One would assume that every plane in the fleet would be used on weekdays to transport the business travellers. On Sunday, the weekend-away-crowd needs to be transported back home. That leaves Saturday with every other plane parked neatly in its space.
It was therefore a very clever move on the part of kulula to start a Saturday outbound and inbound flight to Mauritius.
If you can get to Cape Town for under R500 return in 100 minutes, surely the 240 minutes flight to paradise can be put within reach of the working person. It seemed an awful waste of carbon emissions, given our plane had only 44 people onboard.
Assuming the air travel competition can sort out landing rights and other seemingly little problems, paradise may not be out of reach for much longer if the ticket prices benefit through some healthy competition.
I detest the holiday package. I detest it for the lack of choice, I detest it for the misinformation, I detest it for the terms and conditions and I detest it for those "extras" that seem to add themselves to the bill.
One hotel generously offers that if you choose not dine at their buffet, you receive a credit for the other restaurants. They omit to mention however, that the credit is less than the price of a cocktail. Prepare yourself for mayonnaise-enveloped mountains of mock crayfish - or arrange for an overdraft.
I was hoping to see some of the Mauritius beyond the generic hotel beach area. My thought process was simple. If I plan to be out all day to explore this island, why do I need an expensive hotel?
We booked a flat for the first three days of our stay, but try as we might, we could not, prior to our departure, find that "postcard perfect" hotel for the remaining four days. I steadfastly believed I would find this hotel soon after arrival. I was not going to pre-book a hotel at a daily rate that was higher than the package rate that also included plane tickets.
I blame the grip of the tour operator, and a government-planned tourist industry for this. My wife blames me.
The fact remains: very few hotels will deal with you directly, and several websites had restricted offers excluding South Africans. The process continued to be very frustrating, even when we were on the ground.
We had a very good stay - sleeping at R180 a night, and eating a 900g fresh crayfish at R200, riding on everything that moved and going on any trip we chose.
Mauritius can keep their hotel rooms that allow you a tantalising glimpse of palm trees beyond the garbage bins outside your window, and their left-over buffets.
Travel is always special because of small moments: the kindness of a stranger, friendliness of a host, and the taste of a simple drink while enjoying a breathtaking view.
The local people were so nice, it was a pleasure to give them money. Nothing seemed too much trouble, everything seemed like a bargain.
One reason people opt for package tours is that this gives them the opportunity of not having to bother with the details or needing to plan anything. But you don't need to plan anything - everything is extremely convenient and activities very easy to arrange. The advantage of such flexibility allows you to do whatever you feel like, whenever you feel like it.
The cost (as above) of our stay, and plane tickets of R3 300 including taxes worked out to be R6 873 per person. So on paper it might seem this round goes to the tour operators, with this price being similar to some advertised packages. However, a quality comparison would be very difficult: our holiday included a lot of extras and I believe we experienced these at better locations, as we were not restricted to the hotel facilities and benefited from exploring the islands.
Shopping was limited, but good. The local clothing industry offers a large selection of rip-off brands, but prices vary and you need to find a "Mauritius priced store". I bought four shirts (two for R45, two for R113).
The local handicraft is attractive and cheap, but the concept of a dust-gathering memento is a dead as a dodo in my wife's house.
We believe that we got good value for money, compared to previous holidays in South Africa, the US and Europe.
The island offers a good combination of tourist facilities and activities, with the charm and tranquillity of a less industrialised setting and breathtaking beaches and aquamarine sea. We'll be back.