Mauritius

I was lucky enough to go to Mauritius on a work familiarisation trip for 5 days with British Airways and Heritage and Veranda Resorts. I experienced Club World with BA and this was a real treat. Club World seats convert into flat beds and doing 12 hour flight was much appreciated. Even though Mauritius is 12 hours flying time, the island is only 3 hours ahead of the UK in Summer time so I did not have any jet lag at all and felt fairly good on landing.

We Firstly travelled North to Grand Baie ( the main tourist town on the island). We checked in at the Veranda Grand Baie which was a 3 star hotel. For location and service this hotel should be graded as 5 star as it is perfect for the town and harbour area and the staff were just lovely. The rooms were very specious and great for families as they offer a separate sleeping area for the kids in a bunk room giving privacy. The rooms were decorated light and airy and for a 3 star again was top end.

The following day we travelled to the East of the island and stayed at Paul and Virginie (again another 3 star) This hotel had a completely different feel to Grand Baie and would be great for couples wanting tranquility. The beach area here is beautiful and the pools overlook the sea.

Port Louis the Capital was a bustling Town with a great waterfront with lovely craft shops. The food was reasonable here and the view is terrific. We also visited the local markets in the town which was great and we used our haggling skills which I love doing.

We then moved to the South of the island through the national park going through small commercial towns along the way and felt you could really take in what the island is about. The fields of sugar cane were amazing and also seeing locals in their plantation fields.

In the South we checked in to the Heritage Le Telfair a 5 star resort.The beaches in the south are white, with crystal clear waters and stunning. The Le Telfair offers amazing rooms with amazing food and you must go to the C beach club too for a completely different experience.

In the National park there are loads of things to do and see and one of the adventures I experienced was Quad biking and although at first I wasn't very good, I have to say by the end of the hour we were racing through the sugar canes and crying with laughter at how much mud we managed to spray over ourselves. A totally brilliant experience and I now want a quad bike of my own!!

In need of a little TLC a nice spa treatment was in order and the seven colour spa located in all Veranda and heritage properties is available and a full body massage is defiantly recommended.

The next stop wasn't too far as we were transferred 2 minutes from the hotel to the Heritage the Villas. These are hidden gems. We stayed in a 4 bedroom villa close to the resort and anyone staying here can use the C beach club for use of the beach, water sports and food. You have your own golf buggy and after the experience of Quad biking unfortunately the buggies didn't quite make the speed of the quads but was equally as fun when you are travelling on small paths through the golf course.

We also visited the local Botanical gardens called Pamplemousses. This was a very interesting experience and would not have been if we didn't have a guide as she was able to explain all the plants and trees and there history, especially the detail of the Palm tree, where in Maurtius the heart of the palm is a delicacy and is included in lots of salads and starters which was interesting when eating. It looks like a large leek cut into small bite size pieces or strips and tastes pretty good.

Mauritius for me was a beautiful island full of contrasts and full of many experiences to offer, a wonderful trip and I cannot wait to return.