It was an early start from Bangalore. Our flight was at 4 am from Kempegowda International T2 and was a direct one to Mauritius. Thanks to Indigo, a lot of international routes have opened up from Bangalore – very convenient instead of taking long layover flights via Mumbai, Delhi or another country.

Quick side tip: 4 am flights mean hardly any sleep which usually translates to acidity and discomfort for me. After many such flights, I made sure I was prepared this time – eat light the previous day, pack luggage one day in advance with checklists and sleep at 8pm to get 2 hours of deep sleep.

Journey and arrival – first sights

The flight was almost 6 hours long – that’s a long sitting for an Indigo flight with its hard seats, no entertainment system and no food. The good part was the weather – we got beautiful sunrise views and there was no turbulence throughout the journey. As we reached the island, we could see how huge it was – our reference point was Seychelles (you can read it after this story). There were hills strewn across the island with plains in between and we could see the weather changing every few kilometres.

We landed at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport at Mauritius at 9 am. You can read that as “Shiv-sagar Ram-ghulam”. More on the history of Mauritius later.

The immigration process took a lot of time. There was an online form to be filled for each person – there were QR codes available with the link but it was not prominently displayed. Our counter was especially slow and it took forever.

After spending almost an hour at immigration, we went out and bought SIM cards from Emtel (there is only one pack that tourists can buy which works out well for a 1-2 weeks trip). Our car rental guy was standing right outside the gate and he took us to our car (details of the car rental will be in the itinerary blog).

Picking up our rental car

Our car rental guy had an Indian name but spoke English with a French accent. He was joined by another guy who looked South Indian – he practiced his broken Hindi with us which also had a weird accent to it. They offered us a choice between a 7-seater and a 5-seater – the second one was a Toyota Raize which was more compact and still had enough space for our luggage. It would be a lot easier to navigate the narrow roads especially with buses going around. Our Seychelles experience was playing a role in setting expectations!

We had a small setback here – we were planning to pay the amount by card but he said he didn’t have a machine and could only take cash. This meant we would have to visit an ATM soon as we weren’t accounting for this as a cash expense. Anyway, we completed the paperwork and left for the town of Mahebourg which was 10 mins away.

Tip: Keep some extra cash (around 200 USD if possible) just for emergencies like this. You may not be able to avoid the ATM visit but it can carry you for the first half of your trip.

First thoughts

Just as we left the airport, it started drizzling – we hoped it would die down soon. The roads were very good – the highway had a speed limit of 110 kmph and looked very well maintained. The car was very good too – it had all the safety features that were there in our Georgia rental car (lane departure warning, obstacle warning, automatic lights, front proximity warning and resistance on the steering at high speeds).

It made me wonder why Indian cars had none of these by default – as if safety was not a priority at all. But then again, given the Indian road etiquette (especially in cities), the car would be beeping with these warnings all the time. So, I got my answer!

A short story about sugarcane

There were sugarcane fields on both sides of the highway. Sugarcane was first introduced to the island by the Dutch in the 17th century – mainly to make an alcoholic drink called Arrack. It grew as the dominant industry and backbone of the economy throughout the Dutch, French and British times – who brought more and more slaves and indentured labour from India to keep it running. Today, sugarcane plays a big role in power generation in the country – its byproducts are used to run thermal power plants.

Mahebourg

It was around 10:30 am by the time we reached Mahebourg. We drove to a restaurant which showed up as open on Google Maps but they weren’t. The lady there said that everything opened only around 11 am and it was tough to get morning breakfast places in this part of the island. The slow island life! But not a good thing for tourists travelling in Mauritius with kids and staying at places without breakfast.

We kept driving and found a place called Coin Casse Croute (meaning “snack corner”) that was open. Everyone was super hungry and we ordered a bunch of stuff – crispy calamari, rice and curry, upside down chicken noodle bowl and some juices. The food took forever to come – apparently they wanted to serve the starters first followed by the main course.

Others who walked in later and ordered only the main course got their bowls much faster. The noodle bowls seemed to be a staple breakfast here for the locals. A lesson for later. The food was excellent – the calamari we had here was the best we ate in the entire trip. It was Parth’s first time eating calamari and he really enjoyed it! The noodle bowl was also surprisingly good.

Meanwhile, it had started raining heavily. We had umbrellas but they were inside the suitcases in the car. Luckily, the rain stopped by the time we finished our meal. There was a long line outside the restaurant – clearly it was a popular place!

The Mahebourg waterfront was nearby and we walked towards it. The water was clear with various shades of blue and green. The waves crashed in the distance where the long stretch of shallow water met the deep ocean. A man sat on the edge of the waterfront – he was fishing. Parth was super intrigued by him and even got to see him successfully catch a fish! We sat there and took some photos.

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The biscuit factory

We filled our petrol tank at an Indian oil pump nearby and went to our next stop – the H. Rault Biscuiterie. It was a biscuit factory where they made Manioc biscuits. It was located on a small hill in between huge plantations of cassava. The factory opened in 1870 and the biscuits are made by hand using cassava flour. You can take a tour of the factory where they show you the stoves and process. 

We opted for the tasting session where we got all their flavours of biscuits and galettes (around 14 of them in total). It was paired with tea and coffee and we had a nice little tea party in their garden. Parth loved the milk and butter flavours – he would take one biscuit, walk around, sit in a corner, hold it like a cute squirrel with both hands and eat it while his curious eyes explored the garden. When we were done only the star anise, cinnamon and coconut flavours were left on the table!

It was a quiet and enriching stop – one of those under-the-radar family-friendly places to visit in Mauritius that also offers an authentic Mauritius cultural experience.

Driving to “The North”

It was time to drive north to Mont Choisy – the town where we had booked our stay. We had to cut across the island diagonally towards the north-west and drive 1 hour and 15 mins. It was a super smooth drive thanks to the highway. Mauritius had plenty of roundabouts and few signals – which meant a lot of slowing down but hardly any stops. There were boards on every roundabout which pointed to “The North”.

Soon, it started raining. And this was not a drizzle – it came down in torrents. The roads were full of water and the wipers could barely keep up with the speed of the rain. But there was no danger of potholes and the cars kept moving slowly. We decided to move into the slow lane and kept driving.

Island weather can be tricky – it may be raining cats and dogs in one part but perfectly sunny on the other. Sadly, these clouds were moving in our direction and it gave us company till we entered our room in Mont Choisy.

Beautiful studio apartment

The place was run by an Australian guy. He showed us our rooms – they were really big, well-lit studio apartments. There were beach towels kept for all of us so that we could enjoy our time out there. They also had a huge collection of beach toys for the kids (two sets of everything so that there wouldn’t be any fights!). It was perfect! We checked in, left our stuff and drove up north to Pereybere beach which was 20 mins away.

The red-roof church and a perfect sunset!

Around 10 mins away from Pereybere beach was the red-roof church of Cap Malheureux. It was Good Friday the next day and the car park was full. We quickly clicked a few pics and got back to the beach for sunset.

Pereybere was stunning and had shallow waters – one of the many Mauritius beaches safe for kids. Even with rain clouds looming, we stayed for the breathtaking sunset.

On the way back, we made a grocery stop at a supermarket and picked up yogurt, fruits and snacks. We also decided to experiment with some local grapefruit wine (not good!).

Comfort food to end the day

We then stopped at La Marinara in Grand Baie. It was a small restaurant with just 3 tables. It was run by 2 guys – one who looked European and the other looked Indian. They spoke in French. The restaurant looked more like a passion project – a small joint which they would open up in the evening, make some pizzas and some money and go back home. The guy making pizzas even put on a show for the kids to keep them entertained. We got pizzas – fruits de mer (mixed seafood) and 4 cheese – for takeaway and got back to the room. A comfort meal to end the day and a great local food experience in Mauritius!

Indians who are not “Indian”

One of the things that kept messing with my head was that the “Indian-looking” people were not speaking in a recognizable accent. We visited the supermarket below to pick up some snacks. The lady at the cash counter looked like a typical North Indian – middle aged, wearing a sari and a bindi on her forehead, photos of Hindu Gods around her. I expected her to speak to us in Hindi. But her mouth opened and the sound “Oui?” came out in the most French accent possible. It completely threw me off! 

My brain was so used to seeing Indian people in an Indian context that I could not accept that these people were not “Indian”. They had their own identity and country. They may be Hindus and their forefathers had come from the mainland. But they were uniquely Mauritian. And their language was Creole. It took a long time for me to accept that dichotomy. I guess this is the future too – just because a person looks “Indian”, it doesn’t mean I can guess where they are from – we never had a monopoly over brown skin and uniquely “Indian” features.

Check out all the blogs here:

• The Mauritius Itinerary – Our one week itinerary of Mauritius
• Mauritius Travel Blog: First Day of Island Life – first sights and sounds and getting the trip started
• Ile Aux Cerfs, a Chateau and Finding Paradise in Mauritius – exploring the northern half of the island
• Breakfast with Giraffes and (not) Swimming with Whales – discovering the variety of wildlife in Mauritius
• Seven Colored Earths and Seaplane rides – the Hidden Gems of Mauritius