Port Louis - Odd Arne Kvernberg and Julie Bcobeberg were married four days before. The Norwegians with golden skin and blue eyes chose Mauritius for their honeymoon, as so many do. They were throwing back flaming drinks with four Swedes and gathering selfies of sparkling smiles when we met them at the Coral Bar.
It was 11pm and almost time for the poolside entertainment to wind down. A Creole beauty was doing justice to It’s raining men at the stage area and a barman placed another mojito in front of me.
On the poolside of the semi-circle bar, a group of British tourists had banded together and three women sat facing us. In the middle, a sunburnt woman’s eyelids little by little became half-mast until they closed altogether. She managed to maintain the other animations of sociability, turning her head to follow the conversation and nodding politely every now and again.
British teacher Kerry Teahan giggled next to me. No one ever wants the day to end in Mauritius.
The Coral bar is the social hub of four-star Ambre, an adults only (16 and over) hotel in the World Leisure Holidays stable. Situated in a sheltered alcove of Palmar on the East coast, the bar services an airy pool area, with infinity ponds that peep across a bay where guests can play and fish in translucent water.
An introductory tour given to us revealed a leisure desk and a quiet spa. But what really occurred to us as we strolled between the dancing coconut palms on our first day at Ambre, was the quiet. With a clientele of 16 and older, the noise is naturally measured, the paths are used for walking and the leisure desk staff work hard to get lazy adults to snorkel, fish, cycle, paddle and play sand soccer.
Air Mauritius flies to and from South Africa twice a day and all over the world and with a mere 3.5 hour travelling time, we could see why it is such a popular South African destination. The airline also brings in people of all shapes and sizes from practically all over the world.
So with the urge to burn ourselves out quelled, we found a couple of beanbags among the international couples. One of us managed to master the art of stand-up paddling and one of us to read half a book. At lunch time, we left the pods and walked 9.144m to La Plage, the beach restaurant.
“Bonjour.” Our waitress brought us each a bottle of the great, local beer, Phoenix. The buffet consisted of seafood and grilled items, with colourful accompaniments like lentils in tomato, mint and coconut paste and peanut sauce laid out like the four stripe Mauritian flag.
Successive Portuguese, Dutch, French and British occupations have left a stamp on the cuisine and though Mauritius became a republic in 1992, the food is a storybook of 500 years of colonial influence.
There is no better place to experience these lively flavours than the market in Port Louis. Here, vendors pay an annual rental for a space in a double storied edifice. In summer, when the heat becomes overbearing, the fruit and vegetable arena springs to life with seasonal stock of mangoes, watermelon and pineapple. Our visit, in winter, coincided with harvested root vegetables.
Between high-beamed roofs and smooth, stony floors, the vegetable vendors sat with their produce, piled high in woven baskets as much for visual appeal as for convenience. The aroma of salted fish and fresh baguette a reminder that outside this “mall” for locals, a once French-owned island would entertain over 900 000 hotel guests this year.
In the fast-food court, lunch artisans vied for business long before lunch time by beckoning passers-by. When a wrap was ordered, a man would lift a flat bread made of maize, spoon sauces messily on to it – peanut, salsa verde and coconut paste on to the pliable cloth and wrapped it up at breakneck speed.
When we did find our energetic groove the next day, we called on Brian of the leisure desk who said we could cycle up to Belle Mare, a couple of kilometres north.
While saddling up in the thatched bike shed, Capetonian Lloyd Blanckensee arrived to prep bikes for him and his wife. He told us he had been in Mauritius for two months. The first, they spent at Grand Baie and for four weeks they had been at Ambre.
“We love it here – the two things that appealed to us were the free golf for me and that there are no kids,” the retiree said.
Our cycle ride took us past small domestic farms with canefields stretching into the distance, before we found a park that followed the coastline. A gentle verge of reef fringes the 2 000m2 island and allows for long, flat views of the bright water shallows and stagnant beach.
On a trip inland, our guide Sarah Jane Laseringue told us that the Mauritian government were actively seeking ways to reduce the dependence on the farmed crop by moving to more viable options such as textiles and cotton.
The cane is used increasingly in other ways thanks to unfavourable export prices. Ethanol, vinegar and rum are growing products. Large white cane light pendants hung in the red glow of the Chopsticks restaurant and the leaf is used to line the large roofs of the pool bars under which we spent our evenings.
But tourism remains the main form of capital income in Mauritius and the Mauritius Tourism Authority works alongside the beach hotel industry – key players in the market.
Later in the week, we traded in the chilled lifestyle of Ambre for family fun at five-star Long Beach, another World Leisure Holidays hotel, a short drive north. We swopped “maujitos” and feet in the sand for a spectacular hotel room and full access to Wi-Fi.
Long Beach, a mere three years old, is named for its spectacular beach – one can walk for kilometres – and motorised watersports are a popular pastime with guests. But it was beside Mauritius’ largest heated pool on floating beds that we spent most of the time.
A gong announced our arrival and we were greeted inside a spacious reception with huge, open shutters that opened on to dramatic use of volcanic rock in the architecture. In the piazza below, the three restaurants, Italian, Japanese and Chinese, flanked a communal area that extended to a modern bar area overlooking the “green lawn” – a dazzling contrast to the blue, black and red of the main structure. Manager Vadimir Scanu said the venue was popular for weddings.
Our short stay kicked off with a double massage in the spa, which is tucked away from the daytime activity. Once again we experienced the gentleness of the locals.
Laseringue explained that, though the religious make-up of her nation was so diverse, they were especially proud of the harmony that prevailed. “We all tolerate and respect each other and this is what makes the beauty of the island.”
From the fort in Port Louis, symbols of faith can be seen in every direction. A pagoda, a Catholic Church, a Tamil temple and the steeples of a Mosque. The dominant religion (52 percent) is Hinduism.
We travelled to the centre point of the island where we looked deep into an extinct volcanic basin and then up the steep hills to a fresh water lake that developed in a crater millions of years ago. It reminded me of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre’s description in his famous story of Paul and Virginie. Despite referring to Mauritius as Eden, he calls it “a land of Cyclops blackened by fire”.
A temple known as Gran Basin sits beside the holy water and Laseringue explained that around February, Hindu pilgrims walk bearing large replicas of the god Shiva and converge on the temple. There we found monkeys stealing sacrificial fruit left at the statues set in the shallows of the lake, suspended in the thick fog. “It is a cold place, so often the weather is misty like this,” Laseringue said.
The historical narrative of the people of Mauritius is inspiring, but their 500-year journey is punctuated by sadness. The Blue Penny museum, located in the dining district of Port Louis, strings together the story of the displaced population of Diego Garcia. It also tracks the history of colonialism and houses a heritage collection.
Nowadays, the people of Mauritius, focus on pleasing guests of all shapes and sizes from countries all over the world. While at Long Beach, we frequently came across kids club excursions traipsing off to the pool for a quick dip or on their way to the soccer pitch. Teens were getting to know each other in the Clubroom, using the climbing wall.
The Blanckensees were planning another month at Ambre and we bumped into them a couple of times. Discussing the merits of the all-inclusive package and the house wine, they gave us a tip to request the “Libertas merlot” when eating at the Italian restaurant. It seems you are never too young or retired to enjoy island life.
If You Go
For reservations or further information, call 0860 954 954 or visit our website www.wlh.co.za
www.facebook.com/WorldLeisureHolidays
Air Mauritius launched a new schedule on July 6 this year: for more information, go to: www.airmauritius.com or www.smarttravel.co.za or call:
+ 27 (0)87 151 1848
www.tourism-mauritius.mu
Saturday Star