Hike Mauritius
15th to 22nd October 2011
(In search of the Dodo)
by John Tyldesley
Participants: Jill Salt – Organiser, John & Audrey Tyldesley, Derek & Gretta Jones, Pam & Brian Harvey, Alan & Lynette McKendrick, Lucilla Claasen, Trudy Mills, Barbara Auret, Joy Loberg, Pierre & Bronwyn Hofmeyr (Friends of Pam and Brian),
Johan & Carol van Rooyen (Private booking), Robert Birk (Private Booking)
Saturday 15th:
Met at OR Tambo 06.30 am for a four hour flight (BA6399) departing 09.00 am. We arrived at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport at 3.30 pm (local time). (2 hour difference). On arrival we were handed a leaflet from the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life asking us to tell the health authorities if we had any of a whole list of complaints.
We were transferred by coach to the Silver Beach Hotel, an hour’s drive away, on the east coast, near to the town of Trou D’Eaux Douce. The hotel package was an “All Inclusive” one, meaning that the local bottled spirits, beer, house wine, cocktails, soft drinks, mineral water, fruit juices, tea, coffee and cakes were free. The mini bar in each room contained 3 beers, 2 cold drinks, 1 soda water and 2 bottles of mineral water, which was refilled daily - no charge. What a pleasure!
After settling into our garden rooms and unpacking, we headed for the bar to sample the free drinks, especially the cocktails, prior to dinner which was served at 7.00 pm. The dress code of Smart Casual (no shorts or flip flops) was a pleasure to see. After the buffet dinner we were entertained by the locals doing their Sega Dance.
Sunday 16th:
Buffet breakfast in time to start a walk northwards along the beach – approx. 10 kms. On the walk we passed hotels that were closed during the out of season period. Although the hotels were closed we were not allowed to take shelter under their thatched umbrellas. The security guards were quick to move us along to the “public” beach area! The highlight for the men was a topless bather, who drew many re-looks at the bronzed body, just to confirm that she was actually topless. All the men were of course topless.
Further along we passed the Memorial to the victims of the SAA Helderberg crash in l987. Here we had the unique opportunity of buying pineapples, mangos, cucumber dipped in chilli powder, if you wished, from a vendor on a small motorcycle (maybe 100 cc motor). The fruit was transported on the back of the motorcycle in a see-through case. Another vendor, selling sarongs, had his wife, his small child and a big kit bag on his motorcycle and he was quite willing to unpack all his wares to show us what he had to sell. These vendors were most enterprising people. We declined his offer and continued to the end of our hike at the Water Park, from where we were bussed back to the hotel in time for buffet lunch. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing by the pool.
We all met in the lounge for cocktails, which were named: Ocean Pearl, Gold Passion, Planters Punch, Zombie, Mid-day Sun and Silver Beauty. Needless to say by the end of the stay all had been sampled and in some cases re-sampled a few times! Dinner tonight was a Table de Hote followed by a disco.
Monday 17th:
Buffet Breakfast in time to be picked up at 08.30 am for the transfer to Black River Gorge’s National Park on the western side of the island. On our way to the La Marie Entrance to the park and the Petrin Information Centre, we passed through towns Belair, Rose Bele, Quartier Militaire, Curepipe.
The hike turned out to be approx 10 kms with the first part relatively flat for 4 kms to Macchabee view point, from where we had a spectacular sighting of the sea in the distance. Stopping to eat our packed lunch we started the descent to the Black River Visitor’s Centre and journeys end. However, to descend was something else, a drop in elevation of 500 metres, was very taxing on the knees, ankles and toes. Pierre was our very knowledgeable bird man, trying to find Echo Parakeet, pink pigeon, white
tailed tropicbird and Mauritian fruit bat among others.
Heading back to the hotel via Chamarel and Grand Bassin Lake. The lake is considered to be holy by the Hindu community which is 52% of the Island’s inhabitants. There is a temple at the lake dedicated to Lord Shiva and other Indian gods. Just before the lake is a giant statue, 35 metres high, known as Mangal Mahaden. Maha Shivaratree is celebrated every year and the Hindus make a pilgrimage from their home to the lake. Legend has it the statue commemorates the walk undertaken by an Indian God from India to Mauritius on water.
Hindu Gods are mainly with animal heads and human bodies which is one of the reasons that animals are also considered as sacred by the Hindus. This can be seen in the number of stray dogs roaming everywhere. It is a most disturbing sight, the dogs are starving, mangy and cower away as you approach them. The government rounds up the dogs once or twice a year, but no one really cares about them!
We arrived back at the hotel in time for a shower and cocktails before dinner, which was a buffet dinner followed by entertainment.
Tuesday 18th:
Due the closing of the Kestrel Valley facilities and Ylang Ylang perfume distillery for renovation, our itinerary had to be changed. Some went kayaking at Ille d’Ambre, whilst others went for a forest walk at Bra d'Eau. The walk was through a pine forest, on broad paths of lava rock. The walk was not very interesting and proved to be very hot and sticky. Not a good choice.
Kayaking by Lynette McKendrik
“Instead of the nature walk, some members of our group decided to do a kayaking trip through the mangroves of Ille d’Ambre which is situated just off the north eastern shores of Mauritius. It was fun and great to soak in the peace and quiet. After a briefing of how to use the paddles and learning distress signals we set off in double kayaks to the mangroves some 400 metres away. Here we snorkeled for about half an hour looking for colourful fish and then got back into the kayaks and paddled around the islands to the main island, where we stopped, enjoyed a short forest walk before having cake and a drink at the ruins of buildings. This tranquil islet island was inhabited from the 1750’s to the 1960’s and now plays a vital role in the marine eco system”.
The coach picked up the hikers first and then went on to the pick up the kayakers. They were just coming into land as we got there. We sat at the water’s edge to eat our packed lunch prior to setting off to Grand Baie in the north west for some shopping and cold beers on what had been a very hot day.
The day ended with cocktails, Table de Hote Dinner and Jazz night at the hotel.
Wednesday 19th:
A trip to Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botantical Gardens at Pamplemousses for a guided walk among the old trees and a leisurely stroll on our own looking at giant tortoises, deer from Java 1696 and a packed lunch alongside one of the many ponds and lakes. Another attraction is the giant water lily pond, Victoria Amazonica. We could not leave the gardens without viewing the trees planted by President Nelson Mandela and President Thabo Mbeke. The gardens are named after the first Mauritian Prime Minister and former Governor General. Pamplemousses is the local name for grapefruit.
From the gardens we went to the capital Port Louis on the west coast, a busy, bustling, vehicle-jammed town. First to La Citidelle (Fort Adelaide) built by the British in 1840 to protect its Governmental Offices from the French. It was named after King William IV’s wife. The fort has spectacular views of the capital, including the only racecourse in Mauritius, Champ de Mars, where races are held every Saturday.
Day ended with cocktails, buffet dinner and disco at the hotel.
Thursday 20th:
Drive southwards along the coastal road through towns and villages such as Grand Sable, Petit Sable, Grand Port, Petit Bell Air, Mahebourg. Arrived at Le Chaland and the beach at La Bouchon. From here we hiked 8 km further south on the unofficial Dodo trail, along the beach, inland through sugarcane fields, along the headland to Pont Natural. Spectacular views of the ocean crashing against the rocks and the hissing of the water through the porous lava rock. From high up on the rocks we could see large turquoise parrot fish swimming about in the water below.
After a packed lunch we set off back to Silver Beach Hotel in the combi. On the way we passed through an enormous sugar mill. Sugar is the main industry and the cane fields cover 80% of the island. It seems the sugar mill is also part of the Island’s Power Station. The sugar cane husks (stalks), after the sugar has been extracted, are burnt to produce steam to drive the turbines. This and diesel generators provide the island’s electricity. There is no coal on the Island.
We arrived back at the hotel in time to relax awhile before again proceeding to the bar for cocktails, Table de Hote for dinner and singing from a local folk group.
Friday 21st:
This was our free day. We decided to hire the hotel’s boat for a trip to Ile Aux Cerf, the venue of Le Touessrok Golf Course and 10 minutes away from the hotel beach. Two hours were spent on the island exploring, visiting the few shops and bars. Barbara, Joy, Trudy and Alan went parasailing.
Whilst waiting for the boat to pick us up, we partook of the cool drinks and rum provided by the hotel. The boat took us further south and up the channel to the source of a small waterfall, where the Deep River enters the sea. Macaque monkeys and huge fruit bats were seen in the trees along the cliffs.
On the way back to the hotel we dropped anchor at a nearby reef for some excellent snorkeling. We arrived back at the hotel just in time for lunch followed by an afternoon of leisure.
The evening followed the same course as all the previous evenings, cocktails, Table de Hote for dinner and ended with a most entertaining cabaret show. The resident singer, Jude, did his impersonations of Elvis, Tina Turner, Bob Marley and a hilarious Ray Charles.
Saturdaty 22nd: Day of departure.
We had time for some last minute shopping in the village before we left the hotel to catch the (BA 6398) flight back to S.A. The flight left at 4.00 pm and arrived at 06.40 pm due to the time difference.
We caught the local bus to the village, however, after five minutes the ladies saw the first shop and we all piled out of the bus. We then had a twenty minute walk to the village which afforded us the opportunity to experience all the mysterious smells wafting from the houses and shops, watch the local youths playing Boules and enjoy the frenzy of last minute shopping. The walk back to the hotel took approximately 30 minutes.
Many thanks to all for the wonderful company and hassle free trip. Thanks also to Jill for her organisational skills and putting up with our many questions and suggestions and providing the sunny weather during our stay.
My memories are of a deeply religious country with very ornate Hindu temples, some of which we were invited inside to look at and little shrines all over the place, including the small gardens of the people’s houses, on the beaches, in fact everywhere.
Another fond memory is arriving back at our room to find impressive towel sculptures on the bed, a bit like Japanese origami paper folding only on a bigger scale.
We never did find the Dodo
|
|
