Reservations

Luxury Travel

Reservations

Luxury Travel

Get to know Mauritius

Get to know Mauritius

What's it all about?

The American author Mark Twain wrote that Mauritius was made first and then heaven was copied after. This Indian Ocean isle has floating green peaks, sapphire seas and powdery beaches. Along with luxury resorts is a rugged interior, where tortoises amble, and underwater gardens of dazzling coral.

This is a feature from Issue 12 of Charitable Traveller. Click to read more from this issue.

Spicy Culture

Port Louis is the capital of Mauritius and a bustling town mixing modern and colonial. You can see the influence of India and China but in the city’s central market you get an insight into the days of British rule in the Victorian era. Discover exotic local produce, from fruit and vegetables to traditional medicinal herbs, along with local handicrafts. Go to the food court to sample the local cuisine, a beguiling and spicy mix of Indian, Creole and Chinese, including dim-sum and rotis. The architecture along the city’s cobbled streets is diverse too, from the majestic Jummah Mosque to a
Chinese Pagoda.

Beach Beauties

From the lively local culture of its west coast beaches to the luxury resorts and lagoons of the east coast, Mauritius has a beach for everyone. Contenders for the most beautiful include the six-mile talcum powder-soft Belle Mare Plage, or the wilder green-backed Gris Gris, with its dramatic cliffs.

Flora and fauna

Visit the Mauritius National Botanical Garden, once the private garden of the French governor, to appreciate the island’s bountiful nature. It holds 650 varieties of plants including giant water lilies and fragrant spices. Island wildlife includes giant tortoises, the lime green Mauritius echo parakeet, pink pigeons and vivid geckos.

Natural wonders

Mauritius is guarded by the monolithic Le Morne Brabant, a rugged hulk of a mountain enveloped in lush vegetation. Its name translates as ‘bleak’ but that’s because of the sad story of escaped slaves that tried to live on the mountain, but threw themselves off it when they
saw French soldiers coming. Mauritius has many impressive natural wonders but none as strange as the Seven Coloured Earths, an area of sand dunes in peculiar rainbow colours, surrounded by forest. Grand Bassin, or Ganga Talao, is a picturesque crater lake in the mountains which is sacred to Hindu Mauritians – they believe it’s linked with the holy waters of the River Ganges in India. The island
is also home to numerous breathtaking waterfalls – like Alexandra Falls, which gushes out of the lush jungle of the Black River Gorges National Park. La Vallee des Couleurs Nature Park is a great place to see the island’s lush interior – by zip line if you want.

The famously extinct dodo bird was native to Mauritius - deep alarge flightless bird related to the pigeon.

Underwater world

Mauritius is virtually surrounded by coral so divers and snorkellers will be in heaven. The Blue Bay Marine Park is home to beautiful staghorn and cabbage corals and a kaleidoscopic array of fish including damsel, butterfly and angelfish. Serious divers can head to Pass St. Jacques, where they can drift along with bull sharks, barracuda and grey and whitetip reef sharks – if they dare.

Try these fun activities in Mauritius...

SWIM WITH DOLPHINS 
Spinner and bottlenose dolphins live in the waters around Mauritius and various boat charters will take you out to see them and maybe swim with them. 

EXPLORE BY QUAD BIKE
Heritage Nature Reserve, run by Heritage Hotels, can be explored by quad bike for a fun day out. You can trundle through fields of sugar cane and marvel at waterfalls and birdlife.

GO RIVER TREKKING
Explore the beautiful Galets River by walking, climbing, scrambling, sliding, and swimming through its rocky canyons, pools, and fools.

This is a feature from Issue 12 of Charitable Traveller.