Mauritius - The Resort Part I

It is hard for me to even describe how much we loved our trip to the island of Mauritius.  Some places just leave an imprint on your heart.  This could be as a result of the beauty of the place or the experience you have there with your loved ones.  For both of these reasons, Mauritius joins a few other destinations that we will always remember in a special way.

If you're like me, you are probably wondering where Mauritius is!  I had never heard of it until I started looking for a vacation for our February break.  Mauritius is an island in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa and Madagascar.  There are about 1 million people here, and it has been a French and British colony in the past.  French is the official language, but most people speak some English.

Mauritius seems to be a true melting pot, with people from African, Arabic, Chinese, Indian, and European backgrounds.  We saw Hindu temples, Christian churches, and Muslim mosques.

You might have heard of the dodo bird.  Mauritius was its home until Dutch explorers arrived in the late 1500s.  Before this, there were no humans on the island.  The dodo bird quickly became extinct.

The island is surrounded by white sand beaches and a large coral reef.  This makes the waves gentle and almost like swimming in a lake.  It really is as close as you can get to paradise!

Temperatures were around 80F, and the sun was very intense.  We had to be really careful with the sunscreen.  I love the sun, but even I spent lots of time in the shade.

We stayed at the wonderful Sugar Beach Resort on the southwest side of the island.  This is about 45 minutes from the airport.  When we arrived at the hotel after our 12 hour overnight flight, the view literally took my breath away.  It was incredible!

We loved staying at this resort.  The food was delicious, and all the activities were included.  There was lots to do - water sports, snorkeling, volleyball, mini-golf, tennis, ping pong, and more.

I have lots of pictures, so in this post I'll just show some general shots from the resort.  And PS...no photoshop or color boosting was needed to get the gorgeous colors in the pictures!!
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Look at those long legs...Jack is getting so big.  Poor Jack got a little too much intense sun on the first day.  He threw up that night, and felt generally nauseated the next day.  He was a trooper, but he didn't feel 100% for the first 2 days.  :(

First Michael took Grace out on the kayak and then it was my turn.  Look how blue those skies are!  I loved the big fluffy clouds, just like the ones in Texas on a sunny day.

After some time in the sun, we had lunch and fruity drinks.  I think the kids had about four Shirley Temples every day.

The resort has a "manor house" style with wide lawns.  It was beautiful.  Our room was on the edge of the property.  Our ground floor room had a big patio and was just steps from the beach.  I call that my "happy place."

This was the main building with the lobby and largest restaurant.

Time for some badminton in the afternoon.

This was the night Jack got sick, so Michael and Grace went to dinner without us.  A good night for a father-daughter date.

And a few more shots of the beach at the hotel.  First, our view from the Tides restaurant where we ate many lunches.  These sailboats were available to use, although we didn't do that activity.

This photo shows the public beach next to our room at the edge of the property.  On the weekends, there were lots of local people enjoying the beach.  We heard a drumming group playing all Friday evening...there was a full moon!

The kids walking on the beach looking towards our room.

A great view of the setting sun from our room...

More of Mauritius...

The Resort Part I
The Resort Part II
Casela Park
Mauritian Wildlife
Horseback Riding
A Tour of the Island

Linking to
Calypso in the Country