22 December 2023 – A Year-end Vacation - A Decision To Make

The year end is a time when most corporate businesses find empty office cabins and seats. The Yuletide Season is when leaves that are due to lapse by 31 December are availed and holidays planned. It was no different in my Company. I had initially planned to drive somewhere in India during the Christmas vacation. Then the plans shifted to some country where a visa is not required for an Indian passport holder. Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Madagascar and a few other countries were researched. It did take a few days to zero in on Mauritius - the Indian Ocean Island, known for its beaches, reefs and lagoons – to celebrate Christmas, ring out the old and ring in the new. The island nation gained independence from the UK in 1968. The major ethnic group, 67%, in the Republic of Mauritius is Indian and more than 48% of the population practices Hinduism. 90% of the people speak Mauritian Creole. With the overwhelming ethnicity of Indians, it is but natural that the local delicacies have an Indian slant like the Samosa, Falooda, Parotta, Roti, etc. The other influence on Mauritian cuisine is Chinese with fried noodles, rice and dumplings. In a lighter vein, Mauritian cuisine can be defined as fusion food. The currency is Mauritian Rupee (MUR), which, at the time of travel, was equivalent to 1.90 INR.

Over the years I have come to rely on the reliable Network Tours and Travels in Surat to book international and domestic air tickets. Besides the warm relationship I share with its proprietor, Rajeev Shah, booking air tickets through a travel agent has overwhelming advantages. The agency will provide a bouquet of options to choose from. If there are cancellations or modifications of the flight schedule the agency has better clout to get its client the best deal. The agency will also alert you about forms to be filled or health checks to be done prior to departure. For the Mauritius trip I had to fill in the “Mauritius All-in-One Form” digitally. The data is used by Mauritius Immigration and Health Department. The round trip flight between Ahmedabad and Mauritius via Mumbai on Vistara Airlines cost me a little over INR 60,000. My outward flight from Ahmedabad was booked for 22 December 2023 and return on 1 January 2024.

Normally I book accommodation through Booking.com. I sometimes compare the tariff and type of accommodation with Airbnb. While searching for stay options in Mauritius I discovered a couple of attractive options on Airbnb near Port Louis. I made the bookings without hesitation, knowing how difficult it would be to find decent places at an affordable budget during the season I had chosen to travel. The payment was also done. However, disappointingly, the hosts got back to me with their request to cancel the booking as they has already committed their accommodation prior to my booking. I smelt a rat and refused to cancel on my own. I reached out to the Airbnb helpdesk. I must submit that they were extremely prompt in addressing my concerns and admitted to a software glitch that had given rise to the embarrassing situation. However, to make up for the lost time and remedy the inconvenience caused they gave me INR 12,000 worth of top up coupons to be used before 9 January 2024, along with full refund of the payments made. Fortunately, the delay and cancellation did not cost me any further as I was able to source a two bedroom apartment in the heart of Port Louis for three days of stay in the capital city. All is well that ends well.

Another decision to be made was to source a car to travel around in Mauritius. I tried to check if public transport would suit my needs. While I may have managed the proposed itinerary with some local assistance I opted to hire a car, which would give me the freedom to explore and be flexible with the itinerary. Mauritius is a small country – North to South it is 65 km and East to West the distance is 45 km. There wasn’t much to drive, but a vehicle does provide the best roaming experience. I sourced a Maruti Swift through Discover Cars and paid the advance online, which included complete coverage, or so I was informed. With the decision to travel to Mauritius the die was cast to travel to the 55th country and drive in the 43rd.

The Vistara flight from Ahmedabad to Mumbai was at 1840 hours and I reported well in time. The check in counter opened three hours prior and my luggage was booked through to Mauritius. The layover in Mumbai was nearly 6 hours as the flight from Mumbai was at 2 am on 23 December. I was happy that I did not have to change terminals in Mumbai as both the Vistara flight were from T2. I got through the time going over the vacation plans after a dinner of Chole Bature and coffee at the Chathrapati Shivaji International Airport.

The Vistara flight from Mumbai to Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, Plaine Magnien, Mauritius left on time, but arrived a half hour late due to frequent turbulence. The international airport of Mauritius is 50 km to the south-east of its Capital, Port Louis. Fortunately, the airport was not too crowded and most of the tourists were availing the free visa on arrival facility. I seemed to be the only tourist travelling alone as most of them were family or groups of friends. Once I reached the top of the queue, which did take some time, the process was swift with just a few questions about arrangements for stay in the country.

After immigration and baggage clearance I sought out a Forex counter where I exchanged USD for local currency. Fortunately, there wasn’t any commission charge for the exchange. With that I navigated to the counters that sold pre-paid Sim cards. I was more interested in having extra data for navigation within the country and free local calls and messaging. My research had confirmed that Emtel would best suit my needs. It didn’t take me much time to get the Sim card activated. The first call I made was to the contact of the rental car service provider.