Saris and Elephants

Finally the weeks of waiting were over and from my window seat I could see Mauritius appearing out of the sea beneath me. After a very long wait at immigration, where I had to convince the immigration officer that I was going back to Mumbai and not staying in Mauritius to work, while trying not to cough or sneeze and make him think I had Swine flu, we were on our way to Four Seasons at Anahita.

Mauritius is beautiful and on the drive we passed fields of tall, swaying sugar cane, secluded beaches and families lazing on the verandas of their shady, colonial style houses; I couldn’t get enough of the fresh sea air after leaving pre-Monsoon Mumbai!

After a tour of the resort on a golf buggy we were shown to our room, although here your ‘room’ is a private villa with your own pool, garden, outdoor shower and beach access! Our plans of sightseeing started to evaporate as we realised that actually you could have a great holiday without even leaving the villa!

There were a few familiar (but now tanned) faces around the resort who used to work with me in Mumbai. Chef Suksan took us to a great local restaurant on the first night for some traditional Mauritian fare (traditional here incorporates Indian, Chinese, Mediterranean, French and African cuisines!) and cooked me a Thai feast for my birthday; I’d almost forgotten how much I love his signature Thai Green Curry!

On my birthday we spent the night at the local hang out ‘Green Island’ followed by beers on the beach. We were also joined by some new friends from Four Seasons who helped us cultivate a taste for the local rum! When I returned to my room in the early hours of the morning, housekeeping had decorated the bed with two origami swans and ‘Happy Birthday’ in rose petals – they definitely wowed me!

During the week we visited the island’s capital Port Louis, the nightlife of Grand Baie, some of the smaller towns nearer to the resort and we visited the first Hindu temple on the island, built in traditional Tamil style. We also tried our hand at some of the watersports on offer from kayaking, to sailing, to snorkelling to a more subdued glass bottom boat ride. On my birthday we took a speed boat to Isle aux Cerf, a small island off the coast, where we swam on the beach and snorkelled around the mangroves.

As always on holiday, the time went too fast, but we managed to squeeze in some of the sights, see some good friends and eat a lot of delicious food, including some of the largest prawns I have ever seen! On our last day we visited a friend at home for a lovely lunch (thank you Rasha!) before heading back to the airport and bidding a teary farewell to the island that inspired heaven.