Lying in a hammock, you listen to leaves move in the tree above you, as you thank for a cocktail that’s brought by an obliging waiter. The resort is everything you dreamed of and paid for; pristine and untouched…yet what of life beyond the boundaries of your quiet haven?
You’ve got five days on the Island, one of which you decide should essentially be dedicated to exploration and the discovery of local (Creole and other) culture. Who are the people, what do they believe, eat and think? Questions start bouncing, and they won’t disappear until you book a taxi ride to the capital or closest town, and start smelling the pavement delicacies and incense from brazen Hindu temples (screaming almost every colour know to the religion).
As you drive some dirt, partly tarred road, shy children look back at your Canon 5D. All the way to the capital of Port Louis, palm trees grow adjacent to half-painted abodes, centralised in a third-world looking garden. Alleyways promise adventure if explored and locals lug buckets of water (drawn from a single tap). Devout Hindus sell fire-crackers for celebrations of Dewali and as the journey roles, so does your insatiable appetite for more…sites, sounds, people.
Port-Louis: a bustling capital, where mosques cry out five times a day and local shop-keepers sell threaded looking shirts. So where shopping is concerned, save that for later in the afternoon. For now, begin rather at the Royal Botanical Gardens.
Situated in the village vicinity of Pamplemousses (approximately seven miles from the capital) it’s best to organise a guide, a Creole descendent familiar with evergreens and spice-plants.
In the garden, crush leaves between your fingers and smell. Cinnamon and then pepper! Another major attraction, evident in almost all the photos taken of the garden; are the water lilies. Massive in dimension, it’s difficult to resist taking all of a two-hundred photos.
Although not a great promoter of museums, credit and recognition should definitely be given to the L’Aventure du Sucre (Mauritius Sugar Museum) situated 300m away from the Royal Gardens. Here you learn not only of the plantations, but so too of the labourers forced to bear the brunt of the work demanded of them in slave conditions. On the ‘things to do’ list in Mauritius, it’s rated in the top ten.
Post-museum experience; take a turn about the adjacent gardens, afterwards dining Mauritian style at the restaurant ‘Le Fangourin’. A quick note on Mauritian cuisine: it’s a hybrid of Indian, European and Chinese dishes, essentially a combination of those who conquered the land. Tasty and beefy, it’s preferable that for the duration of your stay you abandon your vegetarian ways. And had you visited the island a few centuries earlier, Dodo might have been delicacy of the day. Unfortunately for this indigenous bird though, the Dutch are said to have eaten the last remaining one. Apparently, it would have tasted like chicken.
So if you happen to be frequenting the Port Louis region (which for arguments sake you are) head to the Grand Baia market. Colourful and creative, you can haggle over fresh-water pearls, or purchase the most exotic looking table cloth (for mom).
If you’re still a few presents short however, try Le Caudan Waterfront in Port Louis. Unique to any mall, you can purchase sugar-cane juice from a vendor just outside the entrance of the centre. Note that the taste remains an acquired one. If at Le Caudan on any given Friday, frequent a pub in the vicinity, as most will throw ‘Happy Hour/s’ from 6.00pm through to 9.00pm. Live entertainment will tune you in, as well as a possible Sega dance performance. Sega: dance of the slave and exile. To experience this dance in a recreated environment and ambiance of the old sugar-way of life, visit Domaines Les Pailles, a drive just outside of the capital.
If Saturday is your day of exploration, maybe cancel one or two activities in favour of visiting the Champs de Mars in Port Louis, renowned as the oldest track in the Southern Hemisphere. It might be a pricey event, but it has been highly praised by those gone before. With eight races to bet on, dress accordingly in a black tie or if lady: sparkling dress and a pink parasol. The first race begins at 12.45pm, with the last run at 5pm.
Finally: a note on the general atmosphere of sweet Mauritius. In truth, atmosphere is only created by those who live there. Gentle, unassuming and humble people, local Mauritians are both delightful and humorous. Their most outstanding characteristic however is their determination to exist as a united people. More than once you will hear the comment: ’we are all different, but we respect and accept one-another’. More than lip-service uttering an imposed wish decreed by the government, you sense the ‘genuineness’ and pride felt not necessarily in their nation, (proudly Mauritian) but in their people. A horrendous background in slavery: yet an inbred humanity that could have only been born out of and bred in pain.