Sometimes the best things in life are unplanned. Have you ever tried at least once, to craft your day without any plans? To go with the flow and just let the day unfold with it’s surprising adventures? This unplanned journey led us to wild animals, a delicious lunch with a breathtaking view and memorable walks along the beautiful park of Casela.
The weather forecast in Mauritius has been unpredictable for the last month. We had rain, sun, cold nights and humid afternoons. Truth to be told, it was not a picture perfect postcard kind of weather! Lucky for us though, our adventure day was a typical sunny island day! We drove along looking for a lovely spot to have lunch and headed straight to the Casela Nature and Leisure Park.
Well, a restaurant is not the usual thing you would think of when driving to a zoo! That is what makes unexpected plans so memorable. Along the queue to buy our entrance tickets, we were approached by a man who gave us 2 entrance tickets! He had 2 extra tickets and decided to hand them to us. We were humbled and kept smiling during the queue which made the wait soothing!
As it was pass lunch time, our first stop in the park was eventually the restaurant. A magnificent view of nature, revealing the exquisite blue of the ocean and the wild green of the mountains was our hors d’oeuvre. We raised our glasses to a well improvised day (I opted for a chilled Phoenix Fresh to stay true to the local wanderings!). For lunch I went for an authentic creole dish, the ‘Rougail Saucisse’. Yummy yummy in my tummy!
Then off we went to a little impromptu safari and a lovely encounter with the wild cats! It was my first time visiting the lions in Mauritius. I loved how the Casela team treated the animals, the cheetah even went for a hug while making it’s way towards the personnel! We came by a signage in the park that beautifully depicted the spirit of Casela Nature and Leisure Park:
The Five Freedoms:
1. Freedom from thirst, hunger and malnutrition
2. Freedom from discomfort
3. Freedom from pain, injury and disease
4. Freedom to express normal behavior
5. Freedom from fear and distress
I enjoyed this day more than I thought I would. Surely for our next visit to Casela we will head to the wild activities and make the most of the leisure park.
Have you ever been to Casela Nature and Leisure Park? I would be glad to read about your experience too!
This Post Has 3 Comments
Love this so much! An impromptu adventure can sometimes turn out to be absolutely amazing. Looks like you had a great time. I use to go to Casela about three or four times a week when I lived in Mauritius (tour guide), but ever since it renovated, I haven't been. My concern had been the animals, especially the lions and cheetahs. I never knew about the Freedom Five. So thanks for sharing this so eloquently in this post. Great on youfor goof for the rougaille saucisse – I'm also a huge fan of Creole cuisine ☺️.
Whoops so many typos!! I meant "great on you for going for the rougaille saucisse" 😉
I'm glad you enjoyed reading this post 🙂 I had an amazing time, simply having lunch with this view and walking slowly in the park was a great 🙂 I do recommend to visit Casela. It is beautiful and well kept. I actually had a comment following this particular post, about how wild animals should be kept into the wild. What most people ignore is that the vision of the park is much more than leisure. It aims at protecting and conserving the endemic species. The Freedom Five is very present throughout the Park 🙂 And yes, nothing beats a good rougaille saucisse!