a few fresh coconuts from a coconut stand at the entrance/exit.

We were nervous about our hike at Ebony Forest Reserve because it was lightly raining when we arrived but it cleared up quickly for our walk up. There are options for far and how challenging you hike. There is a map and well marked trails. There are also tortoises and lovely views. We took the Kestrel Trail to the Flycatcher Raised Walkway and took the concrete track back. On ethe way back part of our group took the Ridgeline Trail to the Le Morne Viewpoint. Our three year was not interested in any extra hiking so he skipped the viewpoint but did enjoy the tortoise enclosure on the way back and waiting in the small museum in the visitor center. After our hike we made a short stop to enjoy the Chameral Falls.

La Morne is a challenging hike. Kids are not allowed on the second half. Even adults can only go with a guide. And we had to sign waivers at the entrance even for just doing the first half of the hike. Despite trying to get out the door early, it was hot and we didn’t even finish the first half of the hike. But we did make it to a few beautiful views before heading down and heading to the beach.

One of my favorite days during our stay to Mauritius was our hike at Sophie Nature Walk followed by a visit to Ganga Talao. The hike was short but magical. Upon arrival to Ganga Talao, we enjoyed the magic of the giant Shiva and received a blessing. We walked around the lake and visited the temple for Hamunan, which required facing off aggreesive monkeys. We managed and enjoyed the views that we received. It was a beautiful experiance to witness families coming together for blessings for any next steps or challenges in their lives.

Other Fun Outings

Early in our visit we spent a day at Casela Nature Parks. We had a morning safari ride that was a bit overcast by our safaris in Kenya but still much appreciated (especially the close up with zebras). We headed over to our cage on wheels for a close up with various wild cats, lions and tigers oh my! After, we enjoyed feeding tortoises, riding the Tulawaka Gold Coaster, and seeing a wide variety of birds We didn’t add any options besides the wild cat ride because we thought we could so ad hoc but were very very wrong. Luckily most options we could live without and a lovely couple gave us their remaining fruit so we could feed a few tortoises.

While A8 and J enjoyed scuba lessons, I took the rest of the kids on a submarine adventure where we saw a shipwreck, fish, and a school of scuba divers. J and A8 not only did the dives needed to be certified but enjoyed a few more dives with J’s dad who made the long commute from Virginia to spend a week with us (to everyone’s excitement).

We really enjoyed an outing to L’Aventure du Sucre. They provided a kid scavenger hunt that got a bit involved for K and the two oldest kids but all got their rewards in the end. We learned much about the history of Mauritius in the interactive museum and at the end the grown ups got to taste test a few liquors.

Mauritius has a variety of malls that tend to be busy. We made a few visits to Cascavelle for shopping, food, and bowling. We also visited Pheonix one rainy day and attempted to visit Santa at Bagatelle.

Near the end of our visit, we went on a dolphin boat ride. We arrived at Tamarin Bay at 7am to ride on a boat and see Spinnes and Bottlenose dolphins. We then headed to see Crystal Rock before going to Île aux Benitiers for a BBQ. The kids played in the sand for a few hours while we chatted with other travellers and enjoyed some Pheonix.

Medical Stuff

A few medical items needed to be handled while we were in Mauritius. Two of our kids needed their annual wellness checks so K took them to the doctor while their. The whole experiance was smooth and reasonably priced. We also learned that kids in Mauritius take medication for worms every 6 months so we got a prescription that worked for the whole family. Getting remaining needed vaccines was a little trickier. There is one place in Mauritius where we can get the vaccines needed to move forward with our trip. Getting the vaccines involved two day trips to Port Louis. Why two? Because there was a miscommunication and one of our kids didn’t get one of the vaccines needed and the cashier closed for the day. So we needed to make a second trip for him to wrap up his vaccines. Everyone we interacted with was kind and helpful but the single location with extremely limited hours felt a bit insane to us. We were however able to combine our visits to the international vaccine clinic with a visit to Port Louis.

Holidays

Mauritius was a lovely place to spend the holidays. There wasn’t much for Christmas but there was enough decorations and special events at malls to make the season for us. Even more exciting was the new year. Mauritians seem to love the new year. On new year’s eve, we saw many people setting up camp and small parties to celebrate the new year. In the evening, we went to the beach to find ourselves in a family friendly rave. At midnight, we witnessed the most spectacular fireworks of our lives thus far. We woke up the oldest two at midnight to see fireworks blasting all along the coast and throughout the city. No space seemed safe from the fun. We weren’t originally supposed to spend new years in Mauritius but I will forever be thankful we did.