Can anyone tell me about Mauritius?

[Lethal]

Hi - I am due to go there very soon, and don't really know much about it... we're staying at the Beau Rivage resort. Just wondering what the shopping's like in Mauritius, & if there's anything in particular that we should do or see while we're there.

Thanks

Hello, I'm v interested too as we're going - staying at The Residence. A few friends have been and really enjoyed it. The Beau Rivage looks wonderful.

Ooh, we're thinking of going too, probably in September. Friends of mine have stayed at The Residence & really enjoyed it, but they don't have children. Their only criticism was getting fed up of fine dining every night .

The Residence has great deals in septemnber - that's when we're going (can recommend a travel agent, got it a HUGE amount cheaper than through other agents. Apparently, the later you go/October, the better the weather. Wonderful childrens' clubs for over threes, but smaller children can go with a babysitter.

We went there last summer and had a fabulous time. There really isn't that much to do on the island. Bit of shopping in Grand Baie and Port Louis is good for a wander around.

The island has a Ralph Lauren manufacturing operation on it so you can buy Ralph Lauren at every turn, but it does get a bit boring after a while.

In terms of getting about you can hire a car and a driver for about £20 per day. The driver takes you where ever you want and waits for you. You can pop back every so often and deposit your purchases in the car to save having to carry too much.

We did a helicopter tour of the island which was fantastic, but equally hiring a driver for a couple of days and asking him to take you round all the sights is good too.

The hotels really are luxurious. We stayed at teh Maritim on the West side of the island as we went in late August and the west side of the island is meant to be better protected from wind than the East. (We really didn't feel any difference at all when we went to the East so wouldn't book on that basis again).

Our children who were 5 and 3 at the time, loved it and still talk about it all the time. The beaches, people, children's clubs etc were all super. Nothing was too much trouble for the hotel!

We think we will try the residence next time - I was a little too nervous of how the children would behave to risk it last time. They were so good I think I was worrying unnecessarily. Poweder Bryne run the children's club at the residence and they have a very good reputation.

Oh also should add that the carers from the childrens clubs are really keen to babysit in the evening. We left ours and she took them off to see the horses and for a late stroll before getting them supper and putting them to bed. This gave us time to have a lesuirely bath and drink before we got ready to go out in peace and quite. And at the Residence you have a butler to pour the bath for you and make sure your clothes are all pressed and ironed ready to go!

I really am very that you are all going this year, but am really looking forward to going back next year!

We are hoping to go back again

Sykes - can you let me know who you booked with, please.

That's it - I really want to go now. Sykes, I would appreciate the name of your agent too. DS is 3 in August, so would be able to go to the club (hurrah!). Only for a few hours, of course(guilt, guilt).

Will also be watching with interest as we're hoping to get away October time.

My mum lived there for seven years (My step-dad is a civil engineer) I went to visit twice and it really was amazing. Try to visit the black forest - the scenery is stunning. I will ask my mum to remind me of good things to do, places to see

There are two agents I'd recommend - do you think you should e-mail me as it might be against MNet ethics? NOT that the agents are ANYTHING to do with me - but I got about five quotes and these two were exceptionately good. Also, Powder Byrne (who I've been on holiday with before) does operate a kids's club, as does Scott Dunn, but the excellent childrens' club is not exclusive to those operators who, in my experience, are a lot more expensive than the agents I got deals through.

Hello
My dh and I had our honeymoon at Le Saint Geran - it was out of this world...truly amazing. We had our own butler like Soapbox, such a treat and such complete relaxation. The best thing was having lunch served to us on the beach with silver cutlery!!! There's a wonderful Givenchy spa at Le Saint Geran - I highy recomemnd the hot rock massage - amazing. DH booked through a company called Suzy Freeman - I didn't know where we were going until we checked in. One warning though - it is a long flight from the UK.....
Enjoy yourselves, the people/weather/scenery and beaches are all lovely.

I'm v interested because my friends (who live in Oz) are getting married there next April. dd will be 21 months, and while I'd love to go, am a bit nervous about the flight, whether she'd need jabs, what we'd do there. Any comments? The alternative is to send dh on his own (or me, on my own) but I can't imagine that being too much fun. Would love to see best friend getting married, but since they'll be coming back here for a fortnight afterwards, it may be too much money for too little value.

We didn't have any jabs - were told none were needed - however on the flight back the cabin crew rather unpleasantly sprayed us with insecticide!!

My mum used to live there, it's lovely. Do go pook, you'll have a great time. Officially I think you're supposed to have loads of shots but I went 3/4 times and never did and neither did my mum, my sisters, or any of the expats living there - we were all fine. Take normal malaria precautions in the evenings (cover up) and so on though. You don't have to get a driver, you could just hire a car and drive around. Mind you at 20quid maybe it is worth hiring a driver too (worth it to watch your shopping in your car maybe). It's very friendly and although the official language is English, most people speak Creole. If you speak French though a lot of people will understand that since it tends to be one of the main business languages. It's a great place, interesting racial mix, friendly, beautiful. But most tourists seem to just stay in the hotels and not go out of them in which case all they'll see is beach/bar/room. I'd really recommend getting out and about. The gardens at Pamplemousse (sp?) are lovely, are as the markets in Port Louis. Can't think what else to see but will post again if I think of anything. Seem to remember a great (not touristy) restaurant in the mountains but it may not still be there. Lethal, Mauritius main industries are sugar and textiles so you will find plenty of shops selling M&S jumpers and other textile stuff v cheaply.

Oh - and regarding long flights - I just did 11 hours on my own coming back from the UK. DD's first tooth came through DURING the flight, but even considering that it was OK.
Check in as early as you can bear to in order to get a chance at the bassinet seats (we only got them one way on our recent trip - certainly makes it easier if you're not holding the baby for the complete flight).

One more thing (brain still not functioning properly after 5 1/2 months since DD's arrival!), Diesal manufacture their jeans in Mauritius - I bought a pair for about 40 quid - they are 80-110 in London. There's a Diesel shop in Port Luis. As wickedwaterwitch (love the name!) said, the Botanic gardens at Pamplemousse are lovely - our guide seemed to liken everything to his MIL.....don't think they got on very well.

We stayed at the Beau Rivage last February. It is a very nice hotel but on the other side of the island from the airport so we had a long bumpy mini bus ride to get there. It's quite a long drive to the shops too so that's probably why people tend to stay in their hotel. The good news is the hospital in Port Louis is excellent! My ds, then aged 1o months got sick on the plane over and then got dehydrated. The hotel and hospital were all really helpful about it. We also got hit by a cyclone and had to move hotels to the other side of the island but still managed ot enjoy the holiday so if none if this happens to you, you should have a really good time.
You can do a nice scenic drive to the bottom tip of the island!

We went to Le Tousserok for our honeymoon and it was amazing. We hired a car for the day and drove over to Port Louis which was good and had a wonderful lunch overlooking the sea up on the North of the Island to a place called Le Pescatore. (can't believe I can remember that!) We also did a catarman trip which was brilliant - dolphins jumping round the boat and saw a turtle while snorkelling and giant clams.

You will have a brilliant and luxurious time.

Don't think you should worry too much about The Residence being too posh for kids. A Friend holidays there a lot with her ds and says the staff couldn't be nicer to children.

Beau Rivage is a fantasic hotel - right next door to the Residence. The beach is lovely, great big massive pool, good kids club if that's important, and very nice food. Cheesy nightly entertainment though in the restaurants - when I stayed they had an "African" evening - so the food was African themed (think impala, ostrich, etc) but we had grassed skirted tribal dancers with spears "entertaining" us, which wasn't for me. But I overlooked that because the food was so excellent.

If you want to get out and about beyond the hotel, it might be worth getting a copy of the Lonley Planet guide. Good 'sights' are the Hindhu Temple at Beau Bassin which gives agood sense of Hinduism as practised on the Island, and some nice scenic waterfalls nearby. The Black River National Park for spactacular walks, the Inland tea Plantations (Cherie Bois), lots of lovely Hindhu Temples in small villages, a zoo/animal park quite close to Flic en Flac, spectacular scenic dives in the national park areas, amongst the volcanic mountains, and a wonderful Colonial House Museum just south of Port Louis on the motorway.

Many of the non-hotel cafes and bars and local restaurants are absolutely wonderful, and extremely cheap. Hotels operate on an entirely different economy for drinks, ice creams, everytihng.

Good markets are at RoseHill, Quatre Bournes and Port Louis. Real Vanilla is something to bring back as it is MUCH cheaper there, as are the lovely baskets - in any colour you like, but get them in the markets, not tourist shops, the local Mauritian Rum (Green Island), Indian fabrics (again, markets).

P.S we took DS when he was 8 months - none of us had any jabs,,,probably should have done - or took any anti-malarial precautions. But you MUST take really good sunscreen, and mosi-repellant, and stay in the shade or covered up in the middle of the day. The sun is super-strong!
The sea is gorgeous.