Sedona - A Journey Through Nature's Wonders across American Southwest

Sedona

Drive from Antelope Canyon to Sedona is 160 miles and took us 3 hours. The drive to Sedona was very scenic passing through the lush pine forests of Coconino National Forest. It was a lot more green than the other places we had visited so far.

We reached Sedona around 6PM. The plan was to met one of Pankaj's school friend at a restaurant called 'Breezy'. This friend had drove all the way from Phoenix to meet us.  Restaurant Breezy is located in uptown of Sedona with a beautiful outdoor seating area. The view from the restaurant was super pretty.  We spent a couple of hours chatting and catching up over an early dinner. We got to experience another amazing view of the rising full moon. This was very different from the views in Bryce and Antelope.

Restaurant Breezy

Sedona uptown is also know for its quaint shops with beautiful candles, lamps, souvenirs and more. After a short walk in the uptown area we reached 'Pine Tree Resorts' - our stay for the night.

Pine Tree Resort - Sedona

Our cottage at Pine Tree Resorts was beautiful. It was a spacious cottage with a 1 bed room, hall and kitchen. It had been a long day and we were tired.  When we met-up with Pankaj's friend he had highly recommended 'Pink Jeep Tours' and said this something we should not miss this. We had not planned for this jeep tour, but since we got this must do recommendation, we started looking for ticket availability. We were lucky to have got seats on the 11am slot. Only because we were booking for a weekday we were able to get the tickets even at the last minute. These tours are hard to get over the weekend.

September 18th: Sedona to Grand Canyon

After a breakfast of fruit and homemade ladoos, it was already check-out time. I wish we stayed here for another day. Sadly we hardly spend anytime enjoying this resort.

We began our day at the Airport Mesa viewpoint, offering panoramic views of Sedona. This viewpoint is like any other stop point but a fantastic spot to get some panoramic views of Sedona.  It's also best experienced by cycling/biking to this view point. 

Airport Mesa Viewpoint

We had another hour before our Pink Jeep Tour at 11am. During this time we stopped over at Tlaquepaque Arts Village. This art village has some stunning arts and crafts of the Navajo people. One can easily spend 2-4 hours exploring the various outlets.

We reached the tour office well in time for our 11am tour. We were assigned our jeep. Each jeep has a max of 7 members plus driver who also is the guide. Glad this was a last minute booking. We had no idea what to expect. We just knew it would be an off-road 4 wheel jeep drive. 

Pink Jeep Tour Stop

After a short briefing, we were boarded our designated jeep, tucked ourselves in the seat belts and waiting to experience this much talked about drive. On our jeep, we had a couple of Canada, a family from Connecticut, USA and we three from Bangalore, India. The guide was super funny and keeping us entertained through out the drive. This is one good thing in US. I have found most of the tour guides to be very funny, cracking jokes and at the same time sharing a lot of information. It's amazing how they do this seamlessly.

Pink Jeep Tour

 

The tour was about two hours, driving on muddy pathways and on rocks - sometimes up and sometimes on steep descents. It might look scary, but it's nothing to be afraid of. I think some of the roller-coaster rides are more nerve wrecking. At a few places the jeep was descending at a 75 degree angle. The drivers are well trained and know exactly how to drive on these terrains. On this tour, we visited some amazing points which are not easily accessible by foot. We had a thrilling off-road adventure on this tour and glad we did it.

By the time the tour ended, we were super hungry. One of the co-tourist on our tour had recommended this restaurant 'Mariposa' (a latin inspired grill). We decided to go there for lunch. This was a few mins drive from the Pink Jeep Tour office. Mariposa is set in a beautiful location overlooking a valley. This is a fine dining boutique restaurant and luckily had vegetarian options on the menu.  

Apart from our meals, we also ordered some Yuca fries. These fries tasted like Tapioca fires. For meal, I had ordered a mushroom burger. It was kind of weird. Maybe it was just weird for me as I don't generally eat mushrooms. 

Chapel of Holy Cross

 

After lunch we stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Cross - easily skippable. But FOMO made us visit this place :) We also stopped at Yavapai Vista and Bell Rock view points. Didn't feel like hiking much after lunch. Hence make-do with view points. Also, I had started feeling a little uneasy after lunch. At this point I was all fine, but things turned differently when we started driving to our next destination - Grand Canyon

 

 

Antelope Canyons - A Journey Through Nature's Wonders across American Southwest

 September 17th: Drive from Bryce to Antelope Canyons

The drive from Bryce to Page, Arizona, was stunning, and we even crossed over a different time zone as we moved from Utah to Arizona. 

We wanted to make it in time for the sunset at Horseshoe bend. As we got close to Page in Arizona, we made a quick stop at the 'Wahweap' overlook to take in the grand view of Lake Powell and the never ending open landscape. Glad we didn't spend a lot of time here else we would have missed the amazing sunset at Horseshoe bend. Yes, this was another day of chasing sunset 😊. We decided we will not stop at Glen Canyon Bridge (which was en-route) and visit it at leisure the next day. 

Horseshoe Bend @Sunset

 We reached Horseshoe Bend just in time for the sunset. The car parking was almost full. Luckily we found a spot. Everyone was rushing towards the trail to not miss the sunset. It's a 20-minute walk from the parking to reach Horseshoe bend. I had not seen so many people in one place in the US other than the fireworks time at Amusement parks in Orlando. The sun was almost setting and it's yellow-orange-red hues were all over the bend and on the Colorado river. We just sat there witnessing breathtaking views of the bend, with setting sun on one side and rising moon on the other side. No pictures or words can fully describe the grandeur, depth and vastness of this nature's wonder. 

Moonrise @Horseshoe Bend

After spending almost an hour here, we walked back to our car and drove to Holiday Inn Express our home for tonight. The location of this hotel was very good. Lots of restaurants were just at a few minutes walking distance. We dined at a nearby restaurant called 'Gone West Family Restaurant'. This restaurant is set in Wild West theme, the food was great and also they had a live band performing. It was a great way to end yet another amazing day.

September 17th: Antelope Canyon and Sedona

Glen Canyon Dam

We didn't have any thing major planned until our Canyon tour later in the day. After a lazy breakfast at the hotel, we visited the Glen Canyon Overlook. Glen Canyon Dam Bridge was impressive and looked almost similar to Hoover Dam. The exhibits at the visitor center were informative. We skipped the Powell Museum - one because it was ticketed (didn't want to spend 30$ per person) and other reason was, we already had gathered enough information at the visitor center. We were looking forward to the main event: the Lower Antelope Canyon tour at 12:45 PM. 

Narrow Antelope Canyons

 After doing some research, we had booked our tour with Dixie's Lower Antelope Canyon Tour more than month in advance. There are approximately 70 people in each time-slot group because of which the slots get sold-out quickly. We reached Dixie's by noon. We had to wait in the waiting area until our tour turn. A Mexican entertained the waiting crowd with his hula-hoop stunts. In not time it was time for our tour.

The group was further divided into subgroups with 15 members and a tour guide. The guide gave us information about how the canyons were formed, some do and don't and also answered any questions we had. It was good 15-20 minutes walk in the hot sun, from the waiting area to the start of the canyon. Since the canyons are underground, we didn't see them until we reached the entrance. 

Ladder @ Canyon Entrance

In the lower antelopes, we had use steep & narrow ladder to enter to the canyons. Once we descend the ladder, we entered a magical world. The canyons are carved by erosion of Navajo sandstone due to flash flooding and other erosion. Most of the canyon passage was very narrow with only one person fitting it. 

Lady with the flowing hair

 The winding sandstone walls of the canyon were stunning. The pink-orange-red hues of sandstone with shades changing based on the sunlight created a different world underground. We were completely lost in this creation. Our tour guide showed some amazing formations and also helped us with wonderful pictures. Though the tour took about 1hr 30min it felt as if it got over quickly. The exit from the canyon was a very narrow opening and with that we were back to the world above the ground.

Narrow opening to exit Canyons

Post our antelope tour, we stopped by at Subway for lunch. A grumpy staff here made us feel a little unwelcome. From here it was time to move to our next stop 'Sedona'.

A Date With Fireflies @ Rainforest Retreat Coorg

Rainforest retreat at Galli Gudda Coorg is an Eco Resort (http://www.rainforestours.com/index.htm). This plantation is an unique project that combines eco-tourism with organic farming and believes to the core in having an environment with bio-diversity. The whole farm is self sufficient with water (there are streams running through the plantation), power - solar generated power, food - most vegetables and fruits are grown organically at the farm and remaining grains/pulses are sourced directly from farmers. Checkout their website for more details. Icing on the cake about this place is - there is absolutely no network. The phones are operational only from a point on a hill within the property and WIFI is available only between 2pm-5pm in the office area with minimal bandwidth. Because of heavy rainfall during monsoons, the property remains closed during Monsoons.

When we were planning for a trip this summer, we were looking for places which would be little different from the regular homestays or resorts. We had visited Coorg several times, hence wanted to find a place which was different and would give us a WOW feeling after the vacation. Once we went through the details on the website, we fell in love with it. Awesome reviews on Tripadvisor helped us make the decision faster. Apart from it being an eco-lodge, the deciding factor was the "Fireflies" at night. Because of the unique bio-diversity and organic plantation, the property is blessed with thousands of fireflies during the month of April and May. These fireflies lit up the whole valley in the property once it gets dark. It is just mind blowing.

Cardamom Plantation

We were 2 families (each with 2 adults and 2 kids). We decided to take a Deluxe Cottage and 2 Plantation Cottages. Deluxe cottage are big and can accommodate 4 adults easily and are very close to the dining area. Plantation Cottages are about 500m walk with some climbing. Plantation Cottages are in the midst of the forest and at a higher elevation. These are not recommended for families with small kids and elder members. However, trust me these are the best cottages in-terms of every aspect - location, privacy, views, weather... They are very rustic and blend very well with nature.  Power is provided only by solar, which is 12v and is available only at night. But the rooms and bathrooms have got good skylights and ventilation. Best part is, if you are travelling in month of April and May, you get to see the fireflies right from porch of the plantation cottages. Which is a huge plus for the plantation cottage.

Firefly in the daytime

Deluxe cottages are big and comfy and right opposite to the dining area. Hence it is easy to come over for all meals and breakfast. Also it is closer to the parking area. On the other hand, to go to Plantation cottage one needs to cross the road and then walk for about 500m with some climbing - but definitely worth it.

We started from Bangalore at 6AM, stopped over at Kamat Lokruchi for some yummy breakfast. Our next stop was Bayalukoppe - Tibetan Monastery. Since Maithree and Goldie had not seen this, we stopped over here. Lots has changed in the last couple of years. Tourists aren't allowed fully into the main Monastery. Some of smaller temples were closed for public. It was blazing hot when we reached here. We quickly checked the place and left. We stopped over at Shanti Bites - Kushalnagar for lunch. The food here was good and very reasonable. After lunch, we went straight to "Rainforest Retreat". It was 3:30PM, when we reached here. Not much sign-board for Rainforest retreat. One needs to reach Galli Gudda and then we saw a sign-board. It is beyond Club Mahindra - Coorg. As soon as we reached the property, Shivani greeted us. We did not expect a young lady as a manager in middle of nowhere. This was the first unexpected thing. Little did we know that there were more surprises. We got to experience a lot of good, new and exciting experiences in the next couple of days.

Sunset from Sterling Hills

We checked into our cottages. Meera and Venki preferred the Deluxe cottage. However, their daughters wanted to stay at the Plantation cottage. Hence Meera and Venki stayed at Deluxe cottage and among the 2 plantation cottages, girls decided to have one for themselves and we took the second cottage. The plantation cottages and tents are on the other side of the road from the main office, dining and deluxe cottages. These are remotely located into the forest and are perfect is all sense. We just fell in love with them immediately. As the plantation cottages and tents are at an elevation and surrounded by forest, it is much cooler here. We had to use blankets in the night and early morning - even during peak summer.

After refreshing with a hot cup of coffee, we went to explore the surroundings of the property. Very beautiful place and totally secluded from the outside world. We only heard birds, crickets, bees and rustling of dried leaves when the wind blew. Absolute silence. We literally had to reduce our volumes as it sounded very loud in this environment.

Around 6PM we went to Sterling Hills - this is a small hill right next to Plantation cottage. The views at Sunrise and Sunset are amazing from here. Only on this hill one gets mobile network. So if you have to make any calls, you need to go to this hill. We spent some time here, chit-chatting about some random things. As the dusk set in, the sky looked beautiful. Once it started getting dark, we came down and walked to the dining area.

At the dining area, we met 2 more girls - Shreya and Amrita, who were interning at the plantation. It was fun chatting with these three girls - Shivani, Shreya and Amrita. All of them were bubbling with lots of environment related information, why organic, general topics etc.  Soon we spotted a couple of fireflies and we were excited. Shivani told us, she would take us to the valley around the plantation coattages after dinner, where we would get many more fireflies. We happily agreed!!! Little did we know what she meant by MANY MORE...


Until dinner time, we played some card games. At plantation, they also had some interesting drinks - Cardamom Rum, Vanilla Rum, Beer etc. We had a delicious dinner made from organic ingredients. Salad, tasty brown rice, nice sambar with tons of veggies, curries and payasam. After dinner, we were given solar powered torches to help us find our way. With all the excitement, we started following Shivani and Shreya to the valley. And what a sight it was -  just superb. It cannot be expressed in word, nor can it be captured in a camera. It just needs to be experienced. Thousands of fireflies had lit up the whole valley. The trees in the valley looked like Christmas lit trees. With just the moon light and the light from fireflies we walked around the valley to the plantation cottages. From the porch of the plantation cottage and tents, the sight of fireflies was mesmerizing.

The funny part was, we were living in such natural habitat and there wasn't a single mosquito. There were all kinds of insects - flies, moths, spiders, tons of butterflies, frogs, snakes, birds. But NO mosquitoes. We spent about an hour sitting on the porch of our cottage, admiring the beauty of nature without having the mosquitoes to bother us. It was pure BLISS!!!

Meera and Venki walked back to the Deluxe cottage and we and kids stayed in the plantation cottage. By now, the weather was pretty cool. Morning was cooler. There was lot of mist. We got up early and went straight to the Sterling hills. Since it was cloudy, we could not see the sunrise. But the view of clouds floating below us was amazing. We also saw lot of different species of birds.

Sunrise from Sterling Hills with Drongo Bird

We had good breakfast of Idlis, whole wheat bread and home made jam, and fresh fruits. After breakfast, we headed to a 3 hour trek. Ravi (he plays different roles at the property - guide, helper, caretaker...) agreed to take us on a good trek and he kept his promise. The trek was just right for us. Not very strenuous at the same time took us through different areas - grasslands, forest, valley. He stopped at places to show us some interesting plants and trees. The spot overlooking the valley was picturesque.

View on Trekking Trail

We decided to head out to Madekari town for lunch and check out some place. In the hindsight, we felt we should have just stayed at the plantation. Madekari town was blazing hot. There was hardly any water at the Abbey falls. There was a time when we could get into the waters at the foot of the falls. As the number of tourists have increased, so have the accidents. Because of this, the authorities are forced to close the provision to get into waters :( Raja seat, also has lost its charm. Too many tourists and also stalls/hawkers. We did not wait for the sunset. The sunset view from Sterling hills was much better.

We planned to have campfire and barbecue at night. We shopped for some vegetables and stuff for marination and headed straight to the plantation. Ravi had got things ready for campfire and barbecue. We enjoyed making and eating some yummy barbecues on the campfire. It was fun with family and friends. The team of Rainforest retreat gave us good company. It felt as though we knew them from a long time.Dinner was served at 8:30PM. After dinner, it was time to checkout the fireflies. This time we went on our own. It was as beautiful as previous day.

Hardly any water @Abbey Falls

Next day, it was time to check-out. But before we checked-out, we had an epic plantation tour from Shivani. She showed us around the bio-diversity that has been cultivated around the plantation. How each tiny insect is helping other living organisms. This was an ecological session for all us. This gave us a glimpse of effort that has gone in from Anurag and Sujata (owner's of this plantation). They really have put lot of effort to get the plantation to this eco-friendly state and still maintaining it. They have set an amazing example for all of us to follow and think before we spray pesticides.

Half-heartedly we had to part. We wished we could stay for one more day in this lovely place. This reiterated that simple living admist nature gives more joy that any material living. The whole trip, left us thinking on how we can make a difference in our own small way to this planet. For starters, we decided to go organic. Hopefully, we will be able to keep up this.

Kuderemukha - The Green Carpet

Kuderemukha is in the western ghats of Karnataka. About 290KMs from Bangalore. It was earlier known for the famous Iron Ore mining. This place is in abundance with natural resources. The mighty Bhadra river swells in monsoons and gives life to lot of waterfalls. Since this place falls under the western ghats, except during summer months, the whole place is otherwise lush green. After one crosses the Chikkamagular town, the drive is enchanting. There are small water streams dripping all along the road, all the trees are fresh and all the hills are covered with green. It looks like somebody has put a green carpet on all the hills. Since mining has been banned for more than two decades, this place has very less population. The roads are deserted and one will not see anybody for kilometers together.

This October, because of lot of tests/classes, kids got a vacation only for a week. Hence we wanted to do a chota- recharge. We decided on Kuderemukha thinking we will trek to the peak of Kuderemukha. But after talking to a few people and reading lot of reviews, we decided on doing a smaller trek to Galigudda. Trek to Kuderemukha peak will take about 8-10 hours. Many people said because of the duration, it could get tiring and boring for the kids. Hence we dropped the idea of trekking to the peak. But we wanted to do some trek - even if it is just for couple of hours. The place is so scenic - one cannot resist trekking.

Green Carpet - Western Ghats

Unlike Chikkamagular, Kuderemukha does not have many homestays/resorts. We booked our stay at Bynekaadu (http://bynekaadu.com/). We booked the wooden cottage. The location of the resort is great. Bhadra river flows right infront of the resort. Because of bad monsoons, there wasn't much water in the river. The cottages however are basic. Don't expect some fancy beds and comforts. They have 2 wooden cottages, which share a common wall. This can get annoying if the neighbours are noisy. Though they categorize themselves as homestay, I would think otherwise. The food is prepared at some other location and bought at the site. We kind of did not like this. Food was basic nothing to rave about. They have some indoor games like volley ball, badminton, carom etc. Also a personal campfire is provided right in fornt of your cottage. This was great. We stayed here for a 2nights/3days.

Scenic Drive

We started Bangalore at 6AM and reached Bynekaadu a little beyond Noon, with a break for breakfast at Mayura on NH48. We were served welcome drink of lemonade. It was refreshing after a long drive. The drive was very scenic. Chikkamagulur is one district where you don't want to stop driving. Its calm, quite and serene. After checking in, we relaxed for sometime and were served lunch. At 3PM, we were taken on Jeep drive to a waterfalls where we could swim. On the way, it started raining. Though we tried not to get bitten by leeches, but couldn't avoid :(  The waterfalls was secluded. It was just us and another couple. We were given life jackets before we got into the water. We had loads of fun in the water. The water was pretty cold but very very clean and clear. We spent an hour or so. By now it started raining heavily and our guide/driver told us to start so that we reach the resort before dark. This part of Chikkamagulur is pretty deserted. It is recommended to avoid driving after dark as it is difficult to get any help in case of emergency. We reached the resort around 6PM. We played some badminton and soon it was pretty dark.

Waterfalls - where we could swim

A warm camp fire was lit and we were served hot pakodas and some fresh masala banana and jackfruit chips. The resort/homestay is owned by group of 4 friends. One of them, joined us at campfire and we started chit-chatting. It was fun hearing how they started the resort. We spent the evening under star lit sky with warm campfire and some music by DJ Shree and Shrishti. This is always one of our best part of any vacation - campfire, star lit sky, no TV, no network, some remote place, with some snacks and a good drink, each one fighting for their favourite song to be played and just sitting and chatting on random topics.

Trekking @ Galigudda

Next day, we had planned to trek Galigudda. We had an early breakfast and left for the trek. One can experience walking on the green carpet here. It's a beautiful trek. The hill is covered with grassland and as one walks, one can see lots of shrubs with different colour flowers. We can also see the vast western ghats from here -  till your eyes can scan, one can see the lush green mountains. The wind blows pretty strong here and as you reach higher, it just gushes on your face. There is absolutely no one here. When we went it was just us and the driver. Since we wanted to trek, we asked the Jeep to drop us at the base. The Jeep can be taken up to the peak. We got dropped of at the base and started trekking. Loved every bit of it. I was a little disappointed when we decided to drop the idea of trekking to Kuderemukha. But the trek to Galigudda quenched that thirst. Hopefully few years down the line, we will be able to trek to Kuderemukha peak - once the kids are older :)

Hanuman Gundi Falls

After the spending enough time amidst the green hills and soaking ourselves into the majestic western ghats, it was time to head back. Since we had some time on our hands until lunch, we planned to stop by at Hanuman Gundi waterfalls. There are around 320 steps to reach the falls from the main road. It is definitely worth a visit. The steps are well laid and is surrounded by forest. All falls around this area are beautiful. We went down the steps and spent some time with our legs immersed in the cool waters. It brought back memories of 10years back when the kids were younger and we had carry them to get to the falls. It was so tiring then. Now it seemed so easy with everybody walking on their own :)

Hanging Bridge

Scenic Drive from Hanging Bridge

From here, we stopped at a hanging bridge which is built over Bhadra river. Nothing much to do here - it's just a scenic point. This is very close to Kuderemukh Iron Ore factory. Views from here are great. We captured few good pictures and headed straight to our resort. The drive from here to the resort was the most scenic drive. Absolutely not a soul on the road, very good roads, and lush green hills all around with the streams playing hide and seeks through them. It was one epic drive. By the time we reached the resort, we were tired and hungry. We had a good lunch and rested for sometime. By late afternoon, we were ready to venture more. We checked with the resort guys on what else we could do. They suggested we could drive to another view point, but it could be late. We said, we were fine, even if it got late and headed to the view point.

Getting a peek into the steep valley

This place is called Balrayanadurga and is a must visit. Cars cannot be used to reach this place. 4-wheel Jeep is a best option. The driver took us through some great roads to reach this place. Once we reached here, we were left spellbound. Superb location. On one side are the majestic hills and on the other side is a deep steep valley. The driver, held our hand to get a peek into how deep the valley was and Gosh! it was scary. One can trek to the top of Balrayanadurga peak. There is a fort on the top. It is a good 1/2 day trek. Had we know this earlier we would have planned to trek it. We decided to do it in our next trip. It was sunset time and was getting darker. Since it was very cloudy we could not see the sunset. The driver also told us, we can see the coastline of Mangalore from here on a clear day. It was very windy and cold here and it soon started raining.

Balrayandurga View Point - Landscape

By the time we reached the resort, it was 7pm. We had some hot tea/coffee and some refreshment. A campfire was lit in front of our cottage and we found ourselves relaxing and enjoying around the campfire. After dinner, we just crashed.

Next day, we decided to check out the famous Annapurneshwari temple of Hornadu. This is about 20min drive from Bynekaadu. To avoid long queues, it is recommended to visit the temple before 8AM. Since this was close to Bynekaadu, we went around 7:30AM. There was hardly any crowd. We quickly finished visiting the main temple. I was actually disappointed with the amount of construction that has come up around the temple. 10 years back, when we had visited this temple, there wasn't so much of construction. It was beautiful temple complex, surrounded by hills all around. When we visited this time, the construction around the complex has takenover the view of the beautiful hills :(
On the way back to the resort, we stopped by to buy some coffee and spices. The shopkeeper was very friendly and spent some time chatting with us. This is what I like about non-urban places. Life here is  simple and people generally have time and inclination to talk to other people. The shopkeeper even offered us some tea. We returned to the resort in time for breakfast. We had a sumptuous breakfast, so that we don't get hungry until lunch time.

It was time to say good bye to Kuderemukha and head to Bangalore. Another version of Chikkamagulur was explored and as always it left us with lots of fond memories and experiences.

Mauritius - A Paradise on Earth

Mauritius - A Paradise On Earth. This is one country which is blessed with abundant natural beauty. It has beautiful beaches with white sand that are very clean, pristine blue coloured waters which makes one just keep staring at them, the lush sugarcane farms – wherever the eyes can scan, the adventure activities (swim with dolphins, snorkeling, diving, water skiing, sea walk, submarine ride...) will make every one forget their age and ofcourse nothing can beat the beautiful lush green hikes at Black River gorges, the water falls and the trek to Le Morne. A minimum of one week is required to get a glimpse of this beautiful country.

Private Beach at our Villa

For us, the debate was on whether we should do Nepal or Mauritius. Once we looked at the various activities that would make it a fun family trip - Mauritius won hands down. Once the destination was selected, next was accommodation. There are different options to choose from - resorts, hotels, vacation home, vacation beach villas, guest houses etc. Searching on the internet was overwhelming. Hence we got a lonely planet book. This really helped us to decide which part of the country to stay. Though we were ready with all the details, we could not finalize our bookings early. Shree's grade X class dates were not out yet and we could not do any booking until the dates were finalized. We did our booking only by Mid March and the vacation was finalized for April 14 – 20, 2015. Air Mauritius provides the best travel option – both from number of stops, hours of journey and overall time convenience. The onward journey was for 8 hrs (starts at 5AM from Bangalore and reaches Mauritius at 12PM) and return was 5 1/2 hours (Starts at 9PM from Mauritius and reaches Bangalore at 4:15AM – the next day).

Sunset - Les Lataniers Bleus

We wanted a peaceful vacation, hence went in for a Vacation Home - Beach Villa in Tamarin, West Coast of Mauritius. Les Lataniers Bleus was the chosen place (http://www.leslataniersbleus.com/). They have 3 villas and we booked the entire "Villa Filaos". This is the best villa as it opens into the private beach. The entire villa comes with a Hall, Dining, 2 bedrooms, 2 equipped kitchen and huge sit out facing the beach. The location is superb - nothing can beat it. Lots of room for the entire family.

Day 1 – April 14th 

Villa Filaos - Les Lataniers Bleus

We reached Mauritius at 12:30PM. We had to wait for few minutes at the airport before the OLA Car Rental person could deliver the car to us. We had booked an economic car and we were given Toyota ALS. We put all the luggage, set the GPS to Les Lataniers Bleus and off we went. The roads are great, not much traffic compared to Bangalore and people adhere to traffic rules. It is left hand drive (same as India). The biggest difference was the use of “Round About”. We had earlier experienced them in UAE, but there we weren't driving. Mauritius has round-about everywhere. I guess with the amount of traffic they have, round-abouts work better than signals. Don't know when India will adopt any of such cool features and bring some traffic semblance.

It was about 1 1/2 hour drive from airport to our villa. The drive was beautiful. Mauritius is full of sugarcane farms. It is unimaginable – the lush green sugarcane farms are everywhere. All through the drive, it was the sugarcane farms, green mountains and blue water of the Indian Ocean. What a mesmerizing experience! On the way we stopped at Mc Donalds for some quick bites and straight to the Beach Villa. By the time we checked-in, it was 4PM and our villa was very inviting. Villa Filoas of Les Lataniers Bleus is bang on the beach and is huge. The attendants showed us around as Josette (the owner) was out. We unpacked and freshen up and headed straight to the beach. The water here is very shallow. We got to know that the depth of water is different at different times of the day and depends on tide. The beach was quiet and clean and we were the only people at the beach apart from a couple of people who were guests at Les Lataniers Blues. We played in the waters until the sunset. This actually became almost an everyday affair. After sunset we had an early dinner. The stay included bed and breakfast. Dinner was optional. We had requested dinner only for the 1st day. The dinner here is a community dinner where all the guests gather for a drink and dinner at a common dining area. Apart from us there were 2 ladies from Switzerland. This is the best part of home stays where we get to meet and talk to other guests and in the process we get to know a lot of information about other countries and their cultures. Josette does a good job on making everybody comfortable and she can discuss on any topic. The option for Vegetarians are few. Nothing exotic for dinner. However for non-vegetarians it was a feast. I wish I ate meat :(. Oliver (Josette's husband) gave a nice drink – rum and sugarcane juice. It was epic. We also had some cheese samosas. Dinner was Shu-Shu salad and some rice and curry. The meal ended with a nice dessert of Caramelized Banana with Vanilla Ice Cream. Shrishti was very tired and slept on the sofa half way through the dinner. It was a long day and we crashed after dinner.

Day 2 – Apr 15th

Eureka

Day starts and ends very early here. We were up by 7am, had our tea and went for a walk on the beach. The kids were still sleeping though. Breakfast is served from 8AM – 10AM and tables are set on the beach adjoining the garden. This used be our best time. Breakfast typically included – fresh fruit juices, fresh fruits, different types of yogurts, fresh baked bread, muffins, cakes, pan cakes, fresh home-made jams (there was guava, banana, passion fruit etc). We enjoyed our breakfast watching the different boats on the sea and different birds in the garden. Breakfast on the beach was one of the best parts of the stay. We really loved it!

After breakfast we drove to Eureka. This is a colonial building, built in 1870s and is now converted into a small museum. The building has a beautiful backdrop of a mountain. It has a small museum, but very well kept. The lady at the reception also doubled up as a guide and explained to us the history and the artefacts in the museum. The kitchen was very similar to the kitchens in India. A small trail about 1KMs leads to a waterfalls. The falls was pretty good. Eureka also has a restaurant which serves very good dishes of local cuisine - Carole and Mauritian. It wasn't lunch time for us, hence we decided to eat at the next stop – L' Aventure Du Sucre.

L' Aventure Du Sucre (http://www.aventuredusucre.com/en) is about 20 min from Eureka and is an old sugarcane factory (established in 1875) which has been now converted to a Museum. This is definitely a must visit place at Mauritius. It has beautiful landscapes and also a very good restaurant. We first had lunch at the restaurant. There is lot of open space with lots of trees and well maintained lawns around the restaurant. It was raining and this added to the beauty. We had a relaxed lunch. There was limited Veg options as they were setting up the venue for an evening party and hence the lunch menu was kept very limited. After lunch we went to check out the museum. It will take a minimum of 1-1 1/2 hour to check out the museum. Since an old sugar factory has been converted as museum, one can see the boilers, crushers, filters etc. At the end of the museum, one gets to tastes different kinds of Rum and also 12 types of Sugar. This was an amazing experience. We had no clue that there could be 12 varieties of Sugar and each has it's own taste and purpose. Just be careful with the Rum tasting though.  They have some awesome flavours, and one can go overboard :) Unlike other drinks, Rum kicks in after some hours and it can be really strong...

Giant Lilies at SSR Botanical Garden

From here we went to Sri Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden (Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden). This is a must visit place and please take a guide. Otherwise it will be like visiting any other garden around the corner. They have wide variety of Palm Trees, huge lily ponds, giant tortoises and some rare spices. Definitely worth the visit. You will need atleast 2 hours to explore this garden. Eureka, L'Adventure Du Surce and SSR Botanical Garden are all in the same area (very close to each other) and can be easily covered in a day.

After this we headed back to our villa. If one is not staying in North Mauritius, then it is best to get out of Port Loius before 5PM as the traffic is at it's peak between 5-7PM and getting in and out of Port Louis can be very tough. We reached our villa by 5:45PM and immediately got into the water. It is very relaxing to watch the sunset on a low tide beach. By now, the Rum had kicked in :). We just had some maggi noodles for dinner and slept early.

Day 3 – April 16th 

Giant Tortoise @ La Venille

First place was to visit “La Venille” (http://www.lavanille-reserve.com/index.php/en/). There are 2 routes from the place we stayed. One of the route is “The Scenic” route. Can't find enough words to describe this beautiful route. This route runs along the south-west coast. On one side is emerald-blue sea and on the other side of the highway is lush green mountains. In between there are short routes full of teak wood tress, followed by sugarcane plantations. The route is just mind blowing. We did not feel like blinking our eyes – what if we miss something. And to add to this, not a soul on the highway. This route was as epic as the route from Khardungla – Nubra Valley in Leh Ladak.

We reached La Venille around 10:30AM. This is a park famous of Giant Tortoises (you can feed the tortoises) and it is also the breeding centre, there are a lot of crocodiles, the insect museum is beautiful – didn't know there were these many colourful insects and some of the rare species found in Mauritius like the fruit eating bats. Other important point to note is – the restaurant at the park called “La Crocodile” serves “Crocodile Meat” as a delicacy. Pankaj had a crocodile meat burger. He said it was ok and not that great. Anyways for people like me (who are vegetarians) there is no difference.

The giant tortoises were really huge and were many in number. We had a great time feeding them and posing with them for some pics. The breeding centre was very informative. The insect museum is a must. The collection is very colourful and varied. 

Kids Snorkeling @ Blue Bay Marine Park

From here we went to the Blue Bay Marine Park. This is a public beach famous for corals. There are glass bottom boat rides which take the tourists to the corals and we can snorkel to get a close look at the corals and marine life. Unlike the private beaches, there was huge crowd here as it's a public beach. We booked our glass bottom boat ride which was leaving immediately (TOTO agency – there are quite a few agencies providing the service who all have a make-shift shops on the beach). Luckily the boat rides limits the number of passengers. We got into the boat which was leaving and it had another group of 8 people. The corals are very close to the beach and the glass bottom gives a very clear view. The boat anchors at a point where there are a lot of corals and fishes and then whoever is interested can wear the snorkeling gear (provided by the agency) and get into the water. Kids got into the water and had a gala time swimming in the ocean. This was their first snorkeling experience. They love it. Pankaj and I don't know to swim :( However Pankaj dared to get in with a life jacket and stayed close to the boat. I chickened out   :( The fear of water was too much for me to get in. I have promised myself to learn swimming. Hope - I will keep up my promise. We spent about an hour here and then headed back to the beach.

Since it was almost 5pm and it gets dark very early here, we decided to take the highway which runs along the airport and is busy (instead of the scenic route). By the time we reached our villa, the sun was just setting. Each evening the sunset was different. It was amazing to see the different hues. It was just magical!

Day 4 – April 17th

Swim with Dolphins

Today, we had to get up early as our first activity for the day was - “Swim with the Dolphins”. Prior booking is required for this. This activity is available only in the Tamarin area (west coast of Mauritius). Luckily we were staying in this area and the starting point for this activity was just a 500m from where we stayed. Yan, was the person who was taking us for this activity and he had confirmed he would be picking us up by 6:30AM and there he was on dot at 6:30AM. The Swiss friends who were staying at Le Lataier Blues were also joining for this activity. Yan picked all of us and we went to the Tamarin Water Sports Club (which was the starting point). Here we got into a speed boat and off we were into the ocean. We had hardly gone for 25 min (about 2-3Kms from the shore) and there Yan spotted 2 dolphins. Kids got ready in their snorkeling gear ready to jump into the ocean to swim with the dolphins. They were very excited. This activity is to be taken up only if one knows good swimming. Pankaj and I had to just sit and watch the dolphins from the boat while the kids jumped into the ocean on the signal from Yan. I hid my anxiety, didn't want to scare the kids from the activity. These are wild dolphins and they swim very fast. It is very difficult to spot them and once spotted it is more difficult to keep pace with them. The dolphins are also smart, they swim afloat for some time and then go deep and when they re-emerge they are far from where they were spotted earlier.

Soon Yan got a radio signal from his mate, that there is a huge group of dolphins (15-20) around 3Kms from where we were. Then soon all the boats were speeding in that direction. Within few minutes we reached the spot and there we see the huge group of dolphins. It was madness. As soon as they were seen, a signal from the guide and everybody jumps in. Shree and Shrishti had a once in life time experience. They were so excited and did not stop talking about how it felt, how the dolphins looked and how cool it was to swim alongside the dolphins. I really felt, I wish I could swim. After multiple rounds of swimming with dolphins, Yan took us to a spot which was very good for snorkelling to see the corals and beautiful fishes. From here we went to a beautiful spot where a small rock is in the ocean and the water around it is crystal clear and not very deep. One can jump here and swim around the rock. Shree was tired and she opted out. Shrishti jumped in with her gear and off she was swimming around the rock.

It was around 9:30AM and sky suddenly appeared grey and we could sense the rain coming. It was also time to return back to the shore. We just made it in time and then there was huge thunderstorm. The ocean and the mountains looked beautiful in the rain. We got back to the villa and had breakfast watching the downpour on the ocean. We could see few catamarans out there which had just started for a day trip. We pitted the passengers on them as the forecast was for heavy rains. 

7 Colored Earth @ Chamarel

After relaxing for some time, we planned to drive through the Black River Gorge National Park. This is one of the must visit places in Mauritius and is on the west coast. The rains made the drive through the national park even more beautiful. It was lush green everywhere, deep valleys on one side and the grey ocean (because of thunderstorm the ocean looked grey) on the other side. There are some points to visit in the National park like Chamarel Rum Factory, 7 coloured earth – this has a waterfalls and also some volcanic eruptions which are now visible as different colours, Alexander Water falls, George view point, Grand Shiva Temple and Grand Basin – A basin formed by the craters. All this can be completed in 5-6 hours. We planned to have lunch at Chamarel. Unfortunately there are very limited options for vegetarians. We went to a restaurant high recommended by Lonely Planet for Creole Veg Food, only to realize this means food which has meat with vegetables :( Glad the restaurant owner told us the details.

We had fresh sugarcane juice at George View Point. There are lot of berry trees along the roadside throughout the Black River Gorge. We saw lot of local people picking the berries. We were recommended not to visit the Black River Gorge on weekend as lot of local crowd visits this place on weekend and they also pick the berries. All the spots are worth visiting. If one has more time, then a hike through the national forest is also great. Since we had planned a trek to Le Morne the next day, we did not plan for any hike in the forest.

It was late (by Mauritian standards – though it was around 6:30PM) by the time we returned back. It was pitch dark and rain had just stopped. Next day early morning (5:30AM) we were supposed to leave for a trek to Le Morne and with the rains, we were wondering if we could make it. Luckily the forecast for next day was bright and sunny and our guide Yan (yes this is a different Yan) confirmed that the trek is ON.

Day 5 - April 18th

Yan is the only official guide in Mauritius who organizes trek to Le Morne (http://www.trekkingmauritius.com/). The trek needs to be planned and booked in advance as he does not organize the treks everyday. The last part of the trek is very difficult and requires one to literally climb using all the four limbs (hands and legs). The trek is not recommended for small children and old people. Le Morne has been declared as the UNESCO World Heritage site. Yan and his team will brief on the history of this site during the trek.

 

Views from Le Morne

The trek in itself is very adventurous and will take about 3-4 hours to climb up and return back. We started the trek around 6AM and were back by 9:30AM to the starting point. The trek requires one to be physically fit. We were recommended to go lite – only water and some mints/candies and that really helped. The trek starts off with a well laid path. The views are spectacular. I thought I was fit, but this trek really tested my fitness. Had it not been for Henri, I would have given up. Shree and Shrishti went ahead with the others in the group. I was the slow poke :) To add to this, something stung me on the thigh and this further slowed me. I was able to walk after few minutes of break but the pain continued for couple of days. After the 2nd milestone which is about 350m altitude, the trek gets difficult. At points we had use ropes to climb, for most part we were climbing the steep rock with all four limbs. The group had reached the summit with Yan. Pankaj, Henri and I were the last ones to reach the top. All the time I was wondering, how we would trek back on such rocky steep slopes. Shree and Shrishti were almost in tears when they saw us. They thought we would not make it. They were overwhelmed by the difficulty of the trek. By far this has been our toughest trek and we had no idea on the difficulty.

At the summit, Yan briefed us about the history, we took pictures and rested for some time. The views here are breath-taking! The colours of the ocean were spectacular. Experiencing the 360 degree view of the island, one tends to forget all the difficulties we went through. It was now time to return. Tips from Yan made the descend very easy. We had to just sit and slide with our hand firmly pressed. This really helped us. I used this tip the most. My pant was really in bad shape after the descend. After reaching the starting point, we could not believe we had actually completed this trek. This was one trek, which we will never forget in the years to come.

We were back in the villa by 10AM and were very hungry for breakfast. All of us were very tired and had a long quite breakfast by the beach. After a hot bath we were fresh and recharged, and were all ready to explore more of Mauritius.

We decided to visit Port Louis and checkout the capital city. We parked our car at La Caudan Water Front and went straight to the food court to grab some quick lunch. From here our first stop was Blue Penny Museum which is bang opposite the food court. The museum is pretty small but very informative and well maintained. Here we saw the various ship models of France, British and some middle-eastern ships and the various routes they took. The key exhibit here is the first Penny Stamp which is blue in colour – known as Blue Penny Stamp. To save the original colours of the stamp, the lights to view this stamp are lit only for 10min every hour (check their website for the timings). We were just finishing our visit when the lights came on.

From here we went shopping at Craft Market and MAST. We bought a small ship model at MAST. They have some beautiful ship models here – wish we had a huge house to keep a big model. We then picked some Gelatos at the food court and enjoyed at the waterfront.

Day 6 – April 19th

Our day used to start pretty early in Mauritius. This could be because we would sleep early. Today the tide was very low. We could walk about a kilometre into the ocean with water below our knees. We took advantage of the low tide and started walking into the ocean. It was fun. We collected lot of shells, saw some fishes and crabs and also saw a small sea snake.

After breakfast we drove to Port Louis for “Submarine Ride”. Blue Safari at Grand Baie (http://www.blue-safari.com/en) is the only agency who organized Submarine Ride. The ride itself is expensive, but it is worth the money. The experience is worth every penny. Earlier we were planning to do the sea-walk too. But it seemed very scary to go down into the sea. Hence skipped the plan.

Lush Green Sugarcane Farms

 
We reached Blue Safari office and took the ferry to the main submarine. We were all very excited. We were guided into the submarine. Because of a technical issue (there was very tiny leakage), the captain decided it was not safe to go into the water. We came back to office disappointed. Luckily we had another day at Mauritius and we had no major activities planned. Our ride was re-scheduled to next day. There were few tourists who were given a refund as they were either leaving Mauritius on the same day or had other activities planned. This was lesson for us – anytime in future such activities should never be planned on the last day of vacation.

Grand Baie is known for water sports and lot of cool cafes. We had our lunch at “Cafe 1974”. Lovely joint very close to the public beach. Food was really delicious. Since we had lot of time, after lunch we visited “Chateau Labourdonnais” (http://chateaulabourdonnais.com/en/). This is a beautiful Chateau amidst fruit orchards. The chateau is very well maintained. At the end of the tour they had some rum tasting. We got to taste some awesome RUM. They had different flavoured Rum. We liked it so much, we ended up buying few bottles at Mauritius Airport – duty free :)

Chateau Labourdonnais

From here we visited Apravasi Ghat,which is right opposite the La Caudan Waterfront. This is the place where all the bounded labourers and immigrants entered this island. Apravasi Ghat has a very informative museum. Unfortunately we were not aware of this as it has opened up only few months back. We reached the place just few minutes before closing. However on request, the officials there allowed us to explore the museum. We are very thankful to them. If it was not for them, we would have missed a wonderful museum and all the details it provided. Most touching part of the museum was the place where the immigrants had to stay before they could get the clearance/visa to work on the island. The immigrants (90% of whom where Indians) had to go through lot of hardship.

After spending some time here, we went back to the waterfront for some frozen yogurts. It was a Sunday and there was some cultural activities on at the Waterfront and the theme was Indian. We enjoyed our frozen yogurts and drove back to the Villa.

Day 7 – April 20th

Our earlier plan was to visit Chelsa a newly opened theme park which was very close the place we stayed and then go to the airport directly. But since our submarine ride was postponed to today, we rescheduled our plan. We were staying in south-west, submarine ride was in the North and airport was in the South-East. So the best deal was to check-out after breakfast, drive to the North, finish with the submarine ride, have lunch at Grand Baie, drive south and check out some places around the airport.

After breakfast we settled our bill and bid goodbye to Josette. We drove straight to Grand Baie as our submarine ride was scheduled for 10:30AM. We reached Blue Safari office by 10:15AM. We were taken to the submarine boarding point. We hoped there would not be any issue today. Each of these submarines vessels can take up to 8 passengers and a captain. The vessel itself goes down 35 meters and the total trip would take about 2 hours of which 45min-1hr is under water. We were anticipating that we will experience sea sickness or some kind of nausea. But it was absolutely amazing. It was as good as sitting in a bus. The experience is great and worth the trip. We saw lot of fishes – colourful, we saw a turtle (which is very rare) and also a ship wreck. It was once in a life time experience. This is best way to explore marine life without out getting wet :) Ofcourse people who do scuba diving will not agree with me.

Inside Submarine

After the submarine ride, we were given some soft drinks before we were dropped by a boat to the blue safari office. It was an incredible experience and worth all the hardships. It was now time for lunch. We had lunch at a restaurant in Grand Baie. There are a lot of good cafes around Grand baie's public beach. We had a lazy lunch as we had lots of time to kill before we board our flight to Bangalore. After lunch we drove to Mahebourg. This is a sleepy beautiful village on the South East coast of Mauritius and very close to Mauritius. We spent some time at National History Museum. I would not say this as a must visit place. But if one has time, then it is worth a visit. The museum would take about an hour to explore. From here we walked around the market or Mahebourg. Apparently Monday is supposed to be a market day at Mahebourg. We did not find the market day any different from the market day in Bangalore. We also tried some local snacks, which are very similar to Indian snacks, but with a Mauritian touch. We did not want to spend more time at airport, hence we went to Blue Bay Marine beach. We thought we will watch the sunset and then go to the airport. However we missed the information that Blue Bay Marine beach is on the east coast and there will be no sunset. We had some cheese samosas at the beach and spent about 1 hour reading books. Its weird - when you are all set to return, you don't feel like doing anything. Your mind is already in the mood to go back home and all the thoughts revolve around things/tasks at Home.

After the sunset time, we started our drive back to the airport. We stopped to fill gas as we were supposed to fill the tank half full and then return the car. The car agency person was waiting at the designated spot. We returned the car and got into the airport. Our return flight was with Air Mauritius and was for 5 1/2 hours. We had a good flight and returned home with lots of amazing experiences and memories of Mauritius – Truly the Paradise on Earth.