Monday, April 3, 2017

TRAVEL SPECIAL.... Eye for an Isle

Eye for an Isle

The sun-drenched Mauritius is a multicultural melange with fine cuisines, great biodiversity and pristine beaches
Look there. The lions will emerge from that gate and walk towards you. Stay calm. No shrieking or shouting, please.
If you are scared, you can climb on top of each other, but don't climb on me!“ We are at the Casela Nature Park in Cascavelle, south Mauritius, where our safari leader Jim is initiating our group of 12 tourists into the “walking with lions“ tour.

Not for the faint-hearted, the hour-long adventure will allow us to be really close to the beasts as they roam in the savannahs. Though the 11-hectare park hosts around 1,500 birds (over 150 species), turtles, giraffes, giant tor toises as well as a large diversity of flora, the lions are its biggest lure.

We arrive on a safari bus to the lion reserve where we deposit our belongings at a tiny office and pick up wood en staffs. The staffs, Jim explains, must be held next to the lion's neck while patting it. “If you don't have the sticks, the lions will come to play with you -but mind you, they play with their claws!“ The two lions we are about to meet can run at 70 kmph, Jim adds. If things “turn ugly“ during the 2 km walk with the unrestrained animals, we should “stand still and shout loudly“.

When the two honey-coloured beasts -siblings Jumbo and Jen, each about three years old -appear before us, a hushed silence descends upon our group. They look majestic and feral with sharp teeth and claws and penetrating, green eyes. With Jim leading the way, we start walking next to the lions, crossing a barbed wire gate and then entering the 800-hectare savannah enclosure. We amble along a trail carved between coqueluche trees indigenous to the island while watching the animals gambol, eat, play, hop on rocks of the river banks, eat and scale trees.

Ten minutes into the trail, the lions are fed. “Each lion consumes about 40 kg of meat a week,“ says Jim. Each participant is given a chance to pat the animals -either while moving along or during rest times. But rules must be adhered to. We can touch the animals on the back or from the neck down but never on their claws . Nor are we to ever look into their eyes directly, crouch in front of them or pull their tail. Jim occasionally plays with the beasts, rubbing their tummies, egging them on as if they were pet cats or dogs. When Jumbo perches on an outstretched tree branch, we quickly fall in line to pose for photos with him. Standing next to the beast, I can almost hear -and feel -its breath. Time flies by and soon we are back to the reserve while the beasts are led back to their dens. Jim requests us to sign the visitors' book. “We call this the survivors' book!“ he says as we crack up.


Sun-kissed Haven

Mauritius, the sun-drenched island in the Indian Ocean may be better known as a honeymooners' paradise with its pristine beaches and sumptuous resorts.Yet this multicultural melange of a nation also offers great biodiversity, exciting flora and fauna, lush golf courses, water sports, mountain trekking, hunting, birdwatching and kitesurfing. The pear-shaped island's colonial capital Port Louis is a city with a personality while fine cuisine, a pulsating nightlife, Unesco World Heritage Sites and the world's oldest horseracing tracks add to its other enchantments.

A week into my trip and I figure why Mauritius was fought over for centuries by the Dutch, the French and the British who colonised it in turns. Incredibly, no one lived in Mauritius till as recently as 400 years ago. Besides the occasional Portuguese explorer or waylaid pirate crew, it was deserted until Dutch settlers arrived in 1638. Then came the French in 1710, and their influence can be felt most prominently in the Franco-Creole dialect most Mauritians speak today.

In 1968, Mauritius achieved independence but there's never been a military or populist uprising of any kind on 10 this peace-loving island measuring barely 2,000 square km. The population of 1.8 million comprises Indians (68%) as well as Creole, Chinese, French, plus a smattering of English and South Africans. English is the official language while French, Mauritian Creole, Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Hakka are also spoken.

Eclecticism is Mauritius' imprimatur. The country's patchwork quilt of cultures reflects in the island's diverse cuisine.Piquant chutneys, hearty stews, velvety curries, bouillabaisse, Creole stews and fresh fish rule menus. Boulangeries hawk baguettes as well as chappatis.

Architecture is a delightful jumble too. Sizeable temples sit cheek by jowl with oriental pagodas, and elegant colonial and Dutch buildings with French chateaus. Star-studded luxury manifests itself in a dense concentration of handsome hotels popular with the wealthy, not to mention jetsetting footballers.


About 200 years ago, a dramatic change swept across Mauritius when Irish botanist and humanitarian Charles Telfair arrived in the southern Bel Ombre region to bring respite to runaway sugarcane plantation slaves that were brought in from the African mainland, Madagascar, India and Southeast Asia. Telfair also reshaped the island's flora and set up the feted Pamplemousses Botanical Garden. While transplanting bananas from China, he lent a specimen of the fruit to William Cavendish, the sixth Duke of Devonshire. Today the Cavendish banana is the most ubiquitous fruit in Mauritian shops.

At the spiffy Heritage Le Telfair Resort & Spa in Bel Ombre, named eponymously after Telfair, history whispers from every corner. Designed in the African colonial style, the property has a dramatic entrance -an ornamental bridge spanning a river that sweeps all the way down to the private beach. The hotel's 12 restaurants, while taking care of your every craving, honour local produce as a tribute to their founder. At the hotel's ocean-fronted pan-Asian eatery Ginja, I enjoy a lobster dinner -lobster soup, a sushi platter, lobster poached in a butter-sage sauce, squid ink noodles and a trio of sorbets (coconut, passion fruit and kiwi).


Earthy Hues

The picturesque Le Morne peninsula in south west Mauritius is a Word Heritage Site teeming with pods of dolphins and schools of flying fish. The purple-headed Le Morne mountain rises high above Hotel Dinarobin, a property that has contributed much to showcase and maintain the region's fragile ecology. Everywhere at the hotel there are yellow and white frangipani, scarlet flame trees, birds of paradise, anthuriums and flowering allamanda.

A dramatic thatched pavilion, exotic Asian statuary and a glassy infinity pool as well as the hotel's meandering paths, undulating lawns and spectacular ocean views encourage you to lead a convalescent life. Hundreds of varieties of tropical birds add to one's delight. They appear less charming at breakfast though when they attack your bread basket or perch themselves on your juice pitcher. When the doors at the hotel's panAsian restaurant Umami are thrown open to the night, a warm breeze carries the whisper of surf. I sup here one night next to the lapping waves of the ocean under a glittering vault of stars.

Mauritian countryside is a mesmerising maze of emerald sugarcane plantations. Stacks of dried cane, set ablaze after harvest, make the balmy air thick with the smell of molasses.One day, my driver Anoop and I stop by the roadside to enjoy sugarcane juice and coconut water. Though the activity qualifies as tropical island-cheesy, it was both fun and educative.Anoop explained that in Creole, coconut is dileau en pendant or hanging water, while sugarcane is dileau diboute or water standing up! Next morning, we visit the botanical garden in the northern town of Pamplemousses, 62 acres of mind-boggling biodiversity encompassing 500 species of trees and plants. At Chamarel, at the southern tip of the island, another wonder awaits -the seven-coloured earth which has evolved through conversion of basaltic lava to clay minerals. Rolling sand dunes of seven distinct colours (red, brown, violet, green, blue, purple and yellow) create a multi-hued, lunar-like landscape here. On the flight back home, I reflected on what Mark Twain had to say about the island after visiting it. “Mauritius,“ he said, “was made first and then heaven; and heaven was copied after Mauritius.“ No wonder, I came back from the island with my heart singing and my soul nourished!

Neeta Lal
Mar 26 2017 : The Economic Times (Mumbai)


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