Since we are planning on going to Mauritius in October-November this year and there are plenty of beautiful photos out there showing off Mauritius' landscape and flora and fauna I wanted to make a post listing some activites and beaches, places to see and stuff to do. Originally I had this post crammed with photos but I'll make a part two with activites and cute animals.
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Grand Baie, a popular and lively large city in the north,
where you'll find plenty of hotels, activities, restaurants & night clubs.
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Facts:
* Mauritius is an island and a republic nation in the Indian ocean, located east of Madagascar (a large island outside the south-east coast of Africa).
* Volcanic activity created this island 8 million years ago, and it was originally discovered in 1507 by Portuguese explorers. Later, the Dutch (who introduced deer, domestic animals and sugar cane production), French and British came to this island and it was a French colony for many years until the British took control in 1810.
* Mauritius became an independent state in 1968, and because they had belonged to the UK they have left hand traffic (That's something my boyfriend did not realise and now he's not sure about renting a car there anymore).
* The people of Mauritius are of Indian, African, European and Chinese decent and speak English, French and Creole (and Chinese).
* Hinduism is the major religion, followed by Islam and Christianity and a small percentage adhere to Buddhism.
* There are approximately 1 290 000 inhabitants, but when it was discovered in the 16th century the population only consisted of the now extinct dodo bird!
* It is one of the least corrupt countries of Africa, with one of the highest GDP per capita on the continent.
* Lagoons are protected from the open sea by the third largest coral reef in the world which surrounds the island, as do the 150 kilometres of white sandy beaches.
* It ranked second in an air quality index released by the WHO
* The tropical climate makes the weather pleasant all year round. The coolest months are July and August and the warmest months are January and February.
* The central plateau is much cooler than the coastal areas, but the south & east coasts are rough and windswept while the north & west coast are perfect for tourists and luxury hotels and water sports.
* They provide free transport for students, and free education (until University).
Dream away:
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| Le Gris Gris, the southernmost point and not an ideal place for a hotel... |
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| One of the many luxurious hotels. I read that they are not allowed to build big hotels without having something special to offer tourists; golf clubs, spa treatments, a private beach, honey moon packages etc. |
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| Caudan Waterfront, in the capital Port Louis |
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| Houses from the Colonial era |
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| Traditional sega dance |
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South west Mauritius, where a couple of expensive,
luxury resorts can be seen |
The beach photos are taken at Grand Baie, Cap Malheurex, Pereybère, Flic en Flac, Trou aux Biches, the lagoon Ile aux Cerfs, Le Morne Brabant peninsula etc....they all look amazing and like the perfect desktop backgrounds.
There are many expensive hotels, 4 and 5 stars, but we'll most likely be staying at a villa if we go. It is not more than about 40-50 €/day, you can choose to have breakfast included or make your own and the rooms are bigger. The service at a 4 star hotel in Greece was pretty lousy anyway, and we were surprised by how convenient villas are.
We have been looking at, among others, these three:
Villa Blue Bird
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| Blue Orchid Apartments |
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| Villa Narmada |
Even if we end up not going there, who knows what will happen (we can't agree on the length of our holiday because I am not sure what my job situation will be like in 9 months), I love looking at the pictures and dream myself away. And I might inspire someone else to go there!
The Casela Nature and Leisure Park; offers meetings with their tiger, lions and cheetahs and you can walk among monkeys, zebras and about 1500 birds. 
