April / May 2022
From Thailand I traveled on to Mauritius, where I discovered the island with a rental car for 2 ½ weeks.
Mauritius is a state on an island about 60 km long and 40 km wide in the Indian Ocean. After its discovery by the Portuguese at the beginning of the 16th century, the island was in Dutch possession between 1598 and 1710. The name Mauritius also goes back to this time. Mauritius is the Latin name of Moritz, as the island was named after Prince Moritz of Orange. In 1715 the French conquered the island and named it ‘Île de France’. In 1810 the British occupied the island and granted Mauritius independence in 1968.
Table of Contents
Mahebourg
The airport is only a few kilometers from Mahebourg, so I spent the first few days there. It is a small town on the northeast coast of the island with about 15,000 inhabitants.
Manioc Biscuit factory H. Rault Co Ltd
Especially worth seeing was the biscuit factory, where biscuits are produced according to the same traditional method as when the factory was founded 140 years ago. One felt taken back in time.
The fire in the oven heats the metal plates mounted on top, which transfer the heat to the biscuits.
Packing into the boxes is also done by hand.
Ferney Valley (La Vallée de Ferney)
The Ferney Valley Nature Reserve is located 6 km from Mahebourg. The reserve was established in 2006 in response to a highway project through the valley by the then government to protect the valley’s biodiversity. After the government was voted out of office, the road project was not pursued any more.
A few old turtles also live in the valley.
Dense forest
This tree has already been marked to be cut down for the road project. Now that the previous government has been re-elected, the rangers fear that the road will be built after all, destroying the reserve. Then they would also lose their jobs.
A waterfall in the reserve
Blue Bay
My first stop on the Mauritius round trip by rental car was Blue Bay, which rightly bears its name.
Domaine de Saint Aubin
The colonial house of the estate from 1816 is now a quite good restaurant. In addition, the garden, where among others vanilla is cultivated, can be visited. On the estate, the vanilla pods and rum from the in-house distillery are sold. In general, however, the rum from Mauritius cannot keep up with its Caribbean competitors.
Rochester Falls
Rochester Falls was a 15-minute walk from my Airbnb cottage. In the early morning, the light was especially magical.
Bois Chéri Tea Plantation
Dating back to 1892, this tea plantation is the oldest on the island. It is located in the higher interior with a cooler climate that the tea plants love. Today, about a dozen varieties of tea, some of them excellent, are produced from the hand-picked leaves.
The delivery of the tea leaves
Here the leaves are spread out for fermentation.
In the back of the plantation there is a modern restaurant (on the left in the photo) overlooking a lake.
I was given all the teas to taste and could drink as much tea as I wanted.
Black River Gorges National Park
I took a hike in the largest national park of Mauritius, which also contains the highest mountain of the island, the 828 meter high ‘Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire’.
The south of the island is less developed. Therefore, it was difficult to find a good restaurant in the area. The restaurant in the Domaine de Saint Aubin described above closed at 5 pm. On the first evening, I found only snack bars offering fast food. Looking at the digital map, I drove on and on in search of a suitable restaurant until I finally came to the 5-star resort ‘So Sofitel Mauritius’ in Bel-Ombre, 20 km away. It was dark night and I was hungry. I was all the more relieved that the security desk let me into the resort grounds after consulting with the restaurant and I was immediately picked up in an electric car. We drove for several minutes through the large grounds past the many villas until we arrived at the restaurant.
The dinner was so good that I came back for breakfast the next morning .
‘So Sofitel Mauritius’ in Bel-Ombre
The beach of the resort
Le Morne Brabant
15 km further west I came to one of the most famous landmarks of Mauritius, the 556 meter high Le Morne Brabant rock. The picture shows the monument of the slaves who jumped to death in 1835. Many runaway slaves hid on the Le Morne rock. When slavery was abolished on February 1, 1835, British soldiers wanted to tell the escaped slaves the good news. The latter believed that they would be captured, tortured and killed, so many preferred to throw themselves to deaths from the rock rather than be captured by the British.
Sunset at Le Morne Brabant
The trail to the top of the rock was open from 7am. I started at this time to escape the heat and the people. When I arrived at the top, there were already three other people on the summit, all Swiss of course! They told me that 500 meters west of the official entrance there is an unofficial path that is not closed overnight.
A breathtaking view, here towards the south
and towards the north
The summit cross
Rum distillery of Chamarel (Rhumerie de Chamarel)
The distillery is located in the middle of sugar cane fields. After the entrance there is a tropical beautifully maintained garden.
The chimney
and the distillation pot
I tried the 10-year anniversary rum, which is not for sale, for quite a lot of money. It was a very good rum, but the distillates from the Caribbean have a more intense and balanced flavor.
I bought this rum with added natural vanilla flavoring.
Chamarel Seven Colored Earth Geopark
The Seven Colored Earth Park is located near the distillery.
In the same park is the Charamel Waterfall, which is the highest waterfall in Mauritius with a drop of 100 meters.
The grounds of my apartment in Flic en Flac, a tourist town on the west coast. I paid here only € 45 per night.
Tamarin Waterfalls
The Tamarin River flows over seven waterfalls towards the sea. Various websites warned that the trail is partly difficult to walk and to find and that it is better to book a tour. So I booked a rather expensive tour and soon regretted it. I was the only one who showed up on time at the meeting point. Even the tour guide was late. The last participants appeared 45 minutes after the agreed time. Soon it turned out that the way was very easy to find with the map on the cell phone. Moreover, I could not stay with the falls as long as I wanted. I realized that the websites have an interest in the tour bookings because of the commissions they earn when a booking is made. Next time, I’ll pass on a tour.
At one waterfall, the path passed behind the waterfall.
Domaine des Aubineaux
This colonial estate built in 1872 now houses a restaurant and a museum with furniture from the period. It was the first house with electricity in Mauritius.
Caudan waterfront in Port Louis
The noisy capital of Mauritius was a contrast to the tranquil rural areas visited earlier. However, the Caudan waterfront with its cafes, tourist-oriented stores and the Blue Penny Museum was worth seeing. In addition to coins and other historical items, the Blue Penny Museum displays two very rare stamps: a postmarked orange-red one-penny stamp and a postmarked blue two-penny stamp from 1847. The ‘Post Office’ series of the two stamps was printed only 500 times each. Meanwhile, only 27 of them remain. Today they are among the most expensive stamps worldwide and each is worth a double-digit million US-Dollar amount.
Since Mauritius also has an Indian-origin population, I found the beloved Indian sweets here.
Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden
The botanical garden was established by the French in 1770. At that time Mauritius was called ‘Ile de France’. In 1988 the botanical garden was named after the politician Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, who led Mauritius to independence.
The park is large and includes several ponds. 85 palm species from Central America, Asia and Africa can be found in the garden.
The pond with the white lotus plants, here without flowers
Huge seeds hang on this tree.
The garden is especially famous for its large population of water lilies Victoria amazonica from the Amazon.
Trou-aux-Biches
Another area with beautiful beaches
Restaurant Le Pescatore directly on the sea
Mont Choisy Beach
One of the most beautiful beaches in Mauritius
The Coral Azur Beach Resort
Walk from Pereybere Beach to Bain Boeuf Beach
I traveled further north. The 2 km walk along the sea from Pereybere beach to Bain Boeuf beach leads past impressive houses and resorts.
Cap Malheureux
The northernmost point of Mauritius is called Cap Malheureux (Cape of Misfortune), because many ships sank in the shallows of the cape and the French were defeated here by the British in 1810. Therefore, unlike the neighboring island of La Reunion, Mauritius is not French today.
The picturesque cemetery with sea view
The Church of Notre-Dame Auxiliatrice
It was built in memory of the many wrecks off the coast and is dedicated to Virgin Mary.
Birds at the Cape
Sri Draubadi Nurse Temple
This colorful Tamil temple is dedicated to the Hindu god Draupadi.
Domaine de Labourdonnais
The estate of Labourdonnais was built in 1856 and has been owned by the same family since then.
The estate also has a distillery. I tasted the rum, but was disappointed.
Grand Gaube Beach
Further east of Cap Malheureux, the traveler reaches Grand Gaube beach, which also offers beautiful views.
Bras D’Eau National Park
Further south on the east coast, the second national park in Mauritius protects an area of native forest that has been cleared elsewhere over time to make way for plantations. The picture shows a pond in the middle of the forest.
Ile aux cerfes (Island of the deer)
This island can be visited from Trou d’Eau Douce by organized day trips. The island, 1 km long and 500 meters wide, is famous for its powdery beaches and for its golf course. The Dutch brought deer to the island for hunting in the past. Today there are no more deer.
View from the island to the mainland of Mauritius.
Flacq market
My journey was slowly coming to an end. Therefore, another PCR test was due for the onward journey to La Reunion. In the small town of Flacq, I was able to complete this test at the Aegle Clinic. Like the many previous PCR tests, this one was also negative.
While waiting for the result, I visited the big market in Flacq.
Ferney Falaise Rouge Restaurant
Located off the road by the sea, this excellent restaurant was on the way back to Mahebourg.
Lion Mountain
In the afternoon I wanted to climb the 490 meter high Lion Mountain, which is supposed to offer great views from the summit. Unfortunately, despite descriptions on websites and my map on the mobile phone, I could not find the trail. After only 10 minutes of walking, I found only dense bushes, through which there was no passage. I searched the area intensively for the path, but unfortunately without success.
A sugar cane field at the foot of Lion Mountain
On the way back to the car, I passed this mobile butcher shop.
Pont Natural
I therefore had time to visit the wild coast south of the airport before returning to Mahebourg.
Here is the famous natural stone bridge, which gave the name to the place.
This was the end of my 18-day trip around Mauritius. A 45-minute flight took me to the neighboring island of La Reunion.