It's the first time I've ever felt pressured to look at a beach. No, not by another person of course, but by a presence. Now you will understand.
I arrive at one of the most beautiful and exciting places I have ever been to the Dinarobin Hotel Golf & Spa in Mauritius. The luxurious resort is located on the southwest coast of the island. When I enter the lobby, I am mesmerized by the immense blue swimming pool that blends in with the colors of the sea in the distance, forming a single body of water.
I am taken to my room aboard the now ubiquitous golf car. When the door is open, I am almost embarrassed by its beauty. A small veranda opens onto a garden in the middle of which there is a swimming pool entirely built with black volcanic stones.
Everything is taken care of in every detail, and this makes me feel extremely pampered and spoiled.
Crossing the garden I come to a long and white beach whose color is due to the sand of coral origin.
Then I feel that feeling.
Looking at the sea I feel a presence behind me, I turn around and see it.
It is Le Morne Brabant, a mighty mountain 556m high made of black basalt rock that stands just behind the Dinarobin.
During the journey that brought us to the resort, the guide of the very efficient company Escapade told us a historical anecdote about Le Morne that particularly impressed me. In 1835 some slaves found refuge on the mountain to escape the persecution that was taking place at that time against the rebel slaves who claimed their right to freedom. Finally, the abolition of slavery was conquered, but on February 1 of that year when the fugitives saw the soldiers arrive, who actually brought them the news of their freedom, they misunderstood and felt in danger, preferring to die by throwing themselves into the void rather than return prisoners.
This tragic episode is remembered every year with a mass and a popular festival on the beach.
It is impressive how this mountain resembles a giant that watches over Mauritius reminding all its inhabitants of the memory of the island, between great suffering and heroic conquests. For these reasons, Le Morne became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008.
The whole island oozes history, a history that can be found on the multiracial faces of its inhabitants. Before the arrival of the settlers, Mauritius was uninhabited land. Its strategic location, right on the route to India, became the reason why the British, French, Portuguese and Dutch fought over the centuries. The first population to be imported for employment was the African population. Then when over the years, tired of being exploited, the slaves of Africa decided to strike, the English settlers went to Pakistan and India to enlist new workers.
To witness this past there are scattered throughout the country about ten colonial villas open to visitors.
But of these and their fascination, I will speak in more detail in another post...
for the time being goodnight from Mauritius