After relaxing in the hotel for two days....going to the beach, taking walks just outside the hotel, sitting down in the room watching tv, romancing, eating pizzas for lunch......it was time for the saturday outing of 'Blue Safari Submarine'. Our group was taken to the motherboat of the submarine by another motor driven boat. We boarded the submarine through the top hatch by a ladder. The submarine had seats two in a row !! The 'cockpit' was a cramped space where buttons, displays, gauges, levers were mounted. The 'pilot' climbed in and all of us cheered him with a whoop of 'yeah !!' There were round windows along the sides of each seat. When we first climbed into the submarine we saw the hull of the motherboat since the submarine was attached to the motherboat.
After the 'pilot' explained the tour and the controls of the submarine in brief...the submarine took off. The submarine ride was smooth and it was like a turbulence free plane ride !! We saw many colourful fish and undersea life !! The pilot took us close to a barrier reef which is a undersea mountainous formation of corals. We were also taken to a shipwreck. The pilot explained that the mauritians dont sell old ships in scrap. Instead they purposely sink ships. The ships become breeding grounds for undersea plants which becomes food for the fishes and hence helps in preserving undersea life !! At the end of 35 minutes, we were taken up again. As the submarine rose, the sunlight being refracted through the waters created the impression that the surface of the waters was golden !! It was beautiful and can hardly be described. We were given some refreshments and were taken back to the shore. The shore area belonged to a hotel. The hotel had a big lobby opening out into its restaurant facing the sea !! It had a few sovenir shops where we picked up more sovenirs. We were taken back to our hotel. We picked up some bags of crisps and chocolate bars, which was our lunch for the day !! (The submarine ride was at 2:30 PM and it was 4 by the time we came back to shore. The driver was not ready to stop for lunch as he had to report back at 5:30 PM max). At dinner, we were given our special candle light dinner, which was a part of our holiday package !! The candle light dinner was on an outdoor table. They gave us special heart shaped pastries !!
The next day we were to depart mauritius. In the morning we did kayaking in the waters of our hotel's beach !! After this we had pizza once again !! The private cab driver dropped us to the hotel, where we spent time having coffee and window shopping in mauritius airport shopping area. We reached mumbai airport at around 3:30 AM in the morning, took a prepaid cab and came home at around 5 AM. It was good to see aai and baba....they had missed us more than we had missed them of course !! We were totally lost in each other and in the lovely country of mauritius !!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Honeymoon in Mauritius - Part 3
The next day, it was the island tour. 'Ile Aux Cerfs' is an island near the east coast of Mauritius. We were first taken to the tourist centre on the mainland, where we paid another 900 MUR for a speed boat ride around the island and to the waterfalls. The Speed Boat ride was very thrilling. I'll always remember the boat rider !!
A casually smart looking black man. A holiday T-shirt and bermudas and a pair of cool shades. He was quite muscly and was talking happily with his girlfriend. He had a stereo on the speed boat, with the hip local mauritian music, which was fun to listen to and perfect for the fast boat ride !!! The speed boat took us around the island and through a sort of canyon to a waterfall, which fell off a low cliff. It was here that we saw monkeys....real ones, of course...not the ones we see everyday !!!
After this the speed boat took us to a platform. This was the launching platform for the parasail. Each of the couples were harnessed to a parasail. It was a double harness where the girl was harnessed in the front of the boy, so that he could control the direction of the parasail. The guide there taught us how to control...It is easy to pick up but hard to do....really requires all the power of your arms if you want to move yourselves sharply to the left or the right. After checking our harness, the guide signalled to the speed boat rider (the speed boat to which our parasail was tied) to go ahead. The speed boat accelerated and pulled at the ropes taking us up into the air with sheer speed !! It made our adrenaline rush and we whooped for joy !!! We were up in the air by around 50 metres in a matter of just 3 seconds !! After being airborne for around 5 minutes, the speed boat lined us I made a landing which would make pilots proud of me !!!
From here we were taken by another slow motor driven boat to the island. As we were halfway there, it started raining !!! It gave us a great chance to be chivalrous....to our better half ....and of course... to our cameras too !!! I quickly threw a big plastic over vrunda's head and also covered the camera !!! Once we touched the shore...our new boat rider didnt even bother to help us out of the rocking boat !! He jumped out of the boat and scampered to the shelter as soon as possible, leaving us all behind !!! We helped each other out...Vrunda and me did not bother to run after that as we were dripping wet anyway !! We walked along the shoreline to where our group had assembled. Our guide there told us to be back by around 3:00 PM to catch our boat home. On the island we first changed into dry clothes. The island was like one big party venue !! Speed boats, cruisers, sailboats were anchored along a sand bar and the beach. Some boats were arriving...On one boat the people on were singing and partying. As soon as the boat shored, the people whooped for joy !! We took a walk to the edge of the sandbar. Me through the water and vrunda through the sands as she had had enough of being wet !! After this little walk we went to an indian restaurant where we had non veg thalis. The restaurant was a nice place. Each table was on a sort of 'machan' - an elevated platform supported by 4 poles. After our lunch we roamed around more and had ice cream !! After this it was almost time to go back. So we went to the assembly point where we met our group. It started raining again and we took shelter near the boatshed. When the rain stopped our guide pointed us to the speedboat which was supposed to take us back. We climbed aboard and very soon were zooming towards the mainland. It was drizzling pleasantly now and it was pleasant after the bright sunshine !! Our bus took us back to the hotel where we spent the rest of the day chilling out on the beach chairs and having dinner !!
A casually smart looking black man. A holiday T-shirt and bermudas and a pair of cool shades. He was quite muscly and was talking happily with his girlfriend. He had a stereo on the speed boat, with the hip local mauritian music, which was fun to listen to and perfect for the fast boat ride !!! The speed boat took us around the island and through a sort of canyon to a waterfall, which fell off a low cliff. It was here that we saw monkeys....real ones, of course...not the ones we see everyday !!!
After this the speed boat took us to a platform. This was the launching platform for the parasail. Each of the couples were harnessed to a parasail. It was a double harness where the girl was harnessed in the front of the boy, so that he could control the direction of the parasail. The guide there taught us how to control...It is easy to pick up but hard to do....really requires all the power of your arms if you want to move yourselves sharply to the left or the right. After checking our harness, the guide signalled to the speed boat rider (the speed boat to which our parasail was tied) to go ahead. The speed boat accelerated and pulled at the ropes taking us up into the air with sheer speed !! It made our adrenaline rush and we whooped for joy !!! We were up in the air by around 50 metres in a matter of just 3 seconds !! After being airborne for around 5 minutes, the speed boat lined us I made a landing which would make pilots proud of me !!!
From here we were taken by another slow motor driven boat to the island. As we were halfway there, it started raining !!! It gave us a great chance to be chivalrous....to our better half ....and of course... to our cameras too !!! I quickly threw a big plastic over vrunda's head and also covered the camera !!! Once we touched the shore...our new boat rider didnt even bother to help us out of the rocking boat !! He jumped out of the boat and scampered to the shelter as soon as possible, leaving us all behind !!! We helped each other out...Vrunda and me did not bother to run after that as we were dripping wet anyway !! We walked along the shoreline to where our group had assembled. Our guide there told us to be back by around 3:00 PM to catch our boat home. On the island we first changed into dry clothes. The island was like one big party venue !! Speed boats, cruisers, sailboats were anchored along a sand bar and the beach. Some boats were arriving...On one boat the people on were singing and partying. As soon as the boat shored, the people whooped for joy !! We took a walk to the edge of the sandbar. Me through the water and vrunda through the sands as she had had enough of being wet !! After this little walk we went to an indian restaurant where we had non veg thalis. The restaurant was a nice place. Each table was on a sort of 'machan' - an elevated platform supported by 4 poles. After our lunch we roamed around more and had ice cream !! After this it was almost time to go back. So we went to the assembly point where we met our group. It started raining again and we took shelter near the boatshed. When the rain stopped our guide pointed us to the speedboat which was supposed to take us back. We climbed aboard and very soon were zooming towards the mainland. It was drizzling pleasantly now and it was pleasant after the bright sunshine !! Our bus took us back to the hotel where we spent the rest of the day chilling out on the beach chairs and having dinner !!
Honeymoon in Mauritius - Part 2
On reaching the hotel, we were welcomed by a lady named 'Sidney'. Sidney had a very french accent. She asked us to fill up a form. After we filled up the form, we were asked to give a copy of our 'wedding CORD'. Atleast that was the way I heard it !!
I've been to the states and spoken to people with British and Chinese accent of English but the french one was new and I had to ask the lady 3-4 times before I finally understood that 'CORD' was actually card. Realising it, was, of course, another shock as throughout the booking of our trip we'd never been told that we would be asked for proof of our marriage at the hotel. Luckily, I had the wedding card scanned and had uploaded it up on my gmail. Another good thing was that I had my 'Galaxy Smartphone' ....I connected to the Wi-fi and sent it to the hotel email ID. We had reached the hotel at around 12 noon and the check in time was 2 P.M. However we were given the room at around 1:15 PM...thank god for that !! From 12 noon to 1:15 P.M we went for a tour of the hotel.
The hotel had its own beachfront, a lovely swimming pool adjoining a bar overlooking the white sands of the beach and blue ocean waters !!!
After checking in and settling down...we went for our proper 'Lunch' (Before that we had mom's home made 'chivda'). Lunch was pizza....well made and a very wholesome meal.
We went to our rooms, freshened up and napped a bit. At 3:45 P.M, a gentleman called 'Fardeen' showed up to plan our activities for our week of stay. Fardeen was one of those guys who love to show the world that they're 'simply cool'. He had his 'brochuurresss' ready and at hand...and explained all the couples, the day tours and the activities and water sports he had to offer and the prices. Each couple selected their favourites. We picked up...Parasailing and the Blue safari submarine. After this we spent some more time in our rooms.......resting. As the evening came, it was a great joy to see the sunset on the horizon and watching the sun drown its acrylic colours in the blue waters and then enjoy the light cool breeze, whilst sitting on the beach chairs and enjoying the romantic star show !!!
The next day, it was the south island tour. This included...
the glass factory...which was rubbish,
the diamond factory...there was no factory to be frank!!
The dead volcano...this was just a crater with lot of volcanic ash solidified...The mountain had a good view, however !!
The 7 coloured earth of the chamarel ...you really can see the 7 colours...we have taken lots of photos here and near the sleeping volcano !!
The sovenir shops....where we shopped for some sovenirs.
The ship building factory...Lovely....real masterpieces...and real attention to detail...there were lot of wooden ship models, for display and sale. Price ranges starting from 700 MUR to 100000 MUR !!
This was a total standout tourist site in the south island tour...real amazing....
We were also shown the Shiva Temple of Mauritius. Our tour guide said, "Billa, pata hai? India kaa Billa.....woh mauritius ko donation deta hain.' Till now, I had become quite familiar with the French accent of the locals and understood that 'Billa' means Mr. Birla....Mr Aditya Birla contributes a lot to Mauritius and has made a temple in mauritius. The shiva temple has a 105 metre statue of Lord Shiva, which however does not have a 'damroo' in his hand !!!
We had lunch in an Indian cuisine restaurant....both me and Vrunda had a veg thali at 400 MUR.
We were dropped at the hotel at around 5:30 PM after which we had a great time relaxing on the beachside again !!
I've been to the states and spoken to people with British and Chinese accent of English but the french one was new and I had to ask the lady 3-4 times before I finally understood that 'CORD' was actually card. Realising it, was, of course, another shock as throughout the booking of our trip we'd never been told that we would be asked for proof of our marriage at the hotel. Luckily, I had the wedding card scanned and had uploaded it up on my gmail. Another good thing was that I had my 'Galaxy Smartphone' ....I connected to the Wi-fi and sent it to the hotel email ID. We had reached the hotel at around 12 noon and the check in time was 2 P.M. However we were given the room at around 1:15 PM...thank god for that !! From 12 noon to 1:15 P.M we went for a tour of the hotel.
The hotel had its own beachfront, a lovely swimming pool adjoining a bar overlooking the white sands of the beach and blue ocean waters !!!
After checking in and settling down...we went for our proper 'Lunch' (Before that we had mom's home made 'chivda'). Lunch was pizza....well made and a very wholesome meal.
We went to our rooms, freshened up and napped a bit. At 3:45 P.M, a gentleman called 'Fardeen' showed up to plan our activities for our week of stay. Fardeen was one of those guys who love to show the world that they're 'simply cool'. He had his 'brochuurresss' ready and at hand...and explained all the couples, the day tours and the activities and water sports he had to offer and the prices. Each couple selected their favourites. We picked up...Parasailing and the Blue safari submarine. After this we spent some more time in our rooms.......resting. As the evening came, it was a great joy to see the sunset on the horizon and watching the sun drown its acrylic colours in the blue waters and then enjoy the light cool breeze, whilst sitting on the beach chairs and enjoying the romantic star show !!!
The next day, it was the south island tour. This included...
the glass factory...which was rubbish,
the diamond factory...there was no factory to be frank!!
The dead volcano...this was just a crater with lot of volcanic ash solidified...The mountain had a good view, however !!
The 7 coloured earth of the chamarel ...you really can see the 7 colours...we have taken lots of photos here and near the sleeping volcano !!
The sovenir shops....where we shopped for some sovenirs.
The ship building factory...Lovely....real masterpieces...and real attention to detail...there were lot of wooden ship models, for display and sale. Price ranges starting from 700 MUR to 100000 MUR !!
This was a total standout tourist site in the south island tour...real amazing....
We were also shown the Shiva Temple of Mauritius. Our tour guide said, "Billa, pata hai? India kaa Billa.....woh mauritius ko donation deta hain.' Till now, I had become quite familiar with the French accent of the locals and understood that 'Billa' means Mr. Birla....Mr Aditya Birla contributes a lot to Mauritius and has made a temple in mauritius. The shiva temple has a 105 metre statue of Lord Shiva, which however does not have a 'damroo' in his hand !!!
We had lunch in an Indian cuisine restaurant....both me and Vrunda had a veg thali at 400 MUR.
We were dropped at the hotel at around 5:30 PM after which we had a great time relaxing on the beachside again !!
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