Walk with lions, fly like a bird and ride a subscooter

The local radio station played the title track of Anjaana Anjaani as I enjoyed the drive in a 10-seater coach on beautifully laid roads with a vast ocean to my right and scenic landscapes to my left.

Despite a six-hour flight from Mumbai, Mauritius compels you to fall in love with its picturesque locales the moment you step in.
Its sugarcane plantations, wildlife sanctuaries, and secluded beaches with pristine, white sand are a tourist’s delight.

Many tourists, including a growing number of Indians, visit the country for the peace and tranquility it offers along with a range of activities for those seeking an adrenaline rush.

Danger zone
The Casela Bird Park provides a rare opportunity for people to interact with lions and cheetahs. Though one enters the cage only after signing an undertaking that the individual is solely responsible in case of a mishap, it seemed a risk worth taking.

Walking with and petting two lions is an experience of a lifetime.
“They’re both three-year-olds. We brought them from Africa and trained them here. The lions are kept for human interaction, only after we’re sure people can ‘handle’ them,” one of the trainers told me. The cheetahs, also three-year-olds, were docile compared to the lions, who once roared loudly enough for me to take five steps back. If this experience makes it difficult for the tourist to erase that smile with satisfaction written all over it, there’s something else that makes you want to go back to the place.

You walk on really thin pieces of wooden planks separated by a few inches for 120 metres with a 60 feet deep gorge below you. Though equipped with the necessary security harness, there is an element of fear as you reach the centre to take in the breathtaking view because the planks tilt considerably on both sides. No sooner do you complete the canopy walk, there’s a greater challenge ahead.

The zip line ride makes you fly like a bird with a 100 feet deep valley under your eyes. You are in harmony with nature as you zip from one end of a hilltop to another all by yourself in two to three minutes. The act has to be repeated in pairs and it is tempting not to do it again. But all the fear that is accumulated at the start of these activities is replaced by sheer joy after their completion.

As if flying in the air was not enough, Mauritius also allows people to experience life under water apart from the usual parasailing, snorkeling and kayaking. At the Blue Safari Submarine, the only submarine base operating in the Indian Ocean, one gets a chance to drive a scooter under water for 30 minutes. Called the subscooter, the device is a two-seater with a steering wheel and two accelerator pedals.

The scooter is suspended three metres under water from the bridge of a ship. A professional diver (not seated) tells you how to move the scooter, which moves slowly at 4 kmph. There’s an oxygen cylinder and I was glad I felt no fear even though I do not know how to swim. Perhaps it was because I was so engrossed feeding bread to the small, colourful fish that surrounded the scooter.

On a private island
At the Le Touessrok Resort, one among 13 five-star hotels in the country, there are two private islands for the guests. “Generations after generations visit our resort because of the special treatment they get here. Most of them are Europeans,” Sjefke Jansen, general manager, Le Touessrok, said.

Indians too are now warming up to the country as a holiday destination, representatives of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority claim. There are also a large number of Indians living in Mauritius and most of them speak Hindi apart from Creole and French.

It’s also a popular destination for film crews. Nine years after their first shoot, the Kingfisher swimsuit calendar has returned to Mauritius this year. What brings them back? “The weather and the light. The locales are heavenly,” says ace photographer Atul Kasbekar.

On my way back to the airport, as I looked lovingly at the ocean to my left, the radio station played Agar Tum Mil Jao. Despite being away from my country, I felt at home. And it wasn’t just the Hindi songs that were responsible for this.