Luna de miel in Mauritius

We were together for over 5 years before Graham proposed and we were engaged for a year and a half. We joke that we don't like to rush into things. So, maybe it makes sense that it took us almost 10 months to go on our honeymoon. With the move, getting settled in Puerto, exploring our corner of Spain, several other vacations, and trips home to the States, our first 6 months overseas went by in a flash. And then familia and amigos started making plans to visit (awesome!) which made us realize that if we didn't plan a honeymoon soon, we probably wouldn't go on one before our first anniversary.

South Africa, Turkey, and the Maldives were all runners-up, but after lots of deliberation, and googling, and tripadvisoring, we discovered Maradiva Villas Resort in Mauritius. Mauritius is a small, tropical island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa, near Madagascar, known for its playas. And the villas at Maradiva were exactly what we were looking for.

We spent a week in Mauritius and it was well worth the 10 month wait (or nearly 8 year wait, if you want to count from the very beginning). It was...perfecto!

After driving from Puerto to Sevilla, flying from Sevilla to Paris, a layover in Paris, and then a long, but direct, flight to Mauritius, we were greeted at the airport by a driver (complete with sign greeting us). We were given cold towels, bottled agua, and then whisked away to paradise (otherwise known as Maradiva).

Graham arranged for the car service - nice work! Oh, and the plastic bag he is carrying is from our stop at duty-free for some beverage essentials.

When we arrived at Maradiva we were greeted, given more cold towels, and shown to our villa. And then the next 7 dias flew by in a blur of sun, sand, beach, pool, swimming, relaxing, reading, eating, and drinking. This vacation was different from the others that we have taken recently since it was our honeymoon, but also because we didn't do a lot - no museums, churches, art, architecture, history, walking, planning, public transportation, or lists. We love those things, but this trip was all about splurging on a gorgeous villa and indulging in doing a whole lot of nada.

Our typical dia looked like this:  Sleep in, have breakfast in the hotel's main restaurant. Put on our bathing suits (and sunscreen - especially for the ginger!), walk the 20 steps to our beach loungers, spend the next few hours sunning, swimming, reading, maybe take a stroll to look for shells. In the late afternoon, head back to the villa to lounge by our little private pool, snack on fresh fruit and little cakes that were left for us while we were at the beach. Go to the beach again for sunset and a sundowner. Get ready for dinner, have a cocktail or glass of vino. Eat delicious dinner in one of the hotel restaurants, then go back to the villa to hang out in our outdoor living room, listen to music or play scrabble (nerds!).

Morning, breakfast, beach:

Poached eggs - yum.

The beach on Tamarin Bay.

Cold towels (again!) and agua brought to us on the beach.

Every day around 1 o'clock, fresh fruit was brought around on a tray.

Where we spent most of our day.

Looking out on the Indian Ocean.

Guess which book belongs to who...

Afternoon, villa, pool:

Note: This picture looks more risqué than it actually is - Meghann is wearing a strapless bathing suit. Moms, sorry for the implied nudity.

Patio visitor.



Room service!

Sunset, sundowners:

The little beach bar.

Rainbow!

Travel tip - If you are staying at a resort, and you know you're going to want to have an evening cocktail or pop some bottles, pick up your favorite beverages in duty free at the airport. 

Local cerveza.

 Evening, dinner:

Mauritius has a large Indian population and the food at the resort's restaurants was a mix of Indian and Asian fusion. Lots of spices, local seafood, and fresh fruit and vegetables. It was perfect for us, since we normally try to find some sort of Asian food when we travel, which is a good break from traditional Spanish comida.

Curry.

Teppanyaki grill.

Dessert trio. The little glass is mango with black pepper - amazing flavor combination.

Traditional dancers.

Sushi!

Nerds!

We had an amazing time - Mauritius was a perfect honeymoon destination! And we have some more pictures to share, but we'll do that in another post. Tell us about one of your favorite trips, your honeymoon, or a dream vacation, even if it's just a dream for now.