DESTINATIONS SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL |MAURITIUS


3


OF THE BEST


Mauritian must-eats


GATEAUX PIMENTS


These ‘chilli cakes’ are falafel- style fritters made with split peas and spiced with coriander and chilli, best enjoyed at an authentic restaurant or local street-food stall in bustling Grand Baie.


Chilli cakes


CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Paradis Beachcomber Golf Resort & Spa; making ravannes; beekeeper Etienne de Senneville PREVIOUS PAGE: Shandrani Beachcomber Resort & Spa PICTURES: Christopher Laurenz


eye of professional beekeeper Etienne de Senneville. He says: “Bees are the beginning of the food chain. They pollinate the fruits and the flowers, then the birds and animals eat the fruit that gives us seeds to grow another tree – and in return, they give us honey. “We do everything we can to be sustainable. Bees are very important for the ecosystem, so we’re trying to find the right balance.” With five hives per resort and


up to 54,000 bees in each one, it’s more than enough to keep the breakfast buffets well stocked with fresh honeycomb, with surplus to produce jars of eucalyptus honey and sweets to be sold in shops. Starting this year, the leftover wax will also be sent to community craft enterprise Beautiful Localhands to create organic beeswax candles, with the profits going directly to the people who make them.


36 11 APRIL 2024 With up to


54,000 bees in each hive, the breakfast buffets are kept well stocked with fresh honeycomb


SUSTAINABLE STAYS The new beehives are just one of 52 sustainability measures rolled out by Beachcomber Resorts & Hotels to achieve and maintain its certification with EarthCheck, a body that analyses environmental impact and community engagement in the travel and tourism industry. Last year, Beachcomber became


the first hotel group in Mauritius to earn EarthCheck’s gold certification


for two of its resorts – Dinarobin and neighbouring Paradis Golf Resort & Spa – along with the company’s head office. The remaining hotels are expected to achieve the same status this year. While all-inclusive resorts


often come in for criticism for their food waste or impact on the local area, Géraldine Koenig, chief risk and compliance officer for Beachcomber, insists the process of auditing and benchmarking has led to marked improvements. Half of its hotels now use solar


panels, two feature desalination plants to reduce fresh water use, native plant species have replaced many exotic blooms, and irrigation is now exclusively done with recycled water. The hotels are on course to


recycle 60% of waste by 2025 – significant on an island that mainly relies on landfill for


² DHAL PURI This flatbread, made from


yellow split peas and stuffed with curries or pickled vegetables, is a street


food staple and a popular breakfast treat.


travelweekly.co.uk


CHICKEN CURRY


Much of Mauritian cuisine is influenced by Indian


ingredients, and the cooking class at Trou aux Biches’ Indian restaurant Mahiya offers a taste of how to recreate its delicious curries at home.


Mahiya cooking class


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