Mauritius- Luxury Global Travel Segment

After 6 amazing destinations, High Life Dubai brings you another luxurious and this time heavenly destination- MAURITIUS. This season we had the magical Kenya and Asia’s most popular destination Thailand. Now we give you a little flavor of this unbelievable scenic beauty on Earth…

High Life Dubai was hosted by the rich Heritage properties. They are one of the best properties in Mauritius and best for any kind of holiday.

Day one:

We reached the airport and were provided transport service by Mautourco.  We started our shoot at the award winning Heritage Le Telfair which won "Best Golf Resort in Mauritius" ahead of other Mauritius hotels at World Travel Awards! Nestled at the heart of 'Domaine de Bel Ombre', on the preserved south coast of Mauritius, one can finally enjoy Mauritius hotels, Heritage Le Telfair, a member of the "Small Luxury Hotels of the World", is exceptional in many ways!
The very first thing we did after reaching the property was have a scrumptious lunch at the Cavendish, which had an atmosphere of colonial times enhanced by beautiful coffered ceiling. Then we took a tour of the luxurious property with Karine, who is the Communication Manager.

The same day we had a lovely chat with the General Manager of the Heritage properties- Mr. Jean Paul Martin, who gave us some vital information about the properties.

We ended our day with another delectable meal at the Annabella’s. I had the grilled catch of the day served with christophina “fricassee” and marinated sprouts. Yummy!!

Day two:

We all were really looking forward to this day as we were going to experience a one of a kind dolphin watching trip.

We went for the dolphin watching trip on a speed boat which was super adventurous and fun too as we saw groups of dolphins performing their ballet with us. The most amazing part about this trip is that one can swim with the dolphins too! Wow!! What a unique experience….

Straight after the fun filled dolphin watching trip, we headed towards the Heritage Golf Club to play some golf and learn some new skills in this heavenly destination. The head professional at the club, Mr. Garrick Barnard taught me some excellent skills which I will always remember when playing golf.

The most interesting part of the Heritage Golf Club was that everyone drove their own golf buggy, which was quite fun and exciting! After the game of golf, we had some delicious Mauritian food and I finally had rice at Mauritius! Mauritian food is a very good mixture of Creole, Chinese, European, African and Indian dishes. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal.

That day I planned to go for a nice spa treatment at the ‘Seven Colours Spa’  to discover the secrets of colour therapy. I got their “Signature” treatment that is a special creation of Seven Colours. These complete the treatment act on our 7 energy centres all during the same session. With their seven colours massage, I discovered the soft warmth of volcanic stones and the energizing power of semi-precious stones.

How could I resist some sushi’s at the Gin’ja restaurant. Set on a stretch of white sandy beach at the lagoon, servind pan Asian inspired cuisine with a relaxed beach style service and a more elegant and fine dining dinner experience.

Day three:

We were going to check in to the beautiful Villas Valriche/Heritage Villas that day but before that I went to enjoy a delicious Italian meal at the C Beach Club. I had tuna fish with sellfish cappuccino and believe me, it was divine! Best fish I had so far. The C Beach Club is a new lifestyle rendez-vous in the south of Mauritius which aims at being the island’s sea, sand and sun experience by excellence. It is located right on the beachfront and adjacent to the Heritage Le Telfair and the Heritage Awali.

Finally we headed towards the most beautiful and fascinating villas- the Villas Valriche/Heritage Villas. Villas Valriche has been recognised with two international honours at the prestigious Europe & Africa Property Awards 2009 in association with CNBC Arabia, receiving awards for Best Development and Best Golf Development. It was also ranked in the Top 10 Best Luxury Developments in the World (Homes Overseas Magazine) and Best Long Haul Golf Resort (Sunday Times) and has been selected as a finalist in the prestigious Marketing Excellence Awards, run by the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

We had our very own private villa overlooking the Indian ocean. There are over 22 different Plantation-style villa designs to choose in single and double storey configurations, offering 2 bedroom villas of 250m2 up to 3 or 4 bedroom villas in excess of 400m2. The plots vary in size from 700 m2 to over 2,000 m2 and all have spectacular, uninterrupted panoramic golf course and sea views. No other development on the island offers buyers as much choice and flexibility. And guess what?! one can not only rent these villas but also buy them…

Wow!! It was truly high life… a private pool, private villa, private golf buggy, a gazebo, en-suite bathrooms and on top of all a private butler service. I wanted to have bbq that night, so my butler prepared the most amazing bbq in the most perfect weather.

Day four:

Our fourth day was very adventurous too as we had planned a 4x4 trip in the Frederica Nature Reserve and a pic-nic chic in the nature reserve too.

We started our day by having breakfast at the Le Chateau which is a French cuisine. It is a dine in colonial grandeur and ambience reminiscent of old Mauritius in the heart of Domaine de Bel Ombre. It was a perfect breakfast in magnificent surroundings.

Within the Bel Ombre estate, adjoining the Black River Gorges National Park and extending from sea level to 400 meters altitude, the 'Frederica' Reserve is home to abundant endemic plants, birds and animals unique to Mauritius and benefits from the expertise and guidance of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. We observed many treasures in the nature reserve, spread over 3,500 acres.

We were fascinated to discover the ruins of a traditional factory chimney from the early days of Mauritius' sugar estates and enchanted to see infinite plains as well as rich, fertile forests where a spectacular waterfall cascades in.

To explore this amazing area, one can choose among guided excursions (available twice daily, weather permitting), walks, mountain bike rides, double seat quad bikes or 4x4 Land Rover rides at a charge. And the Heritage properties organized a very special pic-nic chic only for High Life Dubai! In the middle of nowhere we had such an amazing time at the picnic. An experience one can never forget.

This excursion is a must if you ever visit Domaine de bel Ombre.

Last that day we had a chat with the Executive Chef of Heritage properties, Mr. Enrico Rodati at our private villa. He told us so much about the specialties of the cuisines available at the properties and the real Mauritian cuisine.

Finally it was time to say goodbye to this destination, which we all will truly miss. High Life Dubai had a picnic putting this show together for you… if you have missed watching this episode, you can watch it on our very own Youtube channel www.youtube.com/highlifedubai and also watch the fun, the masti and the madness that goes on behind the scenes on High Life Dubai only on our Facebook fan page www.facebook.com/highlifedubai.ae

This was a very exciting but hectic shoot. A special thank you to Jessica Hudson, Xperienz Holidays, Heritage Properties and Mautourco for making this trip so memorable. It was great to be surrounded by real nature and such heavenly atmosphere.

Ciao my friends…

Love,

Uma 

(July 7, 2011)