The Republic of Mauritius

Mauritius lies about 600 miles off the coast of Africa. It covers an area of 720 square miles and is just north of the Topic of Capricorn. Arab sailors knew of the island as early as the 10^th century. The Portuguese were latecomers, arriving in 1507, followed by the Dutch, the French, and then the British. The Dutch named the island in honor of Prince Maurice of Nassau, the Stadtholder of the Netherlands. No matter where you go on the island, you see remnants of each of these societies and now the Hindu influence. Mauritius became independent from the U.K in 1968.

Ethnically, the majority of the 1.2 million inhabitants is Indian, with African, European and Chinese minorities. The Mauritians have a saying, “One Island, Many People.” They have 15 public holidays on which everyone celebrates the religious holidays of all the people on the island, as well as Chinese New Years, and the day slavery was abolished.

Because of the mix of ethnic groups and languages, children are taught three languages by the age of three. At age five other languages are added. English is the official language for the administration of the island, even though only about one percent of the islanders speak English.

Tourism is the main industry, with approximately one million tourists visiting Mauritius each year. Other major industries are textiles, sugar/rum production, and fishing. Chinese fishing vessels were docked in the harbor. The Chinese fish in the Indian Ocean and process the fish in Mauritius under the brand name Princes, which we see in the U.S.

Mauritius was the only home of the now extinct Dodo bird. The birds couldn’t fly and became easy targets for hunters. Within eighty years of the arrival of the first settlers, the Dodo became extinct. The Mauritians have become forward thinking now and are constructing solar-powered buildings and have banned plastic bags.

When we got off the ship, we were greeted by some local dancers and rainfall.

Mauritian Greeting

Hearing that Mauritius is well known for its scenic beauty, we took the Southern Delights tour, which focused on the southwestern end of the island. Our first stop was at a dormant (not dead) volcano, now filled with water. The locals appear not to be concerned that it could erupt at any time since many of them are building million dollar homes close to the top of the crater. Perhaps they get a false sense of security because the whole area is covered in vegetation and it doesn’t look like a volcano crater. Mauritius has 24 dead volcanoes, and these people are building on the only one that can erupt again. Hmm.

Near the viewing platform for the volcano, we came across several dogs sleeping right in the middle of the path. The poor dogs looked rather thin. I overheard someone say that stray dogs roaming the island are a real problem. The dogs weren’t letting anything disturb them, and they didn’t bother anyone.

Our next stop was at Grand Bassin, a lake formed inside a volcanic crater. To the Hindu people it is holy, and a Hindu temple sits next to the lake. During the first week in March, approximately 400,000 Hindus on the island gather there for a four-day festival. Volunteers give the pilgrims food and drink as they make their way by foot to the lake. The pilgrims bring food and flowers as an offering, which they place on small cement tables around the lake. After blessing the items with the holy water, they take half home and leave half as an offering—much to the delight of the monkeys who live nearby and gather the fruit. (We were warned to be aware of the monkeys, which can be quite aggressive.) The pilgrims also collect water from the lake to take home. They pour the holy water over the statue of the god Shiva to cleanse it since Hindus believe that Shiva absorbs the poisons of the world.

Grand Bassin

Near the lake and temple stand the mammoth statues (100 feet tall) of Shiva and Durga, two of the Hindu gods. The statues stand on either side of the road leading to the temple. The statue of Durga is still under construction and covered with scaffolding.

Shiva

Durga

Along our tour route we passed fields of pineapples, Arabica coffee bean plants, and sugarcane. Pineapples grow at the top of the pineapple plant, so it looked like a field of pineapples lined up. Tea and vanilla plantations are all over the island, but we didn’t get to see any. We were surprised to see simple Morning Glories sitting among the more exotic flowers.

Our excellent tour guide, Sandeep, pointed out groves of lychee trees and palm trees grown for hearts of palms eaten in salads. He called them millionaire palms since they take eight years to grow just to harvest the small “heart.” Next time I have a salad served with hearts of palms, I’ll have a greater appreciation of it. Another variety of palm on the island is the Talipot Palm, which is said to flower once every 100 years and then dies. It’s rough being a palm on Mauritius. We passed a few gigantic palm trees and discovered that they were communications towers disguised to look like palm trees.

Later, we were served lunch high in the mountains overlooking the Black River Gorges National Park—one of the deepest gorges in Mauritius. A sign nearby the restaurant read Touché de Bois (which was either the name of the restaurant or the shop next to it). The restaurant was an open wooden structure, more like a large porch or tree house, which gave us wonderful views of the surrounding mountains and gorges. While we were sitting there, cool breezes flowed through the open sides, along with a few birds. Heavy rain was falling in the distance.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch along with the local beer, Phoenix—both made even better by the scenery. Since Sandeep said that the locals drink either bottled water or boil their water, I opted for the beer. Better to be safe than sorry. At least that was my excuse.

The local beers are Three Horses and Phoenix. Our resident beer/wine taster wasn’t impressed with the Phoenix, saying it was rather weak for his taste. I thought it was good. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a chance to try Three Horses.

View of Black River Gorges National Park from the Restaurant

Near the village of Chamarel, we visited a field that contained mounds of blue, green, purple, violet, brown, red, and yellow earth. The mineral content of the dirt causes the different colors. Sandeep said that the mounds never erode, even after heavy rain, and that if you mix the dirt, it will eventually separate into layers of individual colors. Nearby we also saw several giant tortoises.

Our last stop was at the Chamarel waterfall. The flow of water wasn’t very wide, but it was quite dramatic falling into a deep gorge. The hike up the hill to get a better view of it just about did me in, but it was worth it.

Chamarel Waterfall

Later, some of the passengers reported that they enjoyed their tour, which took them to a luxury beach resort. Other tours available included a nature safari, tours of the island by quad bikes, and visits to tea plantations. Passengers would have gotten to see spectacular scenery regardless of which tour they took. Some people also walked into the town and visited many of the local cathedrals and other historic buildings.

We can understand why one million people visit Mauritius each year. It was worth the visit. According to Mark Twain, “Mauritius was created before paradise came into being, and served as an example for the latter.”

Next, seven straight days at sea.