Shandrani- our last two days.

     We spent our last two days at the Beachcomber hotel Shandrani, in Blue Bay.  It is located on the east side of the island.  It is such an inviting hotel in an incredibly  beautiful area!  There was no accessible town in the area, so the hotel serves as everything!  Truly beautiful, the hotel is located right on the bay.  This was our last stop on what turned out to be such an incredible place to travel to.  The sad part is that it is so far from the US, and therefore so very expensive to get to (I did a search for airfares when I got home- average fare is about $1800.00).  But one thing we learned- keep an eye out for those 24 hour airfare sales- they bring good things to life!

The Bay from the beach- check the clouds!

Boats in the bay- loved the colors!

The sea was warm and shallow, so walked easily

The clouds were spectacular- the way the sun (and sunset) danced on the clouds made every vista worth embracing

Pre-sunset

Sunrise!  From our fbalcony!

the bar bathed in the setting sun

the sunset from the hotel lobby

Rich bathed in the setting sun

cheers!  another spectacular day!

sunset

selfie

sunset

sunset

Thai dinner- excellent!

two of us just before we had to get ready to go to the airport

Good-bye Mauritius- we love you!!!!

Le Morne- paradise on earth! Really!

     We spent only two nights on Le Morne- probably one of the most beautiful places on the planet- and definitely, the most beautiful hotel we have ever stayed in!  We stayed in the Beachcomber Paradis, located on a tiny penninsula in the south of Mauritius- you could walk around the property, one side facing the sea and keep walking around to the Bay behind!  The entire place is surrounded by beautiful water! The beaches were the best- great sand!  No (or few) rocks, and a hotel that is beyond incredible!  We took snorkeling trips out to the reef, but mostly, we did what we love to do- we walked those beaches, then layed at the incredible pool!

Le Morne, means "the mountain", is located on the south of the island, and is the second largest rock monolith after Uluru (Ayer's Rock) in central Australia.  From our hotel, you could see Le Morne from so many vantage points, but you also had the pull of the beautiful sea!  It was hard to choose which- but always we would just stare at and absorb,  the beauty around us.  Sadly, knowing that soon, we would be gone.

The incredible infinite pool looking out to sea

Buffet breakfast, that includes omelettes, and chinese fried noodles!  Of course croissants and rich dark coffee!

sunset!

Beach, looking at our room.  Nothing like having your own palapa!!!

Sunset looking north!  The mountains along the west coast

Le Morne from the beach in front of our room

Some guy who was sitting under our palapa:-)  He was too relaxed for us to tell him to move:-)

Sunset at the pool!

Le Morne from the pool!

Morning at the pool!

Rich in the ocean, me looking towards Le Morne

selfie!!!!!

Flik-en-Flaq: a fun Mauritian town on the west coast!

     When we were researching where to stay on Mauritius, Flik-en-Flak (or Flik-en-Flaq) usually popped up as it seems to be party central in the summer!  Luckily, we were there in the fall, so no crowds, but good music and good food.  We stayed at the Klondike hotel, which is the hotel on the most north point of the bay.  Perfect for sunsets!  Although our hotel did not have a real beach, it was just a hundred yards down.  But we did have an infinite pool, that looked over the Indian Ocean, right into the sunset!!!!  We stayed in the bungalo's, which was so perfect!  They are little apartments with a small kitchen, living room, comfortable bedroom, and a veranda for sitting and drinking coffee or other adult beverages!  And the coolest thing: the bungalos are nestled in a grove of 200 year old trees!  The entire "garden" area is beautifully maintained with tons of flowering plants.  It was beautiful!!!!

One of our day trips from Flik-en-Flaq was with a group of Europeans to swim with the dolphins- literally!  Pods of dolphins live in the bay area, so you go out and swim with them.  We were a little late, so didn't get to "touch" them, but we saw them as they surfaced, and watched them swim below us while we watched with our snorkel gear!  It was MAGIC!  We also snorkeled in some of the most beautiful reef areas, picknicked on Ile Aux Benitiers (island of Benetiers).  We also got to swim- and touch!- the tiny bit of Lie aux Crystal- a tiny coral island just a few meters in diameter- it is usually on every post card from the region!  The weird thing about Lie Aux Benetiers- the catains parked the boat about 100 yards off the island- we jumped off the boat into knee high green water, and walked all the way to shore!  It is that shallow!

Our second day trip from Flik-en-Flaq was into the interior of the island to visit the largest Hindu temple outside India-which includes gigantic statues of Shiva, the colored rock of Chamarel, the water falls, the highest point on the island, and the Black Gorge!

Our very cool infinite pool!

Rich and I at the highest point on Mauritius- of course, an ancient, dead volcano!

Me at the giant statue of Shiva

Rich receiving a Hindu Prayer after receiving the mark for health and prosperity

Me with Ganesha- note my Hindu mark for peace and prosperity

Hindu Monkey God Hanuman 

Monkey!  He lives by the statue of the Hindu Monkey God Hanuman 

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanuman)

View from the hotel pool!

Sunset!

Sunset!

Long sandy beach- Flik-en-Flak is a really long beach!

the 200 year old trees- you can see our bungalow on the right.  Next to the hotel property,
there was a  huge grove of these great old trees!

the black gorge- it is a very forested canyon that runs through the south of the island

And when there is a gorge, there must be a waterfall!

The colored rock of Chamarel

Colored rock of Chamarel

In the past, there were many giant totoises on the island- they are extinct now, sadly.
But they are re-seeding the giant tortoise population from a neighboring island.

What I really love about traveling is the weird food people eat- like these roast chicken flavored potato chips!
Which actually were pretty good:-)

Vista's everywhere!

Crystal Rock- a little out-cropping in the bay!  Le Morne is in the back ground

Our ships captain and guide for our day trip

Our last sunset in Flik-en-Flak- so sad to go!