mauritius

Anyone thinking about a sunny beach vacation right about now? As I look at the ice on my window in Chicago, I am having some major “take me back” feelings while editing the pictures from our few days in Mauritius! Mauritius is a small island in the Indian Ocean, just east of Madagascar. It is a paradise island with a green, mountainous interior, surrounded by crystal clear turquoise water. I wish we could have spent a full week here – even though the entire island is only 40 miles long by 28 miles wide, there is so much to do! We struggled to plan our three days, because as much as we wanted to get out and explore the island, we also wanted to grab a beach chair at our resort and relax.

In order to maximize our time we rented a car so that we could come and go at our leisure. There was just one problem… they drive the same way as in the UK – on the opposite side of the road/car! I know you’re thinking, “But Steve and Kelly, you live in London, you should be pros!” And to that I say – we don’t drive in London! BUT, luckily, Steve is a champ and handled it just fine (he let me try on some back roads…let’s just say it didn’t go too well…).

Me, terrified. I lasted about 2 minutes before handing the wheel back to Steve!

Steve Fekety, Master of Left-hand Driving

On our first day, we drove toward the north end of the island to check out some of the beaches. We would park, go for a long walk, and then move on to the next beach. We were back to the hotel in time for lunch and to relax all afternoon!

So many palm trees lined all of the beaches!

The water was warm, clear, and pretty much perfect.

The perfect place to relax.

This is Grand Baie, a cove where people park their sailboats.

Take me back!

On our second day, we went to see the Chamarel Waterfall and the Seven Colored Earth. Then, we checked out another beach toward the south end of the island and spent a few hours there.

Exploring the lush green interior of the island!

Chamarel Waterfall

The seven colored earths… There is a lot of science behind what causes this, but all I remember is that it was really pretty!

Just a few tortoises that we saw!

We stopped at a viewpoint for a quick picture.

Probably the best view we found!

This was the beach we hung out at for the afternoon!

Steve travels a lot for his job, so we are fortunate enough to have platinum status with Starwood hotels; we were staying at a Westin (a Starwood property), so upon arrival we were upgraded to the best villa on the property (must have been low season)!! Even as we were on our flight to Mauritius, we weren’t yet sure if we were going to spend our third day exploring the island or relaxing at our resort – the upgrade answered this question for us! We went kayaking and snorkeling in the morning, and then hung out at the beach / pool and our own private beach the rest of the day!

Kayaking

We only saw little fish while snorkeling, but the reef was beautiful!

Our hotel offered a boat to take you further out into the ocean for better snorkeling, so we got some good views back to the island!

Our hotel room was pretty great, we had this private patio/beach area all to ourselves!

The main pool at the resort.

A Mauritian dance show!

The lobby of the resort was stunning! As soon as you walk in, you see straight out to the ocean!

As I mentioned earlier, I truly wish we had more time here. I would have loved to do some hiking and explore more of the island, but I think we got a good taste of Mauritius! It was SO beautiful and SO relaxing and we were treated so nicely. Plus, we got to swim in the Indian Ocean for the first time!