The Honest Jonny | BLOG

The Bus Trip

I have told you before that whilst I love my kids Amy (12) & James (11), I really do think that they are spoilt toffee nosed kids. How else do you explain that this year in August will be their 9th trip to my Island Paradise of Mauritius (Have I told you that I love my job? Have I told you that my kids also love my job?). Anyway I digress & seriously love them dearly. I would however like to talk about the bus trip with Mautourco to the various Beachcomber properties, Shandrani aside as it is so close to the airport.

Although Mauritius is only four hours away, to kids who do not travel much four hours is still a long time & the drones of "are we nearly there yet?" can get the start of an idyllic Mauritiun Holiday off to the worst possible start. Now whilst the airlines have movies and the like, once you set foot on Mauritius soil the kids already want to be at the resort. Most of the transfers take over an hour & so the bus trip becomes all important in order that your kids get to the Beachcomber resort without having started the holiday fighting with the parents.

The solution? We always stop at the Winners supermarket in Mahebourg close to the airport, courtesy of the Mautourco driver who understands our predicament- but you must ask as this is not a compulsory stop. Winners is a delightful supermarket with anything that you could wish for the Tour Party. Beer & wine for the parents & cool drinks for the kids (Orangina is my kids personal favourite in Mauritius as you don't get it here in good old RSA) as well as a reasonable selection of snacks. What this does for us is that it allows us all, kids & parents to enjoy the transfer & to take in the surroundings relaxed rather than to hear the incessant droning of "are we nearly there yet". Make no mistake I would love to tell you that my little angels are so well behaved that I don't need bribery & corruption, however I find that this works a treat (most especially for dad, but please don't tell anyone).

I think it is the pure excitement of the destination that does it to the kids & in an era of instant gratification it certainly helps to calm everyone's nerves down & allows our family to arrive at the resort refreshed, happy & ready to holiday up a storm. For us the Bus Trip becomes part of the experience because of this rather than a chore. Once at the resort we often compare our check in procedure to that of other families that have not visited "winners" and believe me when I say that we are certainly the winners.

For the trip home may I suggest that you don't stop at Winners as generally everyone will be very upset that they are leaving Paradise. Allow them to mope & promise that if they behave on the bus that next year you will do the honourable thing again and book at beachtag for your next Mauritius Trip. So there you have it, start your holiday off in the right frame of mind. Winners stop at Winners. Honest Jonny, over & out!