Memorable Mauritius

The story goes – we had just come back from Brazil in January, which had created a big dent in our pockets. One evening, sitting with friends who had now become very close and were leaving Kenya forever, an idea struck to go for a holiday together for the first time but hopefully not the last. FYI – full disclaimer – idea was not mine. I just jumped right into the bandwagon that came along, that’s all. Aakaash was totally opposed to the idea since we had just returned from a trip. I agree the timing was not ideal, but we couldn’t push beyond mid-February for they had to start wrapping up to leave. Neha, Vividh and I started exploring the options for the ideal place and finalized on Mauritius – a country that is even smaller than the city of Nairobi, where we live.  

I feel if you are going with friends, a beach holiday is the best, so that you can relax and spend quality time since there is not too much of sightseeing involved. Vividh did pretty much all the research, contacting the travel agents and getting competitive quotes, and he would secretly update me about the trip. When we would sit in the evenings, he would gently slide it past Aakaash. I had to be neutral about the plan because I knew if I pushed Aakaash, the whole idea could go south very quickly. Finally, after a lot of pull and push, we were able to convince him.

I was super excited for the trip, since this was also going to be one of the first vacations with friends. It is very important to travel with like-minded people, or else the whole trip can be a total disaster. So, we set on this beautiful journey… oh wait a minute… when you have 4 kids ranging from the ages of 5 to 8, I should rephrase and say it was a journey… starting with the commotion in the play area of the airport till we reached our destination. 

Arrival

Our flight landed in the evening and the driver was there to pick us up. The moment we entered our resort, we were totally pleased as we knew that we had reached our paradise. I remember seeing the excitement on our faces, trying to compose ourselves and heading straight for dinner; after which we couldn’t resist going to the soft, white-sanded beach and dipping our feet into the ocean. Even though we were tired, we didn’t want to call it a night and strolled along the coastline. However, we had our small alarm bells who forced us to get back to our rooms. 

We wanted to balance out and make this a memorable vacation with a mix of sightseeing and spending some “friends bonding time” as well. We had tailored this holiday to be a perfect blend of relaxation and excitement.  On day 1, we decided that we would just chill out and enjoy in the resort and so we complied. It was more like “let the craziness begin”. I feel if you have friends with whom you can be comfortable doing everything and not be thinking of how you will be perceived, then they are your keepers – maybe forever. After breakfast, we started exploring our resort. With cocktails/mocktails, pics, clicks, sun, sand and sea - the madness had begun. Is sand called sand because it’s in between the sea and land? Lol. My sense of humor is indicating it’s time to wrap up this post now. More on Mauritius coming soon.