The document summarizes a family's vacation exploring Mauritius beyond the resorts. Over the course of a week, the family visits cultural sites like a biscuit factory and rum distillery. They also go hiking, see giant tortoises at a nature reserve, learn about the sugar cane industry, and experience local Hindu festivals. The family aims to get to know Mauritian culture better compared to previous resort-focused vacations, and feels they achieved a more enriching cultural experience before returning home.

1. familytraveller.com
GETTING
MORE FROM
MAURITIUSABI CAMPBELL knows the island’s sunloungers like the back of her hand.
But this time round, she explores Mauritius’s many attractions
abi, ellis and jemima cuddle up outside their tipi
I
n a previous life, I was an inverted travel
snob. Dedicated to roughing it, backpacker-
style, I thought it was a fastpass to the soul of
a country. I had a powerful aversion to luxury
resorts with token culture shows, and vowed,
‘I’ll never set foot in a place like that.’ Two children
later, I ate my words like an all-inclusive buffet. My
priorities and convictions changed. I started dreaming
of holidays that might fix my sleep deficit. Top of my
list: childcare, sun and good food – to compensate
for the ‘mother’s leftover-fish-finger diet’.
Finding a deal at the One&Only Le Saint Géran,
Mauritius, I didn’t look back, shamelessly booking the
same week in the same room for three consecutive
years. Flicking nostalgically through photo albums,
I can barely differentiate one holiday from the next,
except the kids get older and I grow progressively
more unattractive in a bikini. Determined to make
amends for missed opportunities to get acquainted
with an island that should feel like a second home
by now, I book one last visit. Same week, same
room… different objective.
Claiming the best spot on the north-east peninsula,
the Saint Géran has been around since 1975, and is
still widely considered the jewel in the crown of the
five-star circuit. Low-rise rooms open onto a flawless
beach, and although the decor is now a little tired, the
view more than compensates. Kids’ club programmes
provide excellent distractions, from cooking classes
and banana-boat rides, to torchlit crab hunts. Service
is top notch. It is in any resort’s best interest to keep
you on their property, and here, they do this by
making it so good it’s hard to leave.
Touring the island
by taxi is relatively affordable, but I opt
for renting a car, hoping it might guilt us into getting
out more. We start our adventures on the east coast
road from Poste de Flacq to the town of Mahébourg
for a visit to the H Rault Biscuit Factory. Inside a
cyclone-beaten building, we get a glimpse of biscuit-
making methods dating back to 1870, using a root
vegetable called manioc. Woman in vintage dresses
grind, sieve and push floury squares around a primitive
hotplate, while the kids feed dried banana leaves into
the furnace. It’s a sweet 20-minute hands-on tour,
ending in a product-tasting. They aren’t the most
delicious biscuits we’ve ever eaten, but the vat of
tea provided helps make them more palatable.
We head south to Riviera de Anguilles and La Vanille
Réserve Des Mascareignes. One of my earliest holiday
memories is riding a giant tortoise in the Seychelles,
and I’ve often wondered if I was just tiny and have
exaggerated the proportions of these creatures in my
mind. When we arrive at this nature reserve, however,
I’m thrilled to find these magnificent beasts are
everything I remember, and that kids are
mauritius
familytraveller.com 79

2. familytraveller.comfamilytraveller.com80
permitted to ride them. Ellis and Jemima
are beside themselves with excitement, and
while there’s other wildlife to admire, even
the crocodile enclosure seems a bit lame
after walking with these majestic dinosaurs!
We settle into a relaxed one-day-on/one-
day-off sightseeing groove, and make the
most of the hotel. Lying on my lounger,
sipping a Long Island Iced Tea, I’m reminded
of how my babies have grown as I watch
them leap confidently into the pool and swim
a whole length underwater. I feel a bit weepy
about the lost days spent here, of swim
nappies and floppy sunhats held on by chin
elastic. I conclude that holidaying with kids
doesn’t get better or worse, just different.
Twenty per cent of Mauritius is
mountainous, yet trekking remains a
relatively elusive tourist activity. With
nominal research, I find a local guide called
Yan. He knows the terrain like the back of
his hand, tailoring private hikes to individual
requirements. We arrange to meet at 7am at
Black River in the south of the island, which
requires a 5am start and a GSOH when I get
lost, turn up two hours late and realise I’ve
left our water and packed lunches behind.
Yan has planned a child-friendly trail. The
first part is a little steep, but the kids rise to
the rocky challenge like rats up a drainpipe.
Stopping at staggered vista points along the
way, we are treated to stunning aerial views
of the west coast. I begin to pity all the hotel
guests who don’t know what they’re missing.
On our descent, we study wildflowers and
insects, ending our expedition by wading
ankle-deep across a pretty gorge.
MAURITIUS:
THELOWDOWN familytraveller.com
HOW TO GET THERE
BA flies from Gatwick to Mauritius three
times a week. Scheduled flight time is 11
hours, 55 minutes outbound, 12 hours, 20
minutes inbound. Fares start from £763
return, including taxes and charges; the
equivalent child fare is £556 return. For
more information, visit britishairways.com.
WHERE TO STAY
One&Only Le Saint Géran (summer
holidays 2016): seven nights in a Junior
Suite on a half-board basis costs from
£5,199 per family (based on two adults
and two children under 12 years
sharing) including an early-bird 40%
discount, a complimentary upgrade
to half-board, transfers and flights.
turquoiseholidays.co.uk
WHERE TO VISIT
CURIOUS CORNER
Adults £4, children £2.50
curiouscornerofchamarel.com
TREKKING
Three- to four-hour trek
to Black River Gorges, £27 per person
trekkingmauritius.com
UNDER WATER SEA WALK
The solar-powered sea walk is £25 per
person. Children must be at least seven
years old. solarunderseawalk.com
NATURE RESERVE (GIANT TORTOISES)
Adults £7, children £4
lavanille-reserve.com
CHÂTEAU LABOURDONNAIS. HOUSE,
ORCHARDS AND RUM DISTILLERY
Adults £7, children (4-12) £3.50
chateaulabourdonnais.com
H RAULT BISCUIT FACTORY
biscuitmanioc.com/home.html
WHERE TO EAT
Palais de Barbizon Chamarel
+230 483 5078
Having worked up a ferocious appetite,
we ditch the guidebook and ask Yan to
recommend his favourite restaurant. He
sends us north to the village of Chamarel,
and the restaurant, the Palais de Barbizon.
This place is no-frills, and utterly charming,
with its sunset mural and stray mutt. It feels
like we’ve been invited into a Mauritian’s
home, even more so when we’re informed
there’s no menu. Lunch consists of five
types of local vegetables, most of which I’ve
never even heard of, with grilled chicken or
fish. We have an authentic home-cooked
meal, the dishes as fascinating and
colourful as the owner’s personality.
In the same sleepy hillside village (and a
little out of place) is the new-ish Curious
Corner. It’s a 5,000m2
air-conditioned
space full of the coolest optical illusions I’ve
ever seen. The experience starts in a study
with antique-book-lined walls and Salvador
Dali melting clock. Our mission: to find a
hidden door to the next mind-bending
room. Impressively, that is an entire living
room and kitchen built on a ceiling. With an
iPhone pic and 180 degree rotation we
convincingly appear to have superpowers.
This attraction is a great way to kill a few
hours on a rainy day.
Passing through the village of Tamarin
on the way back, we make a pitstop at La
Route du Sel to see the 18th-century salt flats,
dramatically positioned at the base of a
mountainrange.Welearnallaboutthelabour-
intensive process of making artisan salt,
on a 15-minute tour, which pauses briefly
when Ellis falls into one of the salt pools and
angrily blames his sister (exhausted sigh). A
shameless salt addict, I buy enough packets
in the gift shop to cause an early coronary.
therocky
trailisa
littlesteep,
butthekids
setofflike
ratsupa
drainpipe
TIME FOR TIPI
A night in this Alice
Temperley-designed
accommodation
was a treat
SWEET STUFF
Ellis investigates the
refined sugar
FRESH PRODUCE
The locals’ market
at Centre de Flacq
is a riot of colours
and flavours
SWEEPING LANDSCAPES
Twenty per cent
of Mauritius is
mountainous
DAY OFF
Not every day was
an ‘exploration’ day
– sometimes simply
hanging out on the
beach was enough
mauritius
riding the tortoises at La Vanille Réserve Des Mascareignes
81

3. Family Holiday Specialist to
SOUTH AFRICA
MAURITIUS
THE MALDIVES
Tailor-Made holidays to suit individual budgets and requirements
With more than 15 years’ experience in the
Travel Industry and with children of my own,
I specialise in creating tailor-made holidays for
families in South Africa, Mauritius and the Maldives.
Through personal experience I have found some
fantastic ‘family friendly’ accommodation throughout
these regions and would be delighted to help you
plan your next holiday. For more information,
please call or e-mail me:
Alison Aldred
tel: 01483 762033 www.hungrylions.co.uk
mob: 07754 501617 email: ali@hungrylions.co.uk
Family Holiday Specialist to
SOUTH AFRICA
MAURITIUS
THE MALDIVES
Tailor-Made holidays to suit individual budgets and requirements
With more than 15 years’ experience in the
Travel Industry and with children of my own,
I specialise in creating tailor-made holidays for
families in South Africa, Mauritius and the Maldives.
Through personal experience I have found some
fantastic ‘family friendly’ accommodation throughout
these regions and would be delighted to help you
plan your next holiday. For more information,
please call or e-mail me:
Alison Aldred
tel: 01483 762033 www.hungrylions.co.uk
mob: 07754 501617 email: ali@hungrylions.co.uk
Family Holiday Specialist to
SOUTH AFRICA
MAURITIUS
THE MALDIVES
With more than 15 years’ experience in the
Travel Industry and with children of my own,
I specialise in creating tailor-made holidays for
families in South Africa, Mauritius and the Maldives.
Through personal experience I have found some
fantastic ‘family friendly’ accommodation throughout
these regions and would be delighted to help you
plan your next holiday. For more information,
please call or e-mail me:
Alison Aldred
tel: 01483 762033 www.hungrylions.co.uk
mob: 07754 501617 email: ali@hungrylions.co.uk
82 familytraveller.com
We arrive back to the
hotel for a mother-and-
child massage to soothe
our post-trek aches. Our
treatments take place in
a pretty wooden pavilion
by a stream, with one
open side to let nature
in. Jemima looks tiny
on her bed, and is
excited and giggly.
I know it’s extravagant,
but it’s a joy to watch
her range of facial expressions as
she experiences the wonders of
therapeutictouchforthefirsttime.
Ellis and Jemima are too
young to dive, so I book the closest thing to
it: The Solar Under Sea Walk in the pretty
marina of Grand Baie. A glass-bottomed
boat transports us to a fixed pontoon near
the reef, where we are given a brief safely
talk and wetsuit. Submerged in the sea up to
ournecks,animpossiblyheavyCaptainNemo-
style helmet is lifted onto our shoulders and
we sink to the ocean floor like a stone. I’m a
control freak and, despite being only a few
metres deep, and surrounded by frogmen,
the experience taps right into my fight-or-
flight mode. Knowing Ellis’ tendency to trip
over, I hang onto him with a vice-like grip,
obsessively making the divers’ ‘OK??!!’ sign.
I only relax when we walk into a shoal of
angelfish, who eat bread from our fingers
with a thousand soft kisses. It’s magic.
Afteraspeedylobsterlunchinthemarina,
we drive to the Château de Labourdonnais
in the village of Mapou to see a stunning
example of colonial-style architecture. Inside
the 150-year-old plantation house, we gain
insight into the history of the house and
island with the aid of innovative audiovisual
displays and exhibits. It’s
beautifully executed. We finish
the tour with a walk through
the orchards to the restaurant,
where the kids do a tasting of
juices and jellies extracted from
the fruit of 100-year-old mango,
guava and papaya trees on the
estate. I pull the long straw: six
shot glasses, each containing
a different flavour of rum.
Back at the hotel, we don our
gladrags for our One&Only tipi
dinner. Sitting on our hand-loomed rug in
front of our Alice Temperley-designed tipi,
we watch the sunset in all its glory. We’re
waited on by a butler while our private chef
cooks next to our candlelit table on the
beach. A bonfire is lit for us to dance around,
and when only glowing embers remain, we
move to our accommodation for the night,
the tipi, where we put on tunes, leap off
cushions, and roll around tickling each other
until we cry, before turning in, spoilt rotten.
Sugar cane dominates the landscape in
Mauritius. At some point, you will see sky-
high plumes of steam spewing from factory
chimneys, and recognise the unmistakable
smell of burnt sugar. The factories don’t
advertise guided tours, but be persistent,
and you’ll get one. We visited a refinery
called Terra, which produces a staggering
93,000 tons of sugar per year. Hard hats
secured, we are walked and talked through
the process of transforming raw cane into
that sweet by-product the kids know oh so
well. Ellis particularly enjoyed letting the
refinedsugarpouroffthefactorybeltthrough
his hands. This is heavy industry – it’s noisy
and hot, and may be a bit overwhelming
for some, but for the adventurous and
curious child aged eight and above, I would
say this unique and visceral experience is
a once-in-a-lifetime treat.
We move from one frenetic place to
another: the market in the village of Centre
de Flacq, open on Wednesdays and Sundays.
The vibrant colours and fragrant aromas of
spices and fruit are a welcome break from
the oppressive factory floor. We rehydrate
by draining a coconut with a straw, and grab
ourself a hawker-stall biriani lunch. There
is nothing touristy about this market – it’s
teeming with locals doing their weekly shop.
There are clothes and a few handicrafts on
offer, but more than anything, just come
here to soak up the atmosphere.
On the way back to the hotel, we pass an
unexpected Hindu festival. We stop to take it
all in and are invited to join the celebrations.
Down by the river, Ellis and I take part in
‘puja’ – a prayer ritual – by floating candles
on the water, while one of the mothers
draws a henna flower on Jemima’s foot.
It’s a semi-permanent reminder of the
rich and diverse culture of Mauritius that
Jemima can take home to show her friends.
It’s our last night at the Saint Géran.
Seated for our farewell dinner, we’re
presented with souvenir menus with our
names on. It’s little touches like this that
have kept us coming back. But I feel this
meal should also be a celebratory one, as we
have achieved what we set out to do. We’re
leaving culturally enlightened and enriched
with so much more knowledge of this island
than when we arrived. I know that when
this year’s Mauritius holiday album joins
the shelf, it will be the one that stands out. n
KEEPING COOL
kffffshakes at the
swim-up bar were
hard to resist; Robbie
explains tddd
Family Holiday Specialist to
SOUTH AFRICA
MAURITIUS
THE MALDIVES
Tailor-Made holidays to suit individual budgets and requirements
With more than 15 years’ experience in the
Travel Industry and with children of my own,
I specialise in creating tailor-made holidays for
families in South Africa, Mauritius and the Maldives.
Through personal experience I have found some
fantastic ‘family friendly’ accommodation throughout
these regions and would be delighted to help you
plan your next holiday. For more information,
please call or e-mail me:
Alison Aldred
tel: 01483 762033 www.hungrylions.co.uk
mob: 07754 501617 email: ali@hungrylions.co.uk
EXPLORING THE ISLAND
Clockwise from
top left: The
18th-century Route
du Sel salt flats;
taking to the waves;
at the Terra sugar
cane refinery;
enjoying the
optical illusions
at Curious Corner
pals in pink: jemima makes a friend at a hindu celebration
angelfisheat
breadfrom
ourfingers
withathousand
softkisses
mauritius
PHOTOGRAPHS:ABICAMPBELL