Dead as a Dodo

We have just returned from our annual holiday, this year choosing Mauritius instead of our usual St Lucian resort. St Lucia suffered badly in the recent hurricanes so we thought we would give it a year to re-establish itself. Add to that the fact the golf is not now all inclusive and it was time to look around.

So, as well as some golf nearby, all inclusive was the preferred option, and swimming and spa treatments were the ideal choice for SWMBO. Now Mauritius has many luxury 5 and 5+ star hotels, but getting all inclusive options is a problem. The beer and wine at establishments which are half board, for example, can make the cost rocket.

We were delighted therefore to fall upon the Tamarina hotel. It is a new boutique hotel which opened on New Years Eve. it has 50 rooms, a spa and is attached to the Tamarina golf club. The golf club wends its way through an estate of tasteful one level villa's and is a very good test.

It also had an all inclusive option which included spa treatments, green fee's and local brand drinks, so we were sorted.

We flew overnight 12 hours both ways with Air Mauritius which was fine, although I would not have liked to do the flight during the day. Their service and on board entertainment were a bit nineties and would have struggled with the attention needed if you were awake. Still we got both ends refreshed and ready to go.

The hotel is about 45 minutes from the airport and is nestled between a deer park and the beach. when we arrived there were about 35 people booked in, and that fluctuated to a low of about 16 so it was really quiet. There were honeymooners and grey pounders mixed together and it worked well.

There were a couple of problems, one being the food selection which was pretty limited, but the staff did try to do variations on what resources they did have. The pools were not really conducive to swimming in either as they were built for looks rather than practicality, but the sea was warm and very shallow so that was fine.

Local wine was included, but we did splash out a few nights, and given the villa clientele was predominantly Saffa's and Frog's the wine list was excellent, if somewhat pricey.

One of the honeymoon couples was hit hard by the collapse of their holiday company while they were there, but the hotel did the best it could to continue to make their stay pleasant. The hotel gets paid 30 days after the holiday ends, so the collapse cost them all of the May revenue from that company. Their price was cheaper than the price we paid, but that was probably the reason why!

As well as playing the local golf course, I took a trip inland one day to play the Gymkhana Club.
It was laid out in 1844 by the Royal Navy, and having played Royal Marrakesh which was designed at about the same time by a British Army officer, I felt I needed to complete the double. The course was average and quite short, I suspect the initial 9 hole layout was better than the extended 18, as there is really insufficient land, but it was interesting to see the memorabilia in the clubhouse. It included a letter dates 1889 from General Gordon explaining the King's view of the place.....'.tell him to go to hell'....'but Sir, we have no posting there!'.....' right. then send him to Mauritius'......and also had a moustache spoon , glass mounted on the wall. I love looking at honours boards in golf clubs and here, Major this and Colonel that were listed as prize winners up until the mid-Twentieth century when more traditional Mauritian names started to appear.

But back to the hotel. The group which owns it also runs a rum distillery. They have a new product, Pink Pigeon, which they launched recently in Monte Carlo. The pink pigeon is a rare bird native to Mauritius which was in danger of going the same way as the Dodo in the mid 1970's. It was saved by the action of Gerald Durrell and his team at Jersey Zoo, and now 350 pairs are restablished in Mauritius with backups, if you like, at the zoo still.

The night we left they were having a big 'do' at the hotel so we missed that unfortunately, but we have brought some back from Duty Free. It's interesting that the island is still covered in sugar cane plantations. You expect Al Pacino to burst out of one of the fields any moment. These days it is used in the rum making business as very little sugar is now exported. That gap in the economy has been filled by tourism.

So all in all a good run ashore. We would go back, particularly for the golf, but maybe as part of a two centre holiday and stay at one of the more lively resorts as well. We have been back over a week now and it seems like we have never been way, ho hum!