Mauritius!

I think I had better write about our trip to Mauritius, as I'm not sure which is fading faster - my memory or my tan!!

In April our family got the 'Lucky Fish' award and went to Mauritius for 10 days. There were obviously two awards to be won, because my sister, Heidi, and her family joined us there! Our excuse to go was Heidi's 40th (sorry, Heidi, giving away your age like that!), but actually, the truth is we just wanted to go!

We had booked for 10 nights at Le Coco Beach on the East Coast. On arrival, we discovered that le Coco Beach was scheduled for demolition from 1May, and as a result, they had spent little or no money on the hotel for quite some time. While le Coco Beach was lovely and had some really good points, my brother-in-law, Darrell, is not one to take such poor quality lying down, and somehow (only Darrell can do this!) organised us an upgrade to Sugar Beach Hotel, on the West Coast. 5-star nogal!!!! So, we had 4 nights at le Coco Beach, and 6 nights at Sugar Beach, and it turns out that we got the best of both worlds. While the quality of hotels were incomparable, the snorkeling on the East Coast was way better, so at least we got four nights there!

So, how does one begin to describe the holiday of a life-time? The weather was superb; the pool and sea water was warm enough for even me to wallow in; the food at Sugar Beach was out-of-this-world (I'm still carrying around a reminder of it on my hips); the facilities were fabulous - wind-surfers, kayaks, peddle boats, lazers and catamarans at our disposal at both hotels etc etc.

Then, there were highlights of a trip that in itself was a highlight:

The kids, Carl and Darrell did an Underwater Walk, where they go underwater with a fishbowl on their heads which gets pumped with air;

Megan realised a dream of hers to go horse-riding on the beach (many thanks to Aunty Heidi for taking one for the team and accompanying her!);

On Heidi's actual birthday we chartered a speed boat for a day (also sorted out by our private tour operator - Darrell!) which took us to a Marine Park which is the ultimate snorkeling destination (even Heidi descended into the depths!) and to Ile Aux Cerfs, a beautiful island off the main beautiful island!

We also celebrated Stef's 5th birthday at Sugar Beach and it was so special for us all to be together for that!

A low light that should have been a highlight was the boy's Deep Sea Fishing excursion. After having visions of hooking Blue Marlin and Giant Tuna, the picture below says it all!!!!

The kids occasionally went to Kid's club, but we find we enjoy having them around, so they spent most of their time with us instead.

So now, we are back to reality, but Mauritius has taken top place as our best family holiday ever. I really hope to go there again sometime (maybe for my 40th, but you know, that is such a loooong way off!).