The only Jyotirlinga outside India

After visiting Casela Nature Park, the next part of our journey took us to the mountains as we drove towards Grand Bassin – home to the Mauritiuseswarnath Jyotirlinga (yup, it is actually called that!). There are temples dedicated to Lord Shiva and Durga next to the Ganga Talao – a volcanic crater lake. We were greeted by a sight of the giant statues of Durga and Shiva as we got closer to the temples. The Durga statue here is the tallest statue of the goddess in the world. We stopped, offered prayers and continued on our way.

Where to go for lunch?

We started driving towards Bois Cheri for lunch. It was in the opposite direction of our next destination – Chamarel. So we ditched it mid-way and decided to go straight to Chamarel instead. The route to Chamarel was through the Black River Gorges National Park. At the junction where we had to turn towards our route, we could see cars making U-turns and coming out.

Apparently the road was blocked and no vehicles could go through. However, there were cars coming out of the same road – it looked like it was operating as a one-way. We hoped this was not a regular phenomenon as we were planning to pass through this National Park over the next few days as well.

Our next plans were suddenly thrown in the air. We stopped and checked the map – the road to Chamouny was open. This route would go through Bel Ombre and then turn inwards to reach Chamarel. We could still get there in time for a late lunch. What should have been a 28 mins drive ended up being a 1 hour drive. We drove through small towns, got some beautiful views of the ocean from the hill and even saw a beach with waves crashing near it – there are very few such beaches in Mauritius.

Keep reading for the best photos and moments from the trip.

The Seven Coloured Earths

The long winding road brought us to the Chamarel Seven Coloured Earth Geopark – home to the Seven Coloured Earths. It is basically a bunch of sand dunes with seven distinct colours ranging from blue, violet, brown, red and yellow. The colours are due to varying levels of iron and aluminium present in the sand, which itself is a product of decomposition of volcanic basalt.

There are a couple of viewpoints where you can get a good view of the dunes. I was a bit skeptical that the places would be over-rated – however, it was really worth the travel and the place is definitely worth seeing. They also had some giant tortoises on one side of the park which we spent some time watching.

One thing that really caught our attention was a board which showed the “Arrival of Man” on the island. There were five maps which showed the forest cover on the island from 1773 (when the island was discovered) to 1997. The level of deforestation was appalling to say the least! Now it was very clear that that dense forest which popped up on the second night of our trip was how the entire island used to be!

Lunch skipped – again

We had hoped to get lunch at the cafe inside the geopark – however, it was pretty disappointing. They didn’t have any proper food and whatever they did have was super expensive. We got some coke and juice to quench our thirst, ate fruits and snacks from the car and then drove towards our destination for the day – La Gaulette.

Quiet little town

At the time of our visit, La Gaulette was a really small town – quiet and sleepy, with houses being newly constructed. Our Airbnb was also a house in a new neighbourhood just off the highway. We settled in, went out to get takeaway dinner and got back home. We first went to a bistro which was super disappointing and then found a restaurant called Aloha which had pretty good food. Everyone was on the edge thanks to the skipped lunch and the dinner from Aloha managed to get us back on track!

Fruit pickers and Goyave

The next day, on our way back from Blue Bay Marine Park, we decided to stop next to one of the cars in the Black River Gorges National Park. (check out the itinerary blog for the day-wise plan of our trip).

Remember how the entire road was blocked due to traffic the previous day? We asked the locals what this fruit was that everyone was going crazy about. They said it was called Goyave and it was usually eaten with salt and chilli. They even plucked a couple and gave it to us to taste. It was red in color, as big as a plum and tasted exactly like guava! It was basically a Chinese guava! We picked a few more and filled up a cover to eat later – just like the locals!

The Chamarel rum-run!

After two consecutive days of skipping lunch, we were not doing it again! We called the Chamarel rum distillery and booked a table for lunch. People who had lunch inside their restaurant would get a complimentary tour and tasting of all the rum at the distillery – it was a good deal.

The food was really good and we followed it up with the tour. They showed us the machines used to grind the sugarcane, extract the juice and then distill it to get rum. We learnt that much of the power generation on the island happened using the waste of the sugarcane! 

Finally, it was time for the rum tasting. There were 10 rums in total – starting from the basic Classic to specialty flavoured liqueurs – their coffee liqueur being one their best flavours. We even bought one from their shop!

Good dinner to end the day

The evening was much more relaxed thanks to the food in our bellies. We even stopped at a bunch of other viewpoints, had an amazing sunset view and then headed back to the room.

We picked up dinner from Aloha (we’d become friends with the owner by then!) and retired for the day.

Day 7 – Mauritius from the sky

It was the last day of our trip. After a quick breakfast, we drove to La Prairie beach in the south where the seaplanes were being brought in. This was the part of the trip I was most excited about! We registered at the Lagoon Flight counter and waited for our turn.

The seaplane was a tiny 2-seater TL-3000 Sirius. It could seat only 2 people including the pilot. Kids were not allowed – so Nam and I had to take turns while the other person waited at the beach with Parth. Parth was super keen on going in the “water-hutch plane” as he calls them but sadly, we couldn’t take him.

Take-off!

We had opted for the 15-min tour which would take us above the Underwater Waterfall. Nam went first and Parth and I built sand castles on the beach. Once she got back, it was my turn. The pilot gave me all the instructions and told me to not touch the controls. Just sit back, relax and enjoy the view!

The plane took its place on the “runway” and soon took off from the water. The sound of the wind was quite loud and it was tough to hear the pilot even through the headphones. It didn’t help that there was a constant chatter of Alpha-Papa-Bravo etc on the frequency that we were tuned into.

Once we reached the max altitude, it was the most peaceful feeling ever. One word to describe it – freedom! There was no one else out here, just a cool breeze and the most amazing view of the island with its tall mountains, dense forests and beautiful beaches.

We spent a good chunk of time hovering over the Underwater Waterfall – it looked amazing! It is basically an optical illusion which gives the feeling that water is flowing into the deep ocean from the plateau. We flew around the Le Morne Brabant mountain – the original plan in the itinerary was to hike the mountain this morning! Anyway, I ended up getting an even better view!

The pilot told me to keep an eye out for dolphins and whales as there were boats in the ocean – on the lookout. While I didn’t spot any of them, I did see something very unique. It initially looked like a man with long arms swimming in the deep ocean. A closer look showed something else – it was a sea turtle! Not one, but an entire group of them! He said it was rare to find sea turtles so close to the shore we were lucky.

The best sunset of the trip

For lunch, we went to a shopping mall in Tamarin – it had a really good Indian restaurant. We drove back to Le Morne beach and spent the rest of the evening there. The beach was not very crowded and we had a great time there. We even got to see the sun going down all the way into the ocean! It was the perfect way to cap the vacation!

Day 8 – and it’s a wrap

Yet again, we drove through the Black River Gorges National Park to get to the airport. It was a rainy and foggy morning – we could not even see the Durga and Shiva statues at Grand Bassin due to the dense fog! We also got some rain in the last stretch as we made our way to the airport.

We left our car at the airport parking – the red Toyota Raize had served us well throughout the trip. This completes the story of our amazing trip to Mauritius.

You can also read about our experience at Seychelles – an island group roughly 1800 kms to the north of Mauritius. While there are some similarities, it is also a truly unique place that you should strongly consider visiting!

• 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