Do you want to enjoy an authentic Mauritius getaway taste, feel and live 100% local experiences like I have been doing over the past weeks? Then, the answer is PinkMango Travel. Not only for people visiting Mauritius but also a platform for Mauritians who want to discover parts of the island which have been unknown until now via tours and visits.

Pink Mango offers about a hundred of different tours, visits and activities for all types of adventurer, discoverer and nature lovers. I did about ten of the proposed activities and I must say that it took me to places, yet as a Mauritian, I have not been to and was not aware of their existence.

Come and discover in turn my experiences with Pink Mango:

HORSEBACK RIDING

Enjoy a beautiful horseback-riding ballade on the beach of Belle-Mare white sandy sand while also getting in the turquoise water. At this very moment, all your worries are gone. It is only you and your horse enjoying this walk. Amateur and kids to professional rider the guide will make you have an unforgettable experience.

TRADITIONAL FOOD COOKING EXPERIENCE

I always believed that the best way to get a real sense of a country and its culture is to meet the locals. This culinary experience takes you to a Mauritian house where you will learn and participate in the realization of our most famous dish. Mrs Anjoo will make you be familiar with the local vegetables used in our cuisine and the set of spices.

Anjoo, also uses the “roche carry” which is the old traditional blender, used by our ancestors to crush spices into powder or paste used for cooking.

After the realization of the dishes, all the participants sit around the table while enjoying a Mauritian dish with Mauritian hospitality at its best.

Pay attention to the cooking tips of Anjoo if you want to realize these dishes back home with your friends.

SEA KAYAKING AMBRE ISLAND

Located on the north-east coast of Mauritius, Ambre Island is the biggest island in the Mauritian lagoon and is rich in biodiversity and history.

Dense mangroves surround Ambre Island, which makes the activity of sea kayaking very special. You will be led by a qualified sea kayaking instructor who will take you around the island, some secret path into the mangroves, and you can also stop to snorkel in the mangroves and see the little fishes within the roots.

The mangroves have very slow growth. The biggest one is around 50 years old. They are very crucial for the ecological functions as they serve as nursery grounds for artisanal fishing, protect our coast from erosion and in a period of a storm.

Later you will also stop on the island to have some refreshments and a bite. Ambre island also offers a nature trek of about 3 km and you will be able to see the ruins of the previous people who occupied the island back in 1750.

Back in the kayak, and off to some more places inside the dense mangroves to discover before heading back to the starting point.

This sea kayak activity is a half-day. The full day sea kayaking would also include going to Bernache Island not far from Ambre Island.

A complete peaceful and magical experience to kayak in the dense mangroves which I really enjoyed.

THE NEPALESE BRIDGE AT LAVILLEON NATURAL FOREST, CHAMAREL

 You can spend a whole day at Chamarel, so much to do including the 7 coloured earth, the Chamarel Waterfall, the coffee plantation, the ebony forest and where I recently visited is the Lavilleon Natural forest.

I love being in nature, even better, when it is paired with some fun leisure activities. At Lavilleon they offer activities like the 400 meters zip line, archery, the Nepalese bridge, the Endemic forest and trail tracks.

I did the zip line and right after this, the Nepalese bridge which was my first time. My legs were so shaky on the bridge but I so wanted to make it till the end, a real adrenaline rush. You can also lunch there and continue the rest of the day with other activities. As for me, after a lunch break, I went for the archery park before ending this day full of nature views and adventures just how I like them.

TAKAMAKA BOUTIQUE WINERY

Located in Vacoas, is the winery and boutique of Takamaka. I was surprised to hear about a local winery in Mauritius using tropical fruits – mainly lychee – for the production of a wine selection.

A pleasant and sweet discovery I must say. The guided tour starts with a background history of the winemaking in the Oxenham family from father to son. Then we were taken to the production room where from the top of the huge stainless steel tanks we could see the lychee will undergo a process of fermentation and clarification until Alexander Oxenham will judge correct to be bottled.

The whole process from the lychee picking, peeling and removing the seed to just keep the pulp is done manually.

After the guided tour and the process of making the wine there is a wine tasting and where each wine produced is elaborated. At the moment there is four commercialized wine; Aquarel, Eclipse, Icône that are all white lychee wine and the Aperichy, the only rosé lychee wine for now.

A new bottle of wine will soon be out under the name of “Tanara” which is Alexander’s biggest pride. I had the chance to taste it and yet another pleasant surprise. The Tanara is a fine white lychee wine, with a dry, crisp and sharp. Distinctive from the other wine, it has much more character.

Have them very chilled for an explosion of taste highly fruity and floral within a perfect balance. The production remains local for now with about fifteen thousand bottles produced annually.

The wine can be found at Takamaka Winery boutique or at any Eastern Trading shops over the island.

THE SALT PANS

Build in the year of 1945, these saltpans found at the foot of the Black River Mountain hold a lot of history. You will come across them while you cruise on the main road towards le Morne Brabant (West part of the island). It is the only saltpan, which is still operating, the other has been closed or the land has been put to other use.

Seawater is pumped into large, shallow pans made of basalt rocks and the water is left to evaporate. A few days later, the salt residue is then harvested and is then stored away the next day. An activity that I strongly recommend, one of the few Mauritian heritage we still hold on to.

LA VALLEE DE FERNEY

I only knew The Valley of Ferney for the “the Ferney trail” and the restaurant La Falaise Rouge until I went for a walk in the protected forest.

The ride to the starting point of the trek is about 10 minutes in an open back of a 4×4 vehicle. The guided walk is about an hour in the forest and ends with Kestrel feeding. Actually, the Valley of Ferney is the only place in Mauritius where you can be sure to find a Mauritius Kestrel.

This zone is protected and has been kept under conservation by experts who have found a few endemic and endangered species in the valley.

The Valley of Ferney has been a shelter to not only trees but also to our endemic birds like the Pink Pigeon, the Mauritian Kestrel, the Echo Parakeet,  and the Mauritius Paradise Flycatcher which are part of the successful repopulation and conservation program led by the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF). Yet, much work will have to be accomplished to sustain the number of these endangered both plants and birds, this is why this place is dedicated for. It is a beautiful place to visit and nature lovers will be spoiled: trek, hike, waterfall, wonderful scenery, bird watching and so much more than the valley offers.

BISCUIT MANIOC FACTORY

Have you ever tried the biscuit manioc made locally? I have childhood flashbacks while having these biscuits with tea with my grandparents, who had them too when they were kids.

The Biscuterie H. Rault exists for more than 5 generations and has commercialized locally ever since 1870. They still use old artisanal way of making the gluten-free biscuits and galettes with no added preservatives or colour, these delicacies are the healthiest biscuits you can find.

The factory opens up the process of the manioc biscuits making to the public. Old machines are still at use. It takes about 15-20 minutes for the biscuits to be cooked on a huge hot plate, and then they go for packaging. A beautiful visit and great to learn about this old expertise still used which finishes with a tasting of the biscuits and galettes different flavours served with some hot refreshments. A great activity to do with the small ones also.

LE POUCE SUNSET HIKE

The Le Pouce mountain is 812 meters high and once on the summit, it offers a 360 degrees view over all Mauritius. You can enjoy a spectacular view of all the mountains, the islets, the Port, the villages around, from the North to the South of Mauritius.

It is a hike of about an hour and a half leisurely and on the way up you will come across several viewpoints, “goyaves de chines” Chinese guavas fruits which are safe to eat and very tasty.

The founders of “Keep the Pace”, Julio and Nicolas also two professional guides and nature passionate will share their experience of the 13 activity sites they offer including mountains hikes, trek, cultural tour, tent camping, night hike and waterfalls for every level of physique and fitness.

FARMING EXPERIENCE AT LAFERM COCO

Nested at the foot of the Bambou Mountain of the Old Grand Port Range, this cute agroecological farm of 4 -5 Hectares will have your heart.

Previously this land was occupied as sugar cane field which has been converted into an agroecological farm by the passionate Stephane Rouillard since 2016. When I asked him what triggered him to go into this practice he answered: “It has become a necessity to find a new way of living, rethink our alimentation.”

On this farm, you will find a pasture with animals for agricultural purposes like sheep and goats peacefully strolling around while others are resting under some shade. Further up is the plant nursery and the forest garden where we can find around 150 fruit trees all local like the litchis tree, tamarind tree, papaya tree, banana tree, mango tree, together with other citrus fruit.

The last visit was to the vegetable garden where there are about 45 variety of vegetables all grown natural with authentic practices. No use of herbicides or pesticides in the growing these vegetables. Great work is being done to maintain a healthy soil all naturally and proper irrigation and great care are taken of the vegetables.

Stephane and the farmers who work with him have harvested a few of the crops to show us how green and healthy they looked. Some of the harvests will go to be sold to the Mahebourg market while the rest will be distributed on orders taken earlier during the week and the rest for personal consumption.

Stephane during the visit will share his best practices and experiences he has occurred over the years of practising the agro-ecological farming. This farm tour activity will bring back the essentials of decent farming practices and healthy sustainable choices. Stephan also receives on regular basis children from schools to demonstrate them a unique farming experience tour to learn about respecting the elements of nature.

THE TROPICAL GARDEN

Located in the heart of Sebastopol, you will enjoy a great walk in the tropical garden surrounded by its lush vegetation, see the vanilla tree up close amongst the other plant trees and flowers. What makes this visit unique is that it awakes all of our senses (touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste) and you will also get to know about the history of our island through its exotic plants, yes.

The walk of about a seven-hectare in lush vegetation, the tour ends with the introduction of the extraction process of the natural essential oils from the fruits and aromatic plants found in the orchard. A great activity proposed by Moris Otreman. Check more of their visits and tours on Pinkmango website.

I hope you have enjoyed the reading and that this post has given you some ideas of what to do on a weekend. But also great to propose to your relatives and friends visiting Mauritius to go for an authentic Mauritius getaway taste, feel and live 100% local experiences.

Click on the link below for all the activities proposed by PinkMango Travel.

https://www.pinkmango.travel/en

Leave a comment below if you have any questions or if you have done a PinkMango activity already.

Love

xxKatiaxx