Mauritius Nov 22 – 26 2021
Flight to Mauritius. There are virtually no direct flights (Air Seychelles has one about every 10 days for 330E. There wasn’t one till the 24th. Most other flights were via Africa and over CAD$1350. I ended up booking a flight on Condor Airlines via Frankfurt, Germany. This converted a 3+-hour direct flight into a 10’ 20” flight to Frankfurt, a 9’ 20” layover (need a PCR to land in Germany), and a 11’ 30” return flight to St Louis, Mauritius – over 30 hours. Other options via Africa were all over 20 hours with much less pleasant airports to layover. Oh well.
Money: 1 Euro = 48.47 Mauritian Rupees (MUR), 1 US$ = 42.97 MUR, 1 CAD$ = 33.98 MUR
Mauritius is a small, multi-cultural island in the Indian Ocean and includes Rodrigues Island and the remote, sparsely populated Agalega and Cargados Garayos (Saint Brandon) islands.
Climate. Tropical, modified by southeast trade winds; warm, dry winter (May to November); hot, wet, humid summer (November to May). Tropical cyclones (November to April
I arrived at 7 am after a long flight where I was able to sleep quite a bit.
Get in
Visa on Arrival
Require a Covid PCR within 72 hours and a confirmed booked accommodation for one night (I didn’t know this and did it in the airport which took a long time). Then go to the health check, show your PCR and vaccination card and get a free PCR. The accommodation is a requirement in order to track you.
I then withdrew money, got a SIM card (7 days for 275 MR), and met my rental car company (4 days – 6600 including no excess and delivery to the airport from Port Louis). The rental company was very efficient.
I then started my usual drive following Nomad Mania waypoints. The airport is on the west coast on the opposite side of Port Louis. I started up the middle on my way to my accommodation in Flic en Flac.
Tookray Temple, Britannia: A traditional Hindu temple with a 10-tiered temple covered with mullicoloured gods. Inside is another explosion of colour: multicoloured beams, ceiling rosettes, capitals on columns, paintings on walls. Then incense, throwing flowers on the gods, Offerings of fruit, chanting, and candles. Outside are statues of bulls, lions, gods, and a lingam all in many small temples. Locals wave incense sticks and throw flowers at the gods. Free
Bois Cheri Tea Factory. The factory was closed because of Covid but one could visit the museum which gives an excellent history of tea and the manufacturing process of black and green teas. Then drive up to the restaurant at the end of a lake sitting on a hill for the tea tasting. There are 9 boxes of different tea bags, sugar, milk and you can try as many as you like. Dump unfinished tea into a central pot. All very civilized. 275 MR
Ganga Talao Temple, Savanne. The Shiv Mandir is located on the bank of the lake and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. There are temples dedicated to other Gods including Lord Hanuman, Goddess Ganga, and Lord Ganesh along the Grand Bassin.
Another typical Hindu temple
Ganga Talao (Grand Bassin) is a crater lake situated in a secluded mountain area in the district of Savanne, deep in the heart of Mauritius. It is about 550 m (1,800 ft) above sea level. The first group of pilgrims who went to Ganga Talao were from the village of Triolet and it was led by Pandit Giri Gossayne from Terre Rouge in 1898. It is considered the most sacred Hindu place in Mauritius.
During Shivaratri, many pilgrims in Mauritius walk bare feet from their homes to the lake.
In 1866, when Pandi Sanjibonlal came back to Mauritius after his first indentured contract was over, he came as a merchant via Reunion Island and brought with him the souvenir of Grand Bassin and cloth from India to be sold to the resident labourers. With the money gained, he bought the mansion of Mr. Langlois at Triolet and materialised his dream of making Grand Bassin a pilgrimage place. The Hindus believe firmly that they should, as often as possible, visit and take a bath in the Ganga to celebrate the main festival of Shiva.
During his stay as an indentured labourer he had spotted the divine appeal of Grand Bassin. He converted the existing building into a temple. He went to India and brought back a huge Shivalingam, along with other deities, and had them consecrated in the sanctorum. The only temple in Mauritius where Bhairo Baba (a deity in the form of a dog) is consecrated inside a temple along with Shiva parivar.
In 1897, a priest saw in a dream the water of the lake of Grand Bassin springing from the ‘Jahnvi’, thus forming part of Ganga. The news of the dream spread rapidly and created quite a stir in the Hindu community. In 1998 it was declared a “sacred lake”. In 1972, some holy water from the Ganges River was mixed establishing a symbolic link with the sacred Indian River and the lake was renamed Ganga Talao.
Also 33 m (108 ft) tall, the statues of Durga Pooja and Navaratri are celebrated very grandly with many Hindu Mauritians assembling near the statue for the grand celebrations.
Mangal Mahadev, Ganga Talao Lake. This lake is the most sacred lake in Mauritius. The statue is a 33 m (108 ft) tall sculpture of the Hindu god Shiva standing with his Trishula (trident) at the entrance of Ganga Talao. It is a replica of the Shiva statue in Sursagar lake in Vadodara, Gujarat in India, and is the tallest statue in Mauritius. It was built in 2007. During Shivaratri, many pilgrims in Mauritius walk bare feet from their homes to the lake and pray at the feet of the sculpture.
There are temples dedicated to other Gods including Durga, Hanuman, Lakshmi and Ganesh around the Shiva Temple and Mangal Mahadev statue on the banks of the Grand Bassin.
Mare aux Vacoas. Constructed in 1885, it is the largest reservoir in Mauritius and provides water to the upper Plaines Wilhems and to Moka. Parts have large berms supporting it. A white concrete/blue fence surrounds much of it near the road.
Tamarind Falls. Southwest Interior with a string of 7 waterfalls surrounded by green mountains. Guided trips are available. I was offered to see one waterfall for 1,000 MR, but hikes are also possible to 5 of the seven waterfalls. The upper and 5th falls are long drops into pools. I only saw them from two viewpoints and did not do the hike.
Henrietta Ramar Kovil, Camp Mapou. A multicoloured Hindu temple has a small tower. Unfortunately, it was closed and could only be seen from the outside. 50 meters away down the street is a slightly more interesting Shiva Gavria Mandu Temple with at least 30 black/white striped linga and small towers on the facade.
PLAINES WILHEMS URBAN DISTRICT (Beau Bassin/Curepipe/Quatre Bornes/Vacoas)
CUREPIPE
Sainte Therese Church. Made of dark grey stone, this 3-nave church has an interesting wood arch ceiling and roof. The Way of the Cross – large painted bas reliefs – are very nice as are the narrow stained glass windows.
Curepipe Botanic Gardens. With mostly large trees from all over (including the “bleeding” tree with red sap) and a nice lily pond, good tours are offered.
Curepipe Market building. In the NM Bizzarium series, it is elliptical with several multi-coloured geometric structures rising like “ship’s smokestacks” coming out of the roof. Built in 1917, the old market was destroyed in 1975 by Cyclone Gervaise and replaced by the elliptical style building of today, which unfortunately isn’t much-acclaimed compared to the previous one.
Millennium Monument. A large square black stone tower, it’s a location near nothing public and design seem to have been poorly planned. The bottom has a compass rose tiled floor. Curiously there are 5 large monolithic stones surrounding it. The large parking lot seems a waste as I doubt anyone much visits it.
QUATRE BORNES:
Sri Siva Subramanya Temple, La Laura-Malenga. Only of yellow stone, this is quite unlike most Hindu temples. It is dedicated to the same god as the Indian temple in Tirupati, the most visited temple in the world. I talked to the pink-robed priest for some time, getting the full run-down on some of the 22 million Hindu gods.
MCB St-Jean Bank Building, In the NM Architectural Delights, this spectacular building is oval – 8 stories above a lobby and supported by four large pillars.
Founded in 1838, the Mauritius Commercial Bank is the oldest bank in Mauritius and the Indian Ocean region. 
Bagatelle Mall of Mauritius. Moka. With most of the usual stores, it is round surrounding an open-air food court (no Indian food but 3 pizza places).
Eureka Mansion. Built in 1830, it was occupied from 1856-1955 by the same family as part of a sugar cane plantation. There are 14 rooms with the upstairs a large dormitory for the original family’s 16 children. The furniture is not so interesting. There are several photos of Port Louis from the early 1900s. A large veranda encircles the house. The original kitchen still serves meals. The garden is simply lawn with a view down to the creek. A trail leads to a waterfall. 300 MR
Pointe aux Caves (Albion) Lighthouse. Built in 1910, this 33m-tall lighthouse sits on the west coast. The gate was locked but opened by the lighthouse keeper and unusually, I was allowed to climb to the top – 80 steps then a steep metal ladder. The coast is mostly low and rocky but a small cliff just north of the LH had two small arches.
Flic en Flac Beach. A fishing village with a very long white sandy beach stretching down the west coast to Tamarin. Scuba Diving is a major attraction.
I stayed in Flic en Flac. I needed booked accommodation for my visa, hadn’t done it and hurriedly did in front of the immigration wickets. This was the cheapest. It was a plain room in a house with a shared bathroom, kitchen, and lounge. I talked all evening with a woman from England who had stayed here for a week.
Day 2
Le Morne Cultural Landscape. World Heritage Site. A rugged mountain that juts into the Indian Ocean in the southwest of Mauritius was used as a shelter by runaway slaves, maroons, through the 18th and early years of the 19th centuries. Protected by the mountain’s isolated, wooded, and almost inaccessible cliffs, the escaped slaves formed small settlements in the caves and on the summit of Le Morne. The oral traditions associated with the maroons have made Le Morne a symbol of the slaves’ fight for freedom, their suffering, and their sacrifice, all of which have relevance to the countries from which the slaves came – the African mainland, Madagascar, India, and South-east Asia. Indeed, Mauritius, an important stopover in the eastern slave trade, also came to be known as the “Maroon republic” because of the large number of escaped slaves who lived on Le Morne Mountain.
Le Morne Cultural Landscape is an exceptional testimony to maroonage or resistance to slavery with the mountain being used as a fortress to shelter escaped slaves. Le Morne represents maroonage and its impact, which existed in many places around the world, but which was demonstrated so effectively on Le Morne mountain. It is a symbol of slaves’ fight for freedom, their suffering, and their sacrifice, all of which have relevance beyond its geographical location, and represented by the Creole people of Mauritius and their shared memories and oral traditions.
There are two places to visit: The Slave Route Monument has several rock “sculptures” done by artists from around the world – localities where slaves were captured and shipped to Mauritius and then onward.
Drive past several resorts with large walls and then a narrow dirt road to the main area of the cultural landscape on the south side of La Morne Brabant Mountain. A trail climbs 3.5 km through the V-shaped gap in the cliffs to reach the plateau on top (3 hours return). There is nothing left (ie no caves) to see on the mountain, but there are several viewpoints and a cross. Just above the trail head is the reconstructed village of Trou Chanelle with 7 grass huts containing exhibits of the slaves lives. It was inhabited by the slaves after the abolition of slavery in 1834. It was destroyed by two cyclones in 1945 and 1966 when it was finally abandoned.
CHAMAREL
Curious Corner of Chamarel, Charamel. In the NM Bizzarium series, this house is filled with a variety of delusional fantasies. Constructed by a team of professionals, there are 40 exhibits of optical illusions: a Mirror Maze (200 mirrors), The Ames room (a cubic room where 2 people standing in the same room appear much bigger or smaller than the other one, The upside-down room and the Laser music room (try out your musical aspirations).
Coloured Earths. Resulting from colour variations in ferruginous clays without any organic matter, and devoid of any fertility. There is no nitrogen but traces of lime, potash, and phosphoric acid in iron and alumina oxides exposed from the eroded basalt. It is due to the cooling of molten rock, the lava formations are estimated to be of 3.5 to 7 million years in age. Appearing furrows in rows, the colors are in horizontal ridges known as “Les Cotes de Melon” (“The Melon’s Slices”) – yellow and yellowish-brown to bright red, purple, and coal black” indicates about forty hues.
Chamarel Waterfall. On the River du Cap, this 95m-high waterfall is where you can abseil.
Black River Georges National Park. Tentative WHS (17/05/2006). In the hilly south-western part of Mauritius in an area of 67.54 km² including humid upland forest, drier lowland forest, and marshy heathland. 60 kilometres of trails.
The park protects most of the island’s remaining rainforest although much of this has been degraded by introduced plants such as Chinese guava and privet and animals such as rusa deer and wild pigs. Several areas have been fenced off and invasive species have been eradicated from them to preserve native wildlife. Many endemic plants and animals still occur in the park including the Mauritian flying fox and all of the island’s endemic birds: Mauritius kestrel, pink pigeon, Mauritius parakeet, Mauritius cuckoo shrike, Mauritius bulbul, Mauritius olive white-eye, Mauritius grey white-eye, and Mauritius fody.
The wide gorge curves between a series of stunning mountain ranges and waterfalls.
Get there. Make your way inland from the coast. There are four main entrances to the park: La Marie in Plaine Wilhems, and Chamouny in the south; and the Black River and Case Noyale entrances on the west coast.
Hiking. Routes such as those starting in Black River itself range from 4-10km in length, and it’s a (relatively) easy 2-hour walk to Black River Peak, which is Mauritius’ highest point, offering simply amazing views.
Rochester Falls. It falls over a basaltic lens into a very large pool, great for swimming. Kids were jumping from the top into the pool. Access down a fairly rough road.
St. Aubin Plantation. Primarily an artisanal rum distillery, it has an auberge, boutique shop, and a lovely restaurant (good prices, closes at 5) in what appears to be a plantation house.
La Vanille Nature Park. Has a wide variety of mammals and birds but concentrates on reptiles: giant tortoises, crocodiles, iguanas.
MAHEBOURG
Mahebourg Museum. The Natural History Museum of Mahebourg has exhibits on the history of this region. 100 MR
Abolition of Slavery Monument, Mahebourg. A stone obelisk with a round disc on top.
I slept in my car at the Mahebourg port area getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. Oh well.
Day 3
I started my drive around the east and north of Mauritius.
Vallée de Ferney is a forest and wildlife reserve in the Bambou mountains north of Mahébourg. It was launched in 2006 as a program for the conservation and restoration of the indigenous forests of the valley.
Several species were new to science or were thought to have been extinct. The valley’s land-form is largely composed of Tertiary volcanic series. Hiking circuits run through the indigenous forests of the valley, past look-out points, and guided tours are regularly conducted.
At the reserve’s entrance at the bottom of the valley, a tiny stone museum displays the history of the area, with a nearby set of gardens of edible and useful plants. Higher up in the valley, the restaurant and visitors complex has been created from an old hunting lodge. Nearby are the giant tortoises. Ferney La Vallée is mostly composed of partially rehabilitated rainforests, with a large number of plant species, most of which are endangered or vulnerable. Several threatened animal species are protected in the reserve. These include the endangered Mauritius kestrel and the Mauritian flying fox, a megabat.
Less than 2% of the indigenous ecosystems of Mauritius remain intact and Ferney La Vallée is one of the last nature preserves on the island.
Fredrick Hendrick Museum, Vieux Grand Port. In 1598, 5 Dutch ships landed here to become the first settlers on Mauritius. They named the island after their prince, Maurice van Nassau. Fort Fredrick was constructed in 1638. There were many setbacks and the Dutch departed in 1710 leaving behind ruins and marooned fugitive slaves. In 1722, the French replaced the Dutch and Port Louis replaced here in 1730. They rehabilitated the fort. The site has several ruined basalt walls of a store and forge. 100 MR
Kestrel Valley Nature Reserve is a private nature reserve of 200 hectares, nestled in a pocket of the remaining forest. There is a program of marine conservation, coral farming, and reef restoration, turtle monitoring in a marine park, reforestation of Kestrel Valley, tending our tree nursery to support the reforestation project and monitoring of wildlife such as the Mauritian Fruit Bat and Mauritius Kestrel.
Grand River South East was named by the Dutch. In the 17th century, GRSE was used for stocking and shipping ebony wood under the Dutch Occupation. The inhabitants of Grand River South East live mostly from fishing. At the Grand River South East mouth, where the river’s current meets the ocean’s tide, you can see some impressive ravines and a spectacular waterfall. The waterfall at GRSE is one of the east coast’s most popular attractions after Île aux Cerfs.
Hare Krishna Iskcon Temple, Bon Accueil. Google Maps initially led me to a wedding venue. This was also a long drive out of my way. Surprisingly this new, 4-year-old temple is the smallest and newest of the three Hare Krishna temples on Mauritius and is the one listed in NM. It is still under construction. The older part is two-story with a prayer room on the top. I was given a tour by the only resident as all visits have been stopped beause of Covid.
Flacq Market, Flacq. This large market is the ultimate of produce markets with hundreds of stalls. In the back are clothes and a small eating area with only 4 stalls.
Belle Mare public Beach. A large beach with sand interspersed with rock. A reef 200-300 m off shore has breaking surf. There are no dunes here but grassed areas and protected plantings of casuarina trees.
Sagar Shiv Mandir Temple, Poste de Flacq. This small temple sits on a small peninsula almost totally surrounded by water. The wedding cake-like temple is only open till 11 am but contains only a lingam and a god in a glass case.
Bras d’Eau NP. One of only three national parks in Mauritius. After the original Mauritian forests were destroyed, most of the land was used for commercial plantations of alien trees such as Mahogany, Araucaria, Tecoma and Eucalyptus. The majority of the National Park’s land still lies beneath these plantations. However patches of the original biodiversity remain. Two species of the giant Mauritian ebony trees still survive in small numbers. Smaller local plants include critically rare ferns, such as Doryopteris pilosa and the aquatic Acrostichum aureum, as well as the orchid Oeoniella polystachys.
Of the animal life, most of the larger species are already extinct. However, the park still serves as a preserve for several rare and endemic bird species.
The name of the area derives from the arm-like shape of the elegantly winding body of water that stretches inland from the sea. Located in the north east of Mauritius, on the coast near Poste Lafayette, it is approximately 497.2 hectares (1,229 acres) in size.
Mare Sarcelle covers roughly 89 hectares (220 acres) of the Park. In addition to a plethora of ponds of indigenous ferns and orchids, the Mare Sarcelle is home to mangrove swamps and large numbers of birds. It is becoming popular as a hiking and bird-watching site. There are also historic 200-year-old ruins in the forest, including the remains of a sugar mill and lime kiln.
There is a picnic site with wooden tables in the forest, and the walking trails are labelled.
Anse La Raie Beach. On the NE corner of the island, the beach sits in a protected bay. I had a nice nap here with a great breeze.
Notre Dame de l’Auxilliatrice, Cap Malheureux is one of the oldest churches that stood witness to one of the most written-about wars between the French and the British over the control of the island. A Roman Catholic church, it was built in the early 1900s as a commemorative landmark to the shipwrecks that happened off the northern coast. It is also known by the name “the red roof chapel” and is renowned for its aesthetic value as well as historical significance. With a bright red roof, the church is one of a kind and a picture-perfect postcard-worthy attraction in Mauritius.
Grand Baie Public Beach. Grand Baie is a major tourist area of the island with many trendy name-brand stores and hotels. It sits in an enclosed bay.
TRIOTET/PAMPLEMOUSSES
Maheswarnath Mandir (locally known as “grand shivala Triolet”) is a Hindu temple located in Triolet.. The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Shiva (one of his epithets is Maheshwarnath, meaning the great Lord). The temple was founded in 1888 by Pandit Shri Sajeebunlall Ramsoondur, who came from Calcutta. The temple is famous for its association with the first pilgrimage to Ganga Talao, the sacred lake found in the center of Mauritius. The temple is the biggest and one of the old temples on the island.
He had acquired the old sugar factory of Triolet. He then demolished the 90 feet tall chimney of the factory and built the principal temple the same height as the destroyed chimney. Images of the deities and priests arrived from India including the second “lingam” from Kashi, he organized a “Shobha Yatra”(a religious procession) from Port Louis to Triolet.
According to a legend, during the temple’s construction, a huge pot of gold and silver coins were found buried on the very spot where the temple was being made. It is believed by many that this gold must have belonged to Indian Ocean pirates from the previous century, who used to attack East India Company ships for their gold and other precious goods. The money found was then used for the construction of the temple.
The main temple, the Vishnu temple, the Devi temple, and the Nataraja temple all have domes. A central shrine is dedicated to Lord Shiva in the form of the shiv ling and the four corners his wife, goddess Parvati, their sons; lord Ganesha and lord Kartikeya and another form of Shiva; lord Bhairava. the main deity with 4 subsidiary deities in each corner.
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Mauritius Aquarium.It appears to have been closed for some time.
Château de Labourdonnais Plantation, Mapou. In the NM House Museums/Plantations series, Domaine de Labourdonnais is famous for its Château, real jewel of the Mauritian heritage. Built in 1856, the Château was inhabited by a Mauritian family for over 150 years. The whole estate, especially the Château, constitutes showsthe 19th-century art of living in Mauritius. It has impeccable furnishings and French/English tour info. The spiral staircase and beautiful study were the highlights. The restaurant serves good food and the gardens are lovely. 300 MR
PAMPLEMOUSSE
Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanic Garden. Flora is unique to Mauritius, the oldest botanical garden in the Southern Hemisphere founded by Pierre Poivre in 1770, 37 hectares. Several animals, fish, deer, and tortoises, replica of a sugar mill.
Saint Francis of Assisi Church. Unfortunately, this has been closed since the Covid situation has worsened in Mauritius. It is constructed of rough stone. I looked through all the windows. Most are clear louvered but there are some lovely stained glass windows toward the altar.
I got a hotel, La Margarita near the beach south of Pamplemousse, and ate at a pizza place, one of the few restaurants open in this entire part of Mauritius. I got sidetracked on the drive there and ended up on an adventure through some of the tiniest streets and then on two very rough dirt roads in the middle of nowhere. I passed a pack of dogs that would have been dangerous if not in a car.
Day 4
PORT LOUIS World Capital, World Cities and Popular Towns
Note that parking requires a “coupon”. There are no signs that indicate it is paid parking and the coupons can be bought at bookstores and gas stations. I was here next to the mosque for about 2 hours can was ‘clamped’. I walked down to the nearest police station, paid the 1000 MR fine and was driven back by the police officers who unclamped me. They had no pity for a tourist and said that my hotel or car rental company should have told me that parking was pay for.
Port Louis Market. Local snacks, a huge produce market, separate buildings at the back for meat, the cheapest food, traditional crafts such as the “goni” basket.
Aapravasi Ghat. World Heritage Site. In Port Louis is the 1,640 m2 site where the modern indentured labour began. In 1834, the British Government selected the island of Mauritius to be the first site for what it called ‘the great experiment’ in the use of ‘free’ labour to replace slaves.
Located on the bay of Trou Fanfaron, the Aapravasi Ghat is the remains of an immigration depot built in 1849 to receive indentured labourers from India (97.5%), Eastern Africa, Madagascar, China and Southeast Asia to work on the island’s sugar estates as part of the ‘Great Experiment’. This experiment was initiated by the British Government, after the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834, to demonstrate the superiority of ‘free’ over slave labour in its plantation colonies. The success of the ‘Great Experiment’ in Mauritius led to its adoption by other colonial powers from the 1840s, resulting in a world-wide migration of more than two million indentured labourers, of which Mauritius received almost half a million.
Between 1834 and 1920, almost half a million indentured labourers arrived from India at Aapravasi Ghat to work in the sugar plantations of Mauritius, or to be transferred to Reunion Island, Australia, southern and eastern Africa or the Caribbean. The buildings of Aapravasi Ghat are among the earliest explicit manifestations of what was to become a global economic system and one of the greatest migrations in history.
It represents not only the development of the modern system of contractual labour, but also the memories, traditions and values that these men, women and children carried with them when they left their countries of origin to work in foreign lands and subsequently bequeathed to their millions of descendants. Free
Mauritius Old Post Office Building. It is now converted into the Postal Museum. 100 MR
Natural History Museum. In the Mauritius Institute building, it has stuffed birds and a few mammals, plastic fish, shells, butterflies and a large exhibit on the dodo bird that was rapidly extinct soon after the Dutch landed. Very little is left of the original birds – only a head exists in Oxford. Free
St. Louis Cathedral. The first church here was built in 1762, rebuilt in the 1770s (this one collapsed because of poor foundations) and the present basalt church was built between 1920-33. It has 3 naves, nice stained glass, wood wainscotting, polychrome saints, and a lovely carved wood pulpit.
Jummah Masjid. Probably the architectural highlight of Mauritius, this lovely white/green mosque dates from 1850 and is embellished with several tiny towers on the roof. The courtyard is surrounded by nice white arches. Unfortunately because to Covid, the prayer hall couldn’t be visited except during prayers – go figure. The Jummah Mosque is a mosque in Port Louis, Mauritius dating from the 1850s. The building combines Indian, Creole and Islamic architecture. The Jummah Mosque houses the remains of Jamal Shah in a marble tomb next to the mosque.
Blue Penny Museum. Sitting on the harbour amidst high priced resorts, this had impossible parking. It is a gallery showing Mauritius history through art. 275 MR
Citadel Fort Adelaide. Sitting high above Port Louis on Petite Montagne, it dates from 1840 when it was built to deal with a French revolt but never saw battle. It held 200 soldiers, 40,000 gallons of water, food for 3 months and had 24 cannon. It is rectangular with basalt walls. There is nothing to see inside but the views from the walls down to Port Louis are the best. Free
Marie Reine de la Paix is a statue of the Virgin , in Carrara marble, three meters high, erected on the mountain of Signals which dominates Port-Louis . It weighs four tons and comes from the workshops of Fernandino Palla, from Pietrasanta. It was unveiled in Mgr James Leen, CSSp , eighth bishop of Port-Louis from 1926 to 1949, built this monument designed by Max Boullé to put the Mauritians under the protection of the Virgin Mary in the context of the Second World War .
The Chapel and Shrine of Marie Reine de la Paix is situated on a Signal Hill on the outskirts of the city. This religious building is very popular not only with the locals, but also with tourists who come to admire the building’s modern architecture. The chapel is surrounded by a green area from which you can enjoy a great view of Port Louis.
After seeing all there was to see in Port Louis, I drove to Nova labs in Phoenix to get my PCR (2100 MR or about 44€. It was a long one hour line.
I then drove to Mahbourg where I stayed at Residence Mish for 2 nights.
Day 5
The car rental company came here to pick up the car rather than meet at the airport. It was necessary to have it completely clean. The car wash guy stole my vape but there was no way to prove anything.
I spent the day writing this, working on my book, and cleaning up my pack.
Day 6
I took a taxi to the airport to catch my flight to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. On Saudi Airlines, it was a direct 6-hour flight costing only 443€ compared to Emirates flights costing 1253€.