Day 17 of Lockdown!

Mauritius – not just any other ordinary (Stopover/Transit) destination:

This was my first visit to Mauritius, though I was just a hop, skip and a long jump away from this exotic and a dream destination.Yes, having spent over a decade and a half in Johannesburg I never had an opportunity to see this fabulous Island of a Country.

Be that as it may, providence provided me with a perfect chance to visit this country that was a French colony in the decades gone by. Though I had a stopover of just 21 hours, I decided to make full use of this time.

Travelling to Johannesburg from Mumbai on Air Mauritius, along with my friend and associate, Madhu Kongovi, the flight took off on time. This early morning flight had us totally drained of our sleep as we took a late night flight the previous day to Mumbai from Bengaluru. I hadn’t travelled this route (overseas via Mumbai) in more than a decade and hence was ignorant if there were any transport facilities between the terminals. When enquired, we were told to take the public transport to reach the other Terminal. Booked an Ola cab and reached the other Terminal around midnight on 15^th November. Our flight was only at 06h40 on 15^th to Mauritius. With more than a couple of hours to kill before the check-in counter opened, I employed a couple of ways from my bag of tricks to tide over.

Once the counters opened, we checked in and on crossing over to no man’s land (after emigration formalities) we reached the lounge where we spent the next couple of hours before the flight. Dead tired that we were and also famished due to long interval between flights, the food at this lounge was just what the doctor ordered.

This done and dusted by the time our flight was announced, we lazily strolled towards the flight and boarded leisurely.

Friendly and courteous flight attendants were at our service from the time we entered the aircraft and served sumptuous food with a plethora of drinks to wash it down with.

Dozed off the rest of the flight post breakfast, only to wake up close to landing time and the sight of a typical tropical flora.

Immigration formalities took a longer time to my liking since most of the passengers, other than Mauritians, had to be issued visas on arrival. That done, we got a few stuff for our friend whom we were about to meet.

Mahen Appadoo, a major logistics contractor, had come to the airport to receive us.  Warm guy, we hit out with him instantly. He took us to the hotel where we were given transit accommodation for a night as our connecting flight to Johannesburg was only the next day at 10am. We freshened up and while Madhu went along with Mahen, I lazed about in the hotel and relaxed before they returned along with a friend of Mahen, a Vimal Ramloll.

Our next stop was Port Louis, the capital city. Using Mahen’s clout, we could meet up with one of the Ministers of the recently elected Government, to discuss some business projects.

This done, let me introduce Vimal properly. Mr Vimal Ramloll, owns a company named Chiselmet and the uniqueness of Chiselmet is, it specialises in restoration of colonial buildings and furniture.

This said, Vimal chaperoned us around two of his present projects, in Port Louis. First, an imposing Theatre, which had been dilapidated over time and is being restored completely.

Aptly named as “The Theatre”, construction for this structure began around 1820 and inaugurated on 11th June 1822. This is one of the oldest theatres in Southern Hemisphere. 

The maintenance of this building was totally neglected over the decades. Restoration of this building started over a year ago and will continue well into 2020. The work that Vimal and his team has started with, needs special mention as he has left no stone unturned in his efforts to bring this building back to its old glory.

Some of the pics of this great historical monument:

 

 

We then drove down to his unit, ‘Chiselmet’, where he showcased us the painstaking process of restoring these fittings and fixtures like dados, panelling and cladding, tiling, etc.

Some of the pics are below, courtesy Vimal’s Chiselmet:

 

 

 

 

Incidentally, many of his workers are from Bangladesh and many of them have adapted to Mauritian way of life, as they are known to do so worldwide. Few of them speak rusty French (which is the official language other than Creole and English) and their supervisor was pretty fluent in both Creole and French.

Post this, we had a good snack at a bakery/restaurant in downtown as we were famished by then. This reminded me of the many Irani joints in Mumbai, where, I had the pleasure of hogging on their Maska Paav and Tea. Here we had a couple of chilli bites and maska bun as well.

Next on the list was to visit one of the resorts owned by Vimal, which was a good distance from the city. The roads and the topography reminded me of my life in Goa.

                                                                                     

He gave us a quick tour of the resort and I must say, it was really an excellent place to relax, relax and relax. Refreshed with a couple of drinks, on we proceeded to our next venue of interest.

Next one on the list was in Rose Hill, which for a long time was the temple of culture in Mauritius, thanks to Plaza. This magnificent old-fashioned Theatre and its Village Hall have hosted many a major event in the past. With the Party Hall finally being restored, the Theatre being renovated, will put these buildings to its former magnificence. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and the time of the day, I couldn’t get inside these buildings to take a few pics.

 

Also, due to lack of time I couldn’t get more information on these and other projects. Perhaps in my next write-up, I will cover these better, with more information.

Great job Vimal! All the very best and hope you restore some more of these nostalgic buildings to its former grandeur.

Next in tow was our visit to Mauritius Club, where we met some of who’s-who in the Indian community of Mauritius. Celebration of Diwali festival at this club, was the highlight of the day, with some excellent live music ringing out some of the old Hindi numbers. While the elders’ eyes were moist and their faces brightened up from nostalgia, the youngsters too enjoyed the music in their own way.

Downing a couple of tots along with a plethora of short eats, we were full to the brim and almost ready to call it a day.

Mahen’s son was our designated driver and thanks to him, we reached our hotel safely in the night. Hit the bed almost instantly and dozed off just after reminding the reception to wake us up early the next day as we had to catch the connecting flight to Johannesburg.

This in short was the travelogue of my first, but certainly not my last, trip to Mauritius!

Thanks a lot to Mahen and Vimal for the excellent hospitality extended to us and particularly to me as I was a total stranger who was quite at ease in your company. Hope I get a chance to reciprocate this gesture of yours, in future.