Mauritius is not just a dreamy tropical paradise, but so much more 

Mauritius is famous for its beaches, sugar plantations, and the extinct dodo bird but we were in search of something else, our destination this time on was to the gorgeous LUX* Belle Mare Mauritius. Our port of call after a fairly comfortable flight, on Vistara, was to Belle Mare, near the eastern side of the country. The ride from the airport to the resort took approximately 45 minutes, through lush green sugar plantations, which are hard to miss. Mauritius is truly the place to be if you wish to retire for some ‘sea air’ in peace, without the isolation of the Maldives, or the impetuous crowds of the Mediterranean.  

We were putting up for the first couple of days in one of the oldest properties of the island – The LUX* Belle Mare Mauritius. The entrance exudes old world charm, from its beautiful green tiling and biophilic design in the midst of a white backdrop, right up to the colonial style bungalows right up to the beach, it is a good encapsulation of the Mauritian vibe.  

Belle Mare is an area known for its resorts, and ideal to head to for a relaxed holiday. Since we had a bit of snorkelling and diving on the charts, the location helped us get in the mood of a holiday and not hit the ground running so to speak. Mauritius isn’t that easy to get around if you don’t have a car, so we rented out a car for the next two days.  

Unlike other beach destinations, don’t be fooled and slot only a couple of days for the entire country. There is enough there to keep you occupied for a entire week, if not more.  

Resort central 

The Belle Mare area is renowned for its mile-long white beaches, and we spent our next day there picnicking on the sand bank. Since in the southern hemisphere it is winter already, the temperature was a pleasant 20-25 degrees. The LUX* Belle Mare Mauritius has a vintage Rolls Royce attached to a chic food truck in the middle of the property, making it hard-to-miss. We helped ourselves to a very generous helping of Tom Yum, and Pizza and fries while heading back from the sea. The evening was reserved for a special movie experience under the stars. As we watched Moana with the kid for the nth time, it had a good ring to it, the sea adding its charm. Besides, this was the first time I had ceviche to savour in between the movie, as part of our three-course dinner. The following day, we headed out for some sightseeing. The Botanical Gardens in Mauritius houses some of the rarest plants in the world, and the Pamplemousses Garden with its giant water lillies is internet famous. The giant tortoises, indigenous to the landscape are a sight to see as well. A pleasant morning among nature later, we had worked up an appetite. We ended up feasting on one of Mauritius’ staple meals, a good serving of Fish Biryani! Mauritian food is super close to Indian food, and other interesting options including dholl puri (a version of the dal puri, with lentils stuffed inside a flatbread), gateux piment, like the lentil vadas, served with satini – a spicy coriander and green chilli chutney that makes up to all the spice lovers for the otherwise milder food.  

The Indian connection 

Mauritius has a deep connection with India. In what was called the Great Experiment, shiploads of indentured labourers were sent to the Caribbean, Mauritius, South Africa and French Reunion Islands, after slavery was abolished, to work on plantations. The Apravasi Ghat in Mauritius, is a testimony to the lakhs of Indians who entered the uninhabited island, slaved away on those lands, yearning for a journey back to the homeland. Several decades later, a Mauritian government has sought to do reparations, starting with a memorial dedicated to the men and women who crossed the ghats, and a repository index with the names and details of everyone who came there.  Next to the sea, the Apravasi Ghat, with the footsteps laminated in metal, are symbolic of the sacrifice of Mauritius’ forefathers to make this land the paradise it is, and a reminder of its colonial past.  

Our evening was spent exploring LUX* Belle Mare’s Beach Club Beach Rouge, with excellent Italian coast inspired fare. I stuck to my staple on the trip – a ceviche salad, followed by scallops, while my companion had an excellent Neapolitan pizza.  

African safari 

Next day, we hit it early to make it to the much-touted Casela National Park. Not only is the drive glorious, the location, on top of a hillock overlooking the sea, is one of the more gorgeous locations on the island. It is a great place to stop if you want to get the African experience, or test out a mini safari before heading to Serengiti with the kids. The national park is huge, and it is almost impossible to cover it in an entire day! While it has over 40 points to cover, we decided to get tickets for the African safari and the Big Cats Safari. The Big Cat and African safaris were in addition to the regular ticket for the park. It took us around 4 hours to cover both! But we saw Reuben the male lion, his wives and cubs, the Royal Bengal tigers including India, and two leopards canoodling away in the peaceful environs of the savannah. We moved on to the African safari to meet very curious ostriches who came and pecked at our camper, baby giraffes who unfortunately didn’t pay us any attention, loads of happy gazelles and other animals who kept the kids and us happy! If this isn’t the perfect family spot, I don’t know what is.  

Our night was spent checking into a new destination, an Airbnb off the coast of Le Morne, where we raided a supermarket for some bread, delicious French butter and other essentials, before heading off to our villa, with two cats for company. The next morning, we got up early for our whale and dolphin-watching tour, where we got to even snorkel with some of the marine creatures with an Italian skipper who told us about the friendly pod nearby. The afternoon was spent in exploring Mauritian street food, even though it was too late to go to Port Louis. We ended up cramming up some biryani that night, sad it was our last day, but determined it wouldn’t be our last trip to Mauritius.  

Our last evening was spent cramming up on some souvenir shopping. Great local rums made from locally grown cane sugar is a thoughtful gift if you want to look beyond magnets. Wooden dodos, ships and other local craft make for interesting curiosities to carry back.  

Getting there 

All Indian airlines including Air India, Vistara and Indigo fly to Mauritius from multiple destinations. Unfortunately, there is no direct flight from Delhi, so we had to take a connecting flight from Mumbai. Other than that, a cool 5-hour flight takes you to Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport.  

 Concierge services 

Luxury cars and convertibles may be found on hire from VIP cars, an online service. The hotel concierge service at LUX Belle Mare was pretty seamless, and gave us good tips on how to spend our time sightseeing.