Mauritius Part 1!

So my body sort of cooperated and my Dr gave the go-ahead for Mauritius!!! I was still struggling with my tummy a bit and battling some sinus pain/issues, but off we went! It's a pretty short flight and we had the wind from behind, so it took just over 3 hours to get there. We finally arrived at our resort just before 10pm on the Sunday night, just in time to grab some food from the buffet before closing time. Mauritius is 2 hours ahead of SA.

On Monday morning we were able to see our surroundings and take it all in. Below was the first sight that met us as we looked out of our room! It was so strange to be so close to the beach but not HEAR the sea! There was a reef/lagoon for the first 100m or so, and the waves only broke after that, way in the distance.

We overslept and missed breakfast on the first day! So we chilled on the beach and waited for lunchtime! After that we all took a nap again and explored the surroundings a bit as well as booking two excursions for the week. On Tuesday we had our first of these, which was going up the west coast a bit in a speed boat for half the day. It was AMAZING and definitely the highlight of the trip. We saw dolphins and everyone (except me) got to swim with them! (Initially I was scared of jumping into the sea with the snorkeling gear as I've never snorkeled before and I'm not a strong swimmer, plus the water was about 30 metres deep, and I think I have a fear of drowning in deep water! After the first dolphin experience was had, I decided "screw it" and tried as well. The dolphins are wild, so our guide does his best to tell you when the dolphins are coming in our direction, so that we're ready for them. They swim by really fast, but if you look down with the snorkeling gear you just see DOLPHINS all the way down apparently. Unfortunately I never got to see them IN the water, but got some amazing views from the boat.

After the dolphin viewing, our guide took us to a coral reef for snorkeling. The water was insanely crystal clear, warm, and not too deep, so I was IN! My first snorkeling experience ever! Some people complain about feeling claustrophobic with regards to the breathing when snorkeling, so I was prepared for that, but I found it perfectly fine! What a whole different world down there???? It was breathtaking, the pictures don't do it justice. And the swimming didn't tire me out at all, as it's a lot of floating anyway. Best experience ever!

After that he showed us some more iconic sights (will do a whole separate photo post of pics I took with my camera as opposed to my phone! Then we headed back hungry and tired!