Travel Guides: May 5

This week Travel Guides visits Mauritius off the east coast of Africa for a week-long resort holiday with a combined French, African and Indian cultural twist.

To get around the island, our Guides are driving the ultimate island vehicle, the Mini Moke. If they survive the mad coastal trip in the Mini Moke they’ll be staying in oceanfront luxury – the Paradis Beachcomber Resort on Le Morne Peninsula.

Palm-fringed, white-sand beaches and calm tropical waters welcome them at the resort, but it’s too good to relax and enjoy, so the Guides are straight into the smorgasbord of activities.

They try sailing catamarans and paddle-board yoga, with limited success. Perhaps their talents lie in golfing? The big attraction at the resort is one of the toughest and most beautiful 18-hole golf courses in the world. Who will nail a hole in one?

Getting into the cultural side of the island, our Guides check out the weekly Mahebourg markets for delicious local snacks. Then they sail across the aquamarine ocean to an offshore wilderness sanctuary for a David Attenborough moment. Giving giant Aldabra tortoises a shell massage in the Mauritian jungle is a highlight for our travellers.

The culture continues back at the resort with some exotic sega dancing and cocktails. Are our Travel Guides able to strike a pose? Luckily the dancing is done on a soft, sandy beach.

To get into the swing of local life, they then take to the track.

The oldest racecourse in the world takes pride of place in the Mauritian capital of St Louis and every Saturday is like the Melbourne Cup with far fewer fascinators. With some Guides having a little more experience at horsing around than others, it’s a day of winners and losers.

Apart from sensational beaches, Mauritius prides itself on its sugarcane rum, so our vacationers research the full process at the Rhumerie de Chamarel. This is no regular Bundy rum and none of the Guides are regular rum drinkers. Things get a little messy.

Next, to discover the lush jungles and hair-raising waterfalls of Mauritius, our travellers suit up for canyoning. Ziplining and abseiling down the guts of the Seven Cascades takes courage … and a lot of singing.

At the end of their tropical island holiday in the Indian Ocean, will our Travel Guides ever want to go home? And what will they rate Mauritius out of five stars?

7:30pm Wednesday on Nine.