?Ti Vilaz? (little village)? The name is meaningful! It actually looks like a small village-within-a-village where convivial, rustic and typical aspects are skilfully mixed to make visitors feel at home while enjoying a total change of scene for a day, a weekend or longer? Its romantic atmosphere, specially appropriate to this period of St Valentine, makes it the perfect place to meet up with your beloved ! You will be able to make the most of your stay at the Domaine du Chasseur in Anse-Jonchée.

Planted in the middle of its 1,500 hectares of luxuriant tropical vegetation, the Domaine du Chasseur has been welcoming visitors for 18 years. The managing director, Alain O?Reilly, had the feeling there was something more to be done to meet the real expectations of visitors ? both tourists and Mauritians. ?There was a great demand for a place where people could stay over and benefit from this quiet and ecological place for a longer time? This is why we decided to build these little rondavels.?

At first sight, ?Ti Vilaz? looks like a traditional African village with seven little huts scattered on a small plot of land. But as soon as you get closer, you see that the Mauritian influence is very strong. Each hut has a name that evokes the traditional Mauritius: ?Tilefar? (little lighthouse as the hut faces the Lighthouse island), ?Tizoliv? (little olive ? the door is overhung with olive trees), not to mention all the rest.

The small huts are all made with Mauritian natural materials. The roof is made of guava wood, sugar cane stems and eucalyptus. The bed is made of eucalyptus wood as well. The small terrace looks out on the mountains all around the Domaine as well as the sea on the horizon? The perfect place to relax in the afternoon after hiking in the forest.

No telephone, no television? Only nature and tranquillity in the midst of Anse Jonchée!

Seven huts? This is not much in such a vast domain. However the team insists on the fact that they do not intend to construct more huts. ?We have to keep this special cachet. Ti Vilaz would not be the same if there were fifty huts everywhere on the mountain with people all over the place? We have to preserve the feeling of exclusivity,? the general manager, Fabrice Salaün, points out.

<B>Back to the roots</B>

According to the managers, the keywords at the Domaine du Chasseur are ?idleness, relaxation and Zen?. However, activities are offered - some for free - to residents of Ti Vilaz. Hiking, excursions, shrimp fishing, camping in the forest and of course hunting with a specialist in ecology, Lionel, or any qualified guide of the Domaine. One of the strengths of the Domaine du Chasseur is that it is so cosy that the team can adapt to everyone?s needs and wishes. Customers can ask to have the stag that they shot or the shrimps that they fished grilled on the barbecue in the evening in the splendid surroundings of the Panoramour, the restaurant of the Domaine.

Actually, a visit to Domaine du Chasseur allows visitors to go back to their roots, and taste once again the pleasures of their childhood or to enable their children to discover the joys of nature, which is not common these days. This is why they insist that they are really happy to welcome Mauritians to the Domaine since they can see how happy they are to do activities they hadn?t done for years. ?The change of mood of our visitors between the moment they arrive and the day they leave is really amazing. It seems as if nature has boosted them,? explains Lionel. This is why they want their product to be accessible to the Mauritian public and have a special tariff for them: Rs 2,500 for a room at Ti Vilaz compared to Rs 3,500 for tourists.

The feeling which remains when you leave the Domaine is that the leaders of the team who have made it what it is today ? that is Alain, Fabrice and Lionel ? have achieved their dream: that of making lands, particularly hunting lands, accessible to the public and thus allowing them to discover and know more about the beauties of nature which surround them in a relaxed and enjoyable setting. Believe me? the steep hill is worth the effort!