After a month of consistently being on the move in southern Africa, we arrived in Mauritius to rest and recharge for a week (June 20 – 27, 2024). We are both generally fast paced, ambitious travelers that want to do and see as much as we can when on a trip. This was a big challenge for us when planning our trip – trying to balance of wanting to fit as much as possible while trying to be mindful that this is not a normal trip. This is extended travel where we will have to pace ourselves to not burn. So we thought, what better than a slow-paced beach week on a lush, beautiful island like Mauritius?
We flew from Kasane airport to Johannesburg where we stayed overnight by the airport before flying direct to Mauritius the next day. We landed in Mauritius around 4pm and picked up our rental car for the week and drove to the western beach town of Flic-en-Flac where we booked a VRBO apartment for the week. Our apartment was simple and dated but had everything we needed like a kitchen and a washing machine! Being able to cook our own food and having a washing machine was a game changer after a month of eating out and hand washing clothes on the go. It felt so liberating to be able to wear and wash clothes whenever. Sometimes it’s the little things that bring you joy in travel.
Days 1-3: Sleeping, Reading, and Doing Almost Nothing
We took the idea of “rest week” seriously our first couple of days in Mauritius. We went to the grocery store to buy food for the week and went to Flic-en-Flac beach to hang out during the day and for sunset. And that was about it. I had started reading the book, Fourth Wing, and I let it consume me. I was reading it all day and all night until I finished it by day 3. It did not help me catch up on sleep, but it was really fun to let myself get carried away on a book. I couldn’t remember the last time I did so. Nate also caught up on reading and finished Killers of the Flower Moon (I had just finished this too – amazing book. Highly recommend!) and listened to many podcasts.
Day 4: Exploring Chamarel and Le Morne on a Rainy Day
After a couple of low-key days, we finally decided to leave our sleepy beach town. We headed to Chamarel, an area about an hour south, to see a famous waterfall and the unique seven-colored earth. The weather had been great the first couple of days so we were dismayed when it started raining and then pouring as we drove to Chamarel. We hadn’t seen rain the forecast so we didn’t even bring our rain jackets. But we continued and went about our day as planned.
First stop was the Chamarel Waterfall. It was cold and pouring so we protected ourselves best we could with our towels. The upside with the rain was that there was so much volume in the falls. The water was also brown from the rain which I didn’t particularly like, but Nate liked a lot so another partial upside. We wanted to hike to down to the bottom of falls, but decided not to as the trail would be too slippery and dangerous as advised by a guide.
Next, we went to visit the seven-colored earth. This is a small patch of exposed sand dunes that naturally have seven different colors. The colors result from the oxidation of iron and aluminum along with different shades of cooled molten lava. I had read that you need to go on a sunny day to clearly see the various colors, so I was bummed to be going on a rainy and cloudy day. Perhaps it’s because I had lowered expectations (we had also read online that it is underwhelming), but I thought it was still cool! I could still see distinct swirls of color and it was a striking contrast to the lush greenness surrounding it.
My favorite part of the Chamarel park were the giant Aldabra tortoises next to the seven-colored earth. I completely forgot about the tortoises, so it was such a happy surprise to see them. They were enormous. Several of them were quite active walking around and eating. Aldabra tortoises have an average lifespan of 150 years but I’m not sure how old these tortoises were. They were so cool to watch.
After the tortoises, we swung back by the falls to view again as the rain had slowed considerably. Then left Chamarel to find lunch in Le Morne. Le Morne is a swankier part of the island with a nice beach and higher end resorts located next to the Le Morne Brabant mountain. We parked by the beach and ate at a restaurant on the beach. I had grilled prawns and Nate had calamari and fries – it was a solid meal.
We went on a long post-lunch beach walk, going past the end of the public beach and walked by the fancy resorts. We came across one very nice resort called LUX and decided to walk through the grounds. Probably not allowed, but no one stopped us. It was so gorgeous and definitely out of our price range. But one can dream! We walked past a couple more resorts before turning around and heading back to Flic-en-Flac.
Day 5: Hiking Le Morne Brabant and Le Morne Beach
We got up early the next day to head back down to Le Morne to hike Le Morne Brabant. It is the most popular hike on the island. Le Morne Brabant is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it is a symbol of resistance to slavery. In the 18th and 19th centuries, slaves would run away to Le Morne Brabant to hide on the rugged and inaccessible mountain. There are signs memorializing the history of this mountain and the hike.
The hike is difficult with the first half a steady uphill and the second half a very steep, rocky climb. I had to take a few breaks on the latter half and discover my rock-climbing skills. It took us about one and a half hours to reach the summit, which is a very small area that offers 360-degree views. The climb is definitely worth it. There are breathtaking views of the southwest coast along the jagged mountains. That is one of my favorite things about Mauritius. It is very mountainous, and all the mountains are such interesting jagged shapes. We stayed for an hour admiring the views before we made our way back down.
We were exhausted and hungry so we went to the closest restaurant for lunch. It was unfortunately a pricey tourist restaurant, but it was very tasty, so we were satisfied. Then we headed to the Le Morne beach to hang out for a couple of hours before heading back to Flic-en-Flac.
Day 6: Dolphin, Snorkeling, and Island Boat Trip
The next day, we got up early again (this was now no longer becoming true rest week) to go on day-long boat cruise to see dolphins, snorkel, and visit a small island called Ile de Benitiers off of the west coast. Unfortunately, the weather was once again not ideal which put a damper on the whole trip. It was cloudy and windy with on and off light rain. Perhaps it is weather related, but we did not see any dolphins. Our captain said that no boat had seen dolphins that morning. I believe him because we saw lots of boats zipping around but none congregated in one area. Then we were supposed to go snorkeling, but it was so cold that our boat decided to go to Ile aux Benitiers early and then go snorkeling and look for dolphins again after lunch.
We swung by Crystal Rock then went to the island. Because we got to the island too early, the tide was so low that the boat could not get to shore. So we all had to get out and walk to shore while the captain and pilot pushed the boat. I think we normally would have had around 2 hours on the island. But because we ended up getting to the island so early before 10am, we ended up staying on the island for almost 4 hours which was too much time as it is a very small island. We walked to the southern point which was the most interesting part of the island. Then we finally ate BBQ lunch around noon and left to continue our boat trip at 1:30pm. We didn’t see any dolphins and then we anchored at a snorkeling spot. The snorkeling was not that good. We were at a coral reef, but there was very little fish diversity. After half an hour, we headed back to Flic-en-Flac.
Overall, the boat trip ended up being disappointing. But it was still nice to be on a boat on the water at least once this week.
Day 7: Last Full-Day in Flic-en-Flac
After three activity full days, we decided to spend our last full day in Flic-en-Flac. We had a slow morning and then spent the afternoon at the beach until sunset. I also finished the sequel to Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, on the beach as well. Reading on the beach is the best!
Day 8: Goodbye Mauritius
Finally, our last day in Mauritius was upon us. We spent the morning packing and getting ready to leave our home for a week. We then went to have lunch at The Creole Shack, which I had been wanting to try all week. It is a three-course Mauritian creole restaurant. Since we had been cooking our dinners and some lunches, we hadn’t eaten much creole food yet. We discovered a delicious pear soda drink as we waited for our food. First, we had “gateau piment” (literally translates to spicy cake) which is a deep-fried split pea ball with spices. It was pretty mild but came with a nice spicy sauce. Then we had a sampler plate of lentil soup, fish and chicken curries, and four different sides – ginger daikon, a local green, potato, and a coconut chutney. It was very fun to taste so many different things. And dessert was a homemade coconut pineapple ice cream. To be honest, I will say that everything was good, but not amazing so I was a bit disappointed. But I’m still glad we went.
After lunch, we checked out and took a longer scenic drive back to the airport along the southern coast. We got to see new parts of the island and stopped at a couple viewpoints along the way. It was a great way to wrap our week in Mauritius. At the airport, we dropped off our rental car, spent a couple hours in the airport lounge, and said goodbye to Mauritius and Africa as we boarded our flight.
Next up: Istanbul!
Final Thoughts on Mauritius
We were both very excited for Mauritius and after spending a week, we both feel like Mauritius did not meet expectations. Perhaps our expectations were too high. Or perhaps we chose the wrong location and itinerary. But Flic-en-Flac, which is considered one of the best beach towns for tourists, was much sleepier than we anticipated. Sleepy might have been the unplanned perfect spot for forced rest and relaxation, but it just didn’t have the relaxed but upbeat vibe that we associate with beach towns. The food was also not as great as I imagined (though perhaps we didn’t go to enough restaurants). The island is very beautiful with lush vegetation, mountains, and clear waters. But otherwise, it felt like everything just wasn’t coming quite together. We do agree though, that had we stayed at a luxury resort like LUX, we probably would have loved Mauritius. So, it could just be that we failed at planning a trip to meet our needs and wants. But for now, Mauritius is not topping our list for repeat visit countries. Regardless, we still did achieve our main goal of relaxing and mostly taking it easy to feel recharged. so it was a week well spent!
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