What to Expect - Mauritius Off The Beaten Track (22 Days to Go)

So up to now I’ve been doing a lot of research about Mauritius, it’s inhabitants and it’s culture. I’ve seen countless pictures showing the island’s beauty and have spoken to quite a few Mauritians and Expats on forums and blogs around the ‘Interweb Glactica’ and although I know I won't truly appreciate it until I get there, I’ve already started to learn a lot about the country...  Most people think of Mauritius as a sun, sea and sand destination, but from talking to some of these locals and expats, I’ve already learned that there is far more to this cosmopolitan Indian Ocean island than meets the beach tourist’s eye.



Open Air Food Market in Port Louis



The first thing I’m told I’ll notice when walking around Port Louis is the smell of jasmine, mixed with the scent of freshly-baked savouries and cinnamon and ginger spice, apparently it hangs in the air and works as a taste-bud trigger for hungry locals and tourists alike. Apparently simple evening pleasures like sitting outside a restaurant with a coffee are noticeably different to other destinations. One of the posts on a blog I’ve been reading sums it up perfectly; “Diners chatter away in Hindi, French and Creole, some switching from one language to another with apparent ease, and as Indian women in colourful saris eat and chat to stern looking businessmen in suits; Hawaiian-shirted tourists eye up the attractive local Metis girls. Then a waiter, bearing a platter piled high with shrimp curry, fish masala and cumin rice, sails in from the kitchen, dispensing laden plates with an easy smile. My stomach rumbled in anticipation.

Diners at the Cari Poule, one of the most popular restaurants in the Mauritian capital of Port Louis, are a microcosm of this tiny, cosmopolitan isle: two-thirds Indian, part African-Creole, with some Chinese citizens and a few Europeans (mainly descendants of the island's first sugar planters). Mauritius is a heady mix of ethnic and religious groups, attractive Creole and colonial architecture, transparent seas, low mountains and sugar cane plains. For such a small island, it has variety in abundance.”



Caudan Waterfront



I’m told that the capital Port Louis until recently, featured on most visitor's list of things to do, but development of the Caudan waterfront in the late 90’s, incorporating old dockside buildings and a new marina has apparently changed all of that. The Caudan has helped draw new life into a city that was once deserted after office hours. Visitors now follow locals to the upmarket boutiques, multiplex cinema and pavement cafés of this happy mix of old and new.



Government House with Queen Vic Statue



Long term expats tell me that the heart of the city is changing too, although there are still remnants of its former life as the capital of a French, then British, colony. At Government House, a statue of Queen Victoria looks out unsmiling from the three-storey, colonnaded building built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries... For some reason, these pictures remind me of the bust standing on the bar of the ‘Queen Vic’ in Eastenders (have to say, I don't think I’ll miss that J).



Place Sookdeo Bissoondoyal



Mahe de Labourdonnais

Government House is apparently the traditional focal point of the capital, standing at the head of the Place d'Armes – which has now been renamed ‘Place Sookdeo Bissoondoyal’ in honour of a leading Indo-Mauritian politician. This isn't the only tongue twister I’m likely to encounter. When I started reading up about my home for the next few years, I began wondering how I would fare with these place names. Even the airport ‘Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport’ reminded me of a mouth muddling Welsh Gaelic roadsign and when I first mentioned I was taking the job, one of the first posts I received on Facebook was from a good friend of mine, Mac, who is currently living in Buenos Aires. The post simply read: “Mauritius!! (Main Airport, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport J tee hee)!! Congrats Damo, best of luck!” I was glad I wasn't the only childish 30 year old to take amusement from that!

I have already seen pictures of the broad avenue from Place Sookdeo Bissoondoyal, flanked by elegant palm trees which seem to mirror the columns of the adjacent colonial buildings, leading to the docks and to the statue of Mahe de Labourdonnais, the former French governor who did much for the city in its early days.

 

Chinatown - Mauritius



To the north lies Mauritius' own China Town, a busy thoroughfare of small shops and family traders, where Indian curry houses give way to Chinese sweet and sour. Garish plastic and chrome ornaments gleam from shop windows while along Royal Street stands the extraordinarily ornate Jummah Mosque, with its priceless teak doors and decorative towers, built for Muslim merchants in the mid-19th century. China Town bustles with traders and traffic where I’m told not to be distracted by the nearby mosque's marble finishes, in the watch-your-wallet street. I’ve also been given a heads-up’ to avoid the temptations of the Chinese casino. Payday and blackjack are a dangerous combination!



Jummah Mosque

  

Jummah Mosque Street leads up to a climb to Fort Adelaide, Port Louis' citadel, which was built by the British in 1835 and to the south rises Port Louis' volcanic backdrop, with the peaks of Pieter Both and the appropriately named La Pouce ("the thumb"). Below, to the north, lies the city skyline, the docks and the vastness of the Indian Ocean beyond.

    

Pamplemousse Tropical



Outside Port Louis, the tourism advertising people have summed up Mauritius as sun, sea and sand, which I gather, is partly what it's about, but I’m told it’s a must to see the extraordinary Pamplemousse Gardens (which is apparently one of the best kept tropical gardens to be found anywhere). From there I’ve read that the rugged south coast offers a strange sense of disjointed familiarity that can regularly be experienced in foreign climes - shopping streets in Rose Hill and Quatre Bornes apparently have a touch of multi-ethnic London, with branches of Barclays and advertisements for desk diaries "newly arrived from England".



The Westernised Quatre Bornes



On the northern tip, Creole fishermen graft away at Cap Malheureux where I’m told it’s not strange to hear the sound of an ice cream van playing "Jingle bells" and "I come from Alabama with a Banjo on my Knee" and serving 99’s to Chinese schoolgirls.

Creole Fishermen at Cap Malheureux

I’m also told how I will notice the rhythm changing in the evenings and that dependant on where I am living it’ll be quite normal to be kept awake by the high-pitched sounds of Hindi Music and Indian parties. In Grand Baie, it is apparently not uncommon for tourists to be welcomed in to locals’ wedding parties, after being drawn in by garlands strung across the street, and tables laid out with samosas, onion bhajis, chapattis and rich Indian sweets sprinkled with coconut and dripping with honey.

Grand Baie Beach

Grand Baie is Mauritius' answer to St. Tropez, fashionable and bustling in season, with some of the island's leading hotels. The Royal Palm, offers master suites from around £2,000 a night, a long way out of my price range but maybe I’ll pay the Royal Palm a visit when I become a rich and famous rock star J. Grand Baie is also the main centre for sailing and diving which I intend to do a lot of. Hopefully I’ll be able to complete my PADI ‘Divemaster’ qualification while I’m there. Who knows, in ten years I might have escaped the office and own a dive shop and be living the island lifestyle! A pleasant thought I must say!

 

Anyhoo... Till my next scrawlings.

Do chara, do mhac, do dheartháir,
Damien