Tap into this post to read about some of our sightseeing, fun facts, travel tips and many pictures of our time in Mauritius. We encourage you to get out and see the world if you are able, and if not, we will bring it to you through our posts. We hope you enjoy!
The beautiful multi-coloured national flag of Mauritius has deep meaning. The red stripe stands for the island nation’s struggle for freedom, the blue stripe is for the Indian Ocean in which Mauritius lies, the yellow stripe for the new light of independence, and the green stripe is for its agriculture and rich flora colour.
A Relaxing Week in Mauritius
Located some 6 hours by plane nearly due south of Dubai in the southern hemisphere, lies Mauritius, a beautiful island nation of Africa. Mauritius has lush green flora throughout the island thanks to its rich volcanic soil, in which sugar cane is grown as their top agricultural product. It has beautiful beaches and rugged mountains with a diverse culture of people. We were very pleased with our time in Mauritius, enough to rate it slightly higher than Seychelles, Bali, and the Maldives in terms of things to do and accessibility. We stayed at the Riu La Morne resort located at the south-westernmost part of the island where the beaches are beautiful and quiet, near the iconic La Morne basaltic outcrop.
Seven Coloured Earth
We hired a private day trip tour of the island with Mauritours. Our driver/guide was very friendly and knowledgeable of the island and its history. For more information about Mauritours, see our ‘Travel Tips’ section below.
Along the way we visited the very unique and beautiful Seven Coloured Earth geological phenomenon in Chamarel. This rare compilation of multi-coloured sand dunes was created by decomposition of volcanic rock (basalt) into clay gullies further transformed by hydrolysis into ferrous soil resulting in dunes of sand with distinct red, brown, violet, yellow, green, blue, and purple hues. The colours are a result of the aluminum and iron in the soil created by the hydrolysis process.
Ganga Talao (Grand Bassin)
During our day excursion we also visited the Ganga Talao religious Hindu site located on the Grand Bassin, which is the crater lake (caldera) of an extinct volcano in the interior of Mauritius. Ganga Talao is a large complex featuring is giant statue of the Hindu god Shiva standing 33 meters (108 feet) tall. Along the lake are other Hindu statuettes of various Hindu gods. The site hosts an annual religious pilgrimage called Maha Shivaratri where thousands of Hindu worshippers walk long distances to the Grand Bassin complex.
More from Around the Island
La Morne; you can barely see the hang gliders in the middle center of the picture (white specs)
Facts & Figures
— Mauritius is the only African nation where Hinduism is the main religion
— Port Louis is the capital and largest city of Mauritius
— Mauritius is the wealthiest nation of Africa based on wealth per capita
— Mauritius was a British Commonwealth possession until it gained independence as a sovereign nation in 1968
— English is the official government language of Mauritius, however French is widely spoken and seemingly preferred
— La Morne is the prominent basaltic outcrop at the south-westernmost part of the island where the beaches are beautiful and quiet; this is where our resort was located
Travel Tips
— We found flying into and out of Mauritius airport very straightforward, unlike the mass disorganization encountered in Bali
— We hired a car and driver for the day for a very reasonably priced sightseeing tour of the island through ‘Mauritours’; we would highly recommend them as they took us wherever we wanted to go and our Mauritian driver/guide (Daniel) was very knowledgeable and friendly… www.mauritours.net/eng_destination_maurice.htm
— The unit of currency for Mauritius is the rupee (MUR)
Romans 8:31 – New Living Translation (NLT)
31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
If you are a world trekker like us and want to become more ‘worldly’, then you will want to try our books below. Thanks to the former British Empire and current Commonwealth, the English language is widely spoken across the world, however it is spoken quite differently depending on where you are traveling. We believe the books below are essential to worldly trekkers and think you will find them both fun and informative. The books include a dictionary of everyday words and phrases, traditional cuisine, some history and culture, and other handy information.
Simply click on the book covers below to find out more:
