One
has to agree that Breakfast buffets at Berjaya were top notch. After having a
nice meal, we met a Mason’s agent at the Travel Desk who quoted several tours
on offer, none of them seem worthy of their prices, except the Snorkeling tour
to St Anne marine National Park, which we booked for tomorrow. We met a couple
of tourists at the breakfast table, who suggested that the best way to discover
Mahe island is through several trekking trails and buy renting out a car.
There
were 2-3 Car Rental Operators in the Berjaya lobby, and we took a cab from one
of them at 50 Euros/ day. Thankfully, no advances required and a hassle free
service. We headed to the south side of Mahe today and our itinerary included Jardin
du Roi, Takamaka bay Distillery, Craft Village, Baie Lazare, Anse Intendance.
We
decided to start the day with the beach first, so first on the list was Anse
Intedance. They both were right on the southern end of Mahe and about 25-30
minutes drive from our place. There were all top notch resorts around this area.
Anse Intendance was a nice long beach and had beautiful waves coming in. the
waves were stronger than Beau Vallon Beach and had some young kids, trying to
surf. We stopped by a couple of smaller beaches in this area. All the beaches
were quite lonely and one can easily play around or relax or sip a beer,
snorkel around. There will be hardly 6-8 people on a particular beach. You can
gauge the number of people by the cars parked around the beach area. Some of the beaches also had a sign for
Turtle eggs laying area.
View from Jardin Du Roi Restaurant cum reception Desk
After
hopping 3-4 beaches, and some swimming, it was time for lunch. We headed for
the Spice garden or Les Jardin Du Roi. Its right atop the hill and the ascent was a steep slope for
about 1- 1.5 kms. The restaurant was at the entry point, and one has to pay the
entry charges here before proceeding further into the garden. The owner of the
place has some great collectibles from the colonial era in her outhouse and has
a map of the garden showing various plants and trees. After a quick snack, we
roamed around the area.
The very rare Lip-Stick Tree
Fruit of Lip-Stick Tree
This
garden has some nice view points and some really rare spice plants and other
ornamental plants. There is a Tortoise Pen, fruit bats, rabbits, African parrot
enclosures as well.
Male Fruit - Coco de Mer
Female Fruit - Coco de Mer
On
the other side of the garden, they have 2-3 jungle trails. They also have
Coco-de-Mer Trees both female and male fruit types. Although, we tried one of
the jungle trails but they were nothing great, as the plants and trees aren’t
marked as well as the garden was. However, the garden was exciting because we
got to see some of the rarest of plants and also spice trees not commonly seen.
Then
we went to craft village, which is marketed as a Souvenir destination of Mahe.
Almost every tour operator will stop you by this village. It’s a nice way to
promote local culture through the products of local craftsmen. There are a
number of hut shaped shops selling craft items and some spices, vanilla based
items, soaps etc and all kinds of souvenirs. We purchased some stuff for
gifting at decent prices as there was some scope of bargaining here.
Takamaka Bay rum distillery
It
was almost sunset time, when we reached Takamaka Bay Distillery. By this time,
the Distillery Tour was closed, but one can see the containers and setup by
going inside. There were large copper drums and a neat looking setup of rum
making. The grater and sugarcane crusher are outside and the juice is refined
and stored in fermentation vessels inside. It is built in a heritage site and there are
directions towards its ancient ruins but since it was dark we didn’t explore the
area much, and only go as far as lights extended.
Rum distillery- from Inside
There
was a Takamaka rum buying shop with gift pack offerings and a nice fancy
looking well lit restaurant cum bar La Plaine St. Andre. We decided to
sit and try some rum at the bar, but they would serve by 7:30 PM, so we waited
some 10 mins for the restaurant to begin their services. We ordered an
Appetizer and 2 rounds of Takamaka Rum each and the bill was hefty 1200 SRs. But
their service was excellent and the whole ambience seemed quite classy. More about the Restaurant here.
We
were driving back to our Hotel, but going slowly as there was enough mileage
left on the car. While, we had decided to take a long drive to the north of
Victoria, but moving up North, we came across a night club, Katiolo, which
was visible from road and had lighting and some cars parked around. It was only
8:30 so we decided to stop by. The place was getting ready for a big party it
seems, as appeared by decently loud music played, floor being set up, and crowd
gathering in. However, one of the guys said party will begin 10 and onwards,
but we left the place early for our Hotel.
0 comments: