This trip to Mauritius - a tiny island in the Indian Ocean off Madagascar-ish - is brought to you courtesy of amazing deals on Air Asia booked way back in September! And because this was essentially the travel-equivalent of an impulse-buy at the gas-station checkout, here are some fun things I learned about Mautitius once there:
- There are no native Mauritians. The island was originally uninhabited, then the French came, then they brought slaves from Africa, then they didn't want/need it anymore and gave it to England, who couldn't use the French-speaking Africans so shipped in indentured workers (still slaves, basically) from India because it was an English-speaking colony. Modern Mauritians are an ethnic mix of African, Indian, and European who speak a Creole French at home and English in business and educational settings.
- The dodo went extinct here. Basically, this is the scene of the crime.
- Mauritian rum is a thing and it's very good. Along with sugar cane, it is a major export for the tiny country.
- Mauritius is technically part of Africa. (So, after my day trip to Morocco while visiting Spain, this is my second African country!)
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| We get it; you're a beautiful tropical island! |
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| Biking through sugar cane fields to visit the L'Aventure du Sucre Museum, a former processing factory for sugar cane and rum...with a tasting room at the end. |
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| Never forget. Is it just me, or is it weird that the place where the dodo was infamously killed off still uses it was a sort of unofficial national symbol? |
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| The Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden (SSRBG) in the town of Pamplemousse. |
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| Not sure if tortoises are native to Mauritius or not, but there were some wandering around the SSR Botanical Garden grounds. |
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| Grand Baie to Gabriel Island: A day on a yacht to with friends on a tropical island a good day. Not getting sunburned is even better! |
