Archive | Mauritius

Travel Guide for Rodrigues island

Many tourists complain about Mauritius not being the former, laid back and not developed island anymore. 15 years ago the island lacked of shopping centres, good cafes and restaurants. Nowadays one finds a good infrastructure, decent internet connection and many different cultures living there. Mauritius 15 years ago still exists: on Rodrigues.

Rodrigues is a small island belonging to Mauritius, but 580km. It’ll take you 1.5h to reach Rodrigues by plane. The island measures only 19km x 9km. Many Mauritian travel to Rodrigues for holiday, as it’s one of the closest islands (apart of La Reunion and the Seychelles). Air Mauritius departs several times per day. The prices vary from 170-200€ return.

Rodrigues itself is from volcanic origin and surrounded by a reef. Its climate is typical for an island: mostly sunny, not a lot of rain and with a constant breeze. Looking inland one will find many hills, a lot of banana trees and stunning seaview.

Best beaches on Rodrigues

Rodrigues has amazing beaches and you’ll be alone there. Enjoy turquoise water, white sand and blue sky. Pack a big bottle of sunscreen, water and good mood.

#1: Trou d’Argent

Trou d’Argent is on the east coast and rated one of the best beaches on Rodrigues. One can park at St. Francois and walk 10min through the forest. If you rented a scooter you could drive, but the path is too sandy and bumpy for cars. Surrounded by high cliffs the sea is visible and perfect to snorkel. There are no waves but colourful fishes and corals. Take thongs with you to not get in touch with sea urchins.

#2: Petit Gravier

The village Gravier on the south-east coast is well equipped: charming restaurants, small corner shops and an amazing abandoned beach. The tarred road ends in the center and goes on as sandy road. It’ll take you directly to the beach. The adventurous tourists might take a turn to the right direction Hotel La Belle Rodriguaise. Just stop at one of the picnic tables and enjoy a cold beer.

#3: St.Francois

On your way to Trou D’Argent stop at St.Francois. Another breathtaking beach with volcanic rocks and sand.

Things to do on Rodrigues

#1. Suspension bridge

In eastern Rodrigues Tyrodrig Zip Lines offer a walk over the Pistachio Valley by suspension bridge. This adventure costs only 100rs (2,70€). 40m high one can enjoy the view, adrenaline and be happy to broaden ones horizon. Even for children 5 years and older this accompanied adventure is one of a lifetime.

#2: Cavern Patate

On the south west of Rodrigues the cavern patate is one of the main attractions. You can get your ticket directly there and follow the guide underground.

11 Things to do in Mauritius with Children

The beautiful volcanic island of Mauritius is a great choice for a family destination. This island nation annually attracts millions of visitors who wanted to have a unique and unforgettable holiday.

For those who are not aware, tourism is actually a major component of Mauritian economy, which obviously explains why the service and experience is unparalleled.

Mauritius is easily accessible from various countries. For instance, travel time is approximately 11 hours from Europe, 6 hours from South Africa and 14 hours from Australia. Additionally, don’t worry about any language barriers as there are three official languages – French, English and Creole (though it is doubtful if any tourist would be able to speak Creole as fluent as a local).

The beach of Ile aux Cerf – Copyright by www.ants-in-our-pants.com

There are tons of things to do in Mauritius with children. For one thing, a great family holiday couldn’t be complete without spotless white sandy beaches. Kids may also explore reefs, since it is not far from shore – it is only about 100 meters away. Therefore one won’t have high waves. Continue Reading →

4 reasons to visit the East Coast – Mauritius with children

Many tourists don’t visit the east coast Mauritius unless they stay in a hotel there. During my 6 month residency in Mauritius the east coast was one of my favourites with my children. Why?

Snorkeling is fantastic!

If you go to the beach right before Trou d’Eau Douce there’s one small lagoon after another. Many stones in the water with stonefishes require bathing shoes or fins. But once in the water it’s like stepping in a huge aquarium. Have some bread with you to feed the fishes.

Continue Reading →

Why you shouldn’t miss to workout while travelling – insider workout travel tips

Travelling around is exciting and inspiring. New countries, architecture one has never seen before, getting oriented and trying all the strange food is just like being born into a new world again.

First you look around and have no clue who those people are. They share your place and communicate somehow with you, even only nonverbal. But who are they? What are their values? Their dreams and sorrows? Continue Reading →

Mauritius dolphin watching – a unique experience

Dolphins meet every morning in front of La Preneuse Beach. Since many years it’s an important part of the tourist industry to offer boat trips to watch and snorkel with them. Different opinions exist from “It’s cruelty to the dolphins! All these people jumping in the sea and swimming with them.” to “If they wouldn’t like it they could descent. But they even seem to play with the tourists.”.

However, we wanted to form our own opinion about Mauritius dolphin watching: Continue Reading →

Horse race in Mauritius: 5 reasons to get there

Forget your prejudices about horse races. Elitist sport, cruel jockeys and compulsive gamblers. Sure, someones’ world is black or white. Better make your own experience. I collected 5 reasons why you should give it a try:

1.Saturday hangout

What do you do on a Saturday? For us Saturdays are odd days in between the normal working week and the free Sunday. On a Saturday you can work till noon and spend the rest of the day on grocery shopping. But you could also finish early or don’t even start working and let the weekend begin.Most racing days start at noon. The last race will be at around 4pm. You can join whenever you’d like. Also only for two races. Continue Reading →

Mon Choisy Beach, the place of happy people

Under trees one can enjoy the more than 3km long beach of Mon Choisy. During the week it’s very calm and only visited by tourists whereas the weekends turn it into a party place. Grandpas playing with their children in the water, Indian families dining on the beach and young people playing football.

This girl and his grandpa played for more than 1 hour the same game: she is splashing him water over his head, laughing and having a lot of fun. After some minutes he took the beer can and splashed water over her head. Laughing made him look like a young boy again.

Continue Reading →

A perfect sunday hangout: The Coral Tree Restaurant at Westcoast Island, La Preneuse

It occurs to us that we find it difficult to go out for lunch or dinner with the kids. We prefer eating at home, because it’s just a mess with them: spaghetti all over the floor, screaming child because she likes to have the salami we always have instead of the one the restaurant serves, knocked over drinks create a stressful atmosphere.

Nevertheless sometimes we are just on our way, badly prepared with nothing to eat with us. So we have to go somewhere.

We stumbled in the Coral Tree Restaurant by recommendation of our skipper. Continue Reading →

Zip Line Tour Mauritius at Domaine de Chazal

The mauritian “djungle” is greener than green. Especially in the south, where it’s raining almost every night. The GREEN green of sugar cane, palms and trees hanging their branches over deep valleys, combined with birdsongs and a feeling of freedom. That’s the beginning of a small adventure.

I decided to do a zip line tour on Mauritius with friends at Domaine de Chazal, near Souillac in the south of Mauritius. This Domaine is beautifully designed with lakes, sunloungers, a restaurant and of course the amusing tour guides.

In a professional manner they started putting us the climbing harnest on. After a short ride we started on one side of the valley. Inspecting the zip line and the valley we were not very sure if this is scary or great.

Leaving our children at home with their daddies meant that we were finally doing something only for ourselves. No feeding, filling up drinking bottles, dispute settling or tired, moaning child next to us. It was wonderful!! Continue Reading →

Business trip with kids – 4 steps to successfull childcare

Many husbands need to go on meetings, project work or short term cooperation to beautiful and interesting places. If that’s Paris, Cape Town or New York. How lovely would it be to just accompany him? Get your bags packed and leave for while the routinized daily routine. Explore the new city while your partner is working and tell him during dinner what you experienced, found out and done the whole day. Walking hand in hand back to your hotel and enjoying the excitement of being a tourist. Continue Reading →

Ants in our pants

A family travel blog