We booked a day trip to Ile aux Cerfs through a tour guide in Grand Baie. Not knowing we were in for quite the experience. We woke up early, had breakfast early and made sure we were ready to go. Our driver arrived at the hotel, rather quiet man and escorted us to the mini-bus. There was 1 lady already in the mini-bus, she was small, petite and also very quiet. And off we went to pick up the other. When the drive started I did think to myself that this man must be in quite a hurry to get to the next hotel. We got to the next hotel and picked up the rest of the people and off we went! Literally! Our driver was driving so fast that people were hanging onto their seat praying. I genuinely thought we were all gonna die in this mini-bus. In South Africa, we have lots of mini-bus taxis which are dangerous and drive terribly, never did I think I would experience it in Mauritius. The quiet lady was still very calm whilst the rest of us were almost in tears. This driver was coming around sharp bends, in the wet weather, on the other side of the road, with just a honk of the hooter as warning to any oncoming vehicles. Eventually when we were traveling 140km/h through a small town did my cousin, sitting in front of me, scream out, “Hey Louis Hamilton! Can you slow down! You’re making us all sick-and if you can on driving this way, we’re all going to get sick in your car- so slow down!”
This man didnt quite understand what the problem was, he just kept looking into his rear view mirror with this puzzled look on his face. The quiet lady turned to us and said, “Don’t worry, everyone drives like this.” Finally we reached our destination. People couldnt get out of that mini-bus fast enough and the first thing everyone did was light a cigarette.
We were greeted by a strapping young guy to told us what we would be doing for the day and off we went on a small speed boat to Ile aux Cerfs. The weather was not great but it was still humid.
We went past the famous and renowned Le Touessrok- magnificent! Bordered with black rock and turquoise water. Google it or see the link at the bottom. Really stunning resort! Looking down into the water, it is so clear that you can see everything as you pass by. We also passed many fisherman along the way.
After an early wake up, traumatic taxi ride, and a thankfully calming boat trip we reached Ile aux Cerfs.
Ile aux Cerfs is so beautiful, definitely worth the trip. We walked around to explore our beautiful surrounding before we hopped on speed boat that would take us to lunch.
We hopped onto a boat to take us to our lunch. We arrived at a little remote beach, with an odd little doc and what looked like a make-shift marquee made out of french racing green tarpaulin. This was our little restaurant we would be eating at. We were greeted by our “waiter” who had a fabulous mustache and were shown to our (outdoor plastic) seats.
The quiet lady from the mini-bus joined us for lunch. We started off with drinks, most popular was the jungle juice which consists of pretty much everything: Rum, wine, beer, vodka, juice and who knows what else. Along with the drinks arrived garlic bread for the table in a white bucket-didnt look very appealing but my goodness was it delicious! The kitchen was separated just by a simple “screen” type structure. Whilst we enjoyed our garlic bread and drinks, we were given a show, with drums and singing and dancing- was a really cool atmosphere. Waiting for the main, we were rather intrigued by the number of crabs that were on this tiny beach, what looked like rocky sand was in fact millions of crabs, all shapes, sizes and colours. Was fanscinating to watch how still there were until something or someone moved.
Main course was outstanding. It consisted of a piece of fish, a piece of chicken and a simple coleslaw! Really loved it- so simple looking yet so full of flavour! And our hosts were not shy either, if you wanted more you could have more-no problem. Our plates were taken away and as we were getting comfortable, waiting for our food to settle, a fork and a serviette were placed in front of us. Then out came a flame grilled rum banana. My cousin was horrified with the fact the banana had been placed on this serviette and not on a plate. Yet once again, simple but delicious! Really was once of the best meals I have had.
From our lunch we took a speed boat to go see some waterfalls-we went past a part of the island where there were massive houses, really pretty. The tour guys told us that celebrities like David Beckham owned those houses. We arrived at the waterfalls, felt as if we were in a jungle. Once we had spent some time there we went back to Ile aux Cerfs. Got back, ate some ice cream and then the rain came! It was time to go back anyway. The rain fall was heavy, so heavy that it took us 3 times longer to get back. We all had our towels covering us, trying to break the wind and stop the rain wetting our cameras. We were soaked by the time we got off the boat, even worse there was our Formula 1 taxi driver waiting for us. We tried to chat to him again and explain. To his understanding, the route he took was too windey and that was why we were complaining , so he would now take us on a different route. Bless him!
http://mauritiusattractions.com/ile-aux-cerfs-tours-i-36.html
http://www.threebestbeaches.com/mauritius/2006/06/ile-aux-cerfs-beach-mauritius.html/comment-page-1/
http://www.letouessrokresort.com/
The Mauritian Expedition 