Ask most of the people around you: “where is
Mauritius?” and they probably could not tell you. And
yet the famous writer Mark Twain said: God created Paradise,
and copied Mauritius. I am a Moroccan citizen lady, and by
recent marriage to a Mauritian citizen, and I am now in
Mauritius.
MY WAY is a famous song.
MY WAY OF SEEING MAURITIUS, is another story.
Mauritius is really indeed a beautiful island in the Indian
ocean, near the east coast of Madagascar and South Africa.
The main industry of the country is tourism, and tourists
come from everywhere in the world, and all throughout the
year, as there is really no winter here, and the weather is
always temperate.
The tourism sector is well boosted and organized, and
whatever type of tourist you are, you always have what you
want in terms of accommodation and rates. It is very easy to
get a good accommodation at even 4 Euros per day per person,
in an apartment, studio, bungalow and you can also be
accommodated in 5 stars hotels and suites.
If you browse any search engine over the internet and put
“Mauritius” in your search box, you will be
surprised to the number of information available and to see
the number of companies, selling and servicing the Mauritius
tourist business.
Unlike other places, Mauritius has lots of activities and
places to interest tourists, for example, you get the best of
many lovely beaches, interesting sightseeing tours that will
lead you for example to the unique spot of 7 coloured earth
in the world, situated at Chamarel, beautiful nature forests
and waterfalls.
Mauritius is a cosmopolitan island where there is harmony of
race. On the island, white people, Creole, Hindus, Muslims
and Chinese live peacefully. Each race has its own culture,
and it is very visible while going from one place to another,
seeing the temples, churches, mosques. People in Mauritius
attach great importance to religion.
For the short time that I have been on this island, I have
seen the following:
You should always bargain and never accept the first price
that is quoted to you. Whether it is for the airport taxi, or
whatever goods you purchase, and you will see after the
transaction that it was really worth bargaining.
Lots of native people are attracted to tourists and never
miss an opportunity to make friends with you. It depends of
what you want, but they already know what they want from you!
Many Mauritians are proud to be in the company of blondes!
(Beetle watch out!) Mauritians are very helpful – ask
anything and they will try and help you.
There is also another side of Mauritius, which most of the
tourists do not see: there is another way of seeing
Mauritius, to live as a Mauritian with a Mauritian. You will
see his difficulty for struggling to get his living. The
salaries are low and prices have gone up. The gap between the
rich and the poor has never been as wide as it is now.
Anyway, I am in Mauritius now, and one thing I want to
recommend to you, is that you must not forget to do is to
taste the dhull purri and farata, which is in a sense the
national food, served on the street as a kind of fast food.
Yours from Mauritius
Fatiha Mray.
If you would like to contact Fatiha for information on
Mauritius, please e-mail her on: cbspride@intnet.mu
