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Mauritius Blog @Mauritius101.com.

Features information that is relevant to travellers who are thinking about and actively planning a visit to Mauritus.

West Mauritius – Dramatic mountain resorts & luxurious holiday resorts.

2009 - Apr - 5 | ,

Featured Image : Photo by Kon Karampelas on Unsplash

Western Mauritius is well known for it’s dramatic mountain scenery, and some of the more popular destinations here include Flic En Flac, Tamarin and Grand Riviere. Casela Nature Park is also located in the Western region of Mauritius.

Five star resorts such as Taj and Hilton makes the western region of Mauritius the destination for some of the wealthiest Maurtius holiday crowd.

Places like Woolmar and Flic En Flac are where the majority of holiday resorts in the West region of Mauritius are located.

It’s also a very convenient place to be located as there are many things to see in the west such as Casela Nature Reserve (where you can enjoy an African style safari and go quad biking in the reserves and see animals like zebra and ostriches in their natural habitats).

Plus, it’s quite easy to get to the North (Grand Baie, Port Louis) and South (Black Gorges National Park) for those who decide to base themselves in the west.

Flic En Flac

Arguably one of the best resorts in Maurtius, Flic En Flac enjoys an incredibly luxurious stretch of beach. It’s also nearby where the highly beautiful Casela Nature Park is located, and there are some superb restaurants and cheery bars to explore.

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Places to see & things to do @Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius.

2009 - Apr - 3 | , , ,

Featured Image : Photo by Ling Tang on Unsplash

There’s a good selection of entertainment available in Port Louis. There are two major cinemas, Star and Cinemaxx. The former is situated along the Caudan waterfront while the latter on Port Louis Waterfront.

Theatre lovers can pop in to the Municipal Theatre which holds various plays and musical events.

Company Gardens has some wonderfully large banyan trees and is worth a visit – just do not be there past sunset as it transforms into a seedy red light district. It’s also ill advised for single ladies to be in this area by themselves.

Mauritius is a good example of a harmonious multi national society. There are some notable churches and Cathedrals to be seen – St Louis Cathedral and St James Cathedral are well worth a visit.

Some of the most breathtaking views of the city can be seen from the Citadel (Fort Adelaide).

Getting around Port Louis is best done by taxi. It’s not especially expensive to hire taxi’s, and it is a far better option than trying to drive yourself within the city (the traffic can be intense, and the driving of the Mauritius public isn’t exactly world class).

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Places to eat @Port Louis, Mauritius.

2009 - Mar - 30 | , ,

Featured Image : By S Molteno – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25935306

Port Louis has a fantastic smearing of restaurants. There’s everything from Indian and Chinese to Creole and European, and there are options for all budget levels.

There are some notable Indian restaurants – Namaste on the Caudan Waterfront is one of the more luxurious choices, and some tables offer spectacular harbour views which make for an enchanting dining experiences. If it’s a sunny day, eat on the balcony as some wonderful views of the port can be seen – a great photo opportunity to get pictures of the port area from an elevated position.

Near the shopping area is “Le Capitain” which has a decent menu and fairly reasonable prices.

There are many budget options also available – a lot of the food stalls sell tasty snack foods such as samosas and other foods for low prices. Perhaps not ideal if you’re not the best of travellers food-wise, but can be good for snacking if you’re on an excursion.

Port Louis also has franchises such as Pizza Hut and MacDonalds for those that would rather play it safe.

For a cheaper option, Tandoori Express which whips up reasonable Indian fare for decent prices. It’s also on the waterfront. Another reasonable Indian restaurant is Carri Poule which has a marvellous lunch time buffet.

If you’re in the mood for Chinese, Canton is a budget restaurant which is tacky looking but that offers good quality Chinese food. Slightly more upmarket is Happy Valley which is along the Waterfront.

There are several other choices of restaurant too – La Rose des Vents is a pleasant seafood restaurant which is situated in the Labourdonnais Waterfront hotel. Black Steer is a popular steakhouse right on the Caudan Waterfront. For Creole dishes mixed in with a bit of Indian & Chinese also featuring on the menu, check out La Bonne Marmite. It’s located along Sir William Newton St and is a good choice for budget conscious travellers.

If you fancy a drink, Port Louis has a generous sprinkling of bars, mostly along the Waterfront complex, such as Keg & Marlin (which also has live music on Friday nights) and Sunset Café.

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Places to stay, hotels @Port Louis

2009 - Mar - 26 | , , , ,

Mauritius is a country which has a rich choice of top end holiday resorts and hotels.

It’s surprising then that it’s capital is relatively bare of accommodation – possibly because most holiday makers to Mauritius stay in one of the beach regions and typically travel to Mauritius for a day trip.

Labourdonnais Waterfront Hotel – It’s possibly more suited to business travel but the Labourdonnais has 109 rooms and is situated along Caudan waterfront. It’s officially a five star hotel with 109 rooms and has the elegance and facilities that you would expect from a top end resort. The rooms themselves come in five varieties from standard to presidential suites, all immaculately decorated.

Hotel guests can enjoy a wide range of restaurants offering a lovely range of cuisines including Thai, Indian and European.

Le St George’s Hotel – A reasonable hotel which has business meeting rooms, located on St Georges St, and within a stone’s throw of the main heart of Port Louis. It’s relatively small compared to many of the other resorts in holiday Mauritius but the 21 rooms that this resort has are well designed and offer good quality furnishing and some wonderful sea views out into the Indian ocean.

Hotel Le Grand Carnot – Certainly a choice for the budget conscious, the Carnot is situated on Dr Edouard Laurent St. Rooms available for as little as 350 Rs.

Bourbon Tourist Hotel – With rooms available from a little over 600 Rs, this is another budget choice.

Le Suffren Hotel – Situated right on the Cauden Waterfront, Le Suffren is a fair 3 star hotel. It has 100 rooms and access to a pleasant white sandy beach area.

Villa Jorico – You can pick up rooms at the Jorico for a very reasonable rate. It’s a pleasant guest house but it’s situated a little outside Port Louis.

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Port Louis – The vibrant capital of Mauritius

2009 - Mar - 23 | , , ,

Port Louis is the London of Mauritius. It’s the economic nerve centre of Mauritius and along with the tall sky scrapers of the business district, it boasts some fabulous shopping, restaurants that rank among the top in the country and some wonderful museums and colonial type architecture to boot.

In short, no holiday to Mauritius is complete without visiting Port Louis. As you can imagine, Port Louis is a highly popular tourist destination, with the majority of points of interest located along the waterfront.

Major Points Of Interest In Port Louis

If you have a couple of days to spare, you can do and see a lot of the things that Port Louis is famous for.

Port Louis Casino – located along Caudan waterfront is the interestingly crafted Casino. It’s shaped like a ship and is quite popular with tourists and locals alike. You wont be able to get in with your baggy shorts and flip flops though – a smart casual dress code is in place.

Museums In Port Louis – There are two major museums within Port Louis. The Natural History Museum (Chaussee St) is free to enter and offers a collection of mostly extinct birds including the Dodo (by far the most notable). The other museum is the Blue Penny Museum located along the Caudan waterfront. Admission is not free here, but it’s worthwhile going as it displays the history of Mauritius from it’s earliest days to the present – and includes various photos, maps and other artefacts from the different era’s.

There is also a Photography Museum (Old Council St) and the small Mauritius Postal Museum (Pl du Quai) to keep museum enthusiasts interested.

Central Market – One of the must see attractions of Port Louis is the often frenetic Central Market. There’s a lot here from little stalls selling T shirts to vegetables, spices, meat and fish. Some stalls also sell a variety of Ayurvedic (ancient Indian) medicines. Tourists also enjoy the variety of different handicrafts and souvenirs that are sold along some of the stalls – if you’re planning to buy, you can bargain your way to a better price. A word of warning – beware of pickpockets that operate in the Port Louis Central Market – keep your wallets and purses secured and don’t leave your bags open.

You should also note that a lot of the designer gear you may buy is fake, and as you walk along you’ll often be approached by stall vendors quoting you special prices and deals.

There are also other shopping options within Port Louis – there’s a Craft Market along Caudan Waterfront and there are book and music shops within the city too.

If bartering and markets is not your thing, and you want to pick up some souvenirs without the stress of bartering then you can often find similar ones in the larger supermarkets for a fixed price.

Chinatown – Interestingly, Chinatown is home to the Jummah Mosque which was built in 1853. As you might expect, there are not only a selection of Chinese shops selling provisions, vegetables, fruits and more – but the best Chinese food available in Port Louis (and in fact Mauritius) can be found here. You’ll also find the Pere Laval shrine within Chinatown – many tourists come here to pay respect and investigate the supposed healing powers of the shrine.

Champ de Mars Racecourse – The Mauritius racing season begins in May and goes on to November. You can find races on most Saturdays during this season – the racecourse is packed on this day every week, and gambling on the races is big business in Mauritius.

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Quaint places to visit in the South of Mauritius.

2009 - Mar - 21 | , , ,

The southern coast of Mauritius is known for it’s natural beauty – many holiday makers to Mauritius choose to do a scenic drive from Mahebourg down to Baie du Cap, simply because the scenery is unrivalled even in most places within Mauritius (let alone the world).

There’s a remarkably diverse range of scenery here – sugar canes and mountains meet picturesque harbour villages – there’s even waterfalls and forests to keep your camcorder more than busy.

There’s also a rather incredible wildlife reserve island on lle aux Aigrettes – it’s possible to book a boat to visit the island (tours are available – you can request more information from the resort you stay it to book).

Along the North/South border is Bambous Virieux, with a small population of under 3,000 – there really aren’t many places to stay here but it’s known for the Vieux Grand Port which some visitors to Mauritius decide to tour – the Frederik Hendrik Museum is here (admission is free) which showcases the Dutch influences of Mauritius.

There’s not too much in the way of developments, or even points of interests along the rest of Southern Mauritius – some of the destinations you’ll come over include Riviere des Anguilles, Souillac, Pointe aux Roches and Bel Ombre.

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Mahebourg – South Mauritius’s most popular destination

2009 - Mar - 19 | , ,

With a population well over 15,000, Mahebourg is one of the main places that tourists visit in Southern Mauritius. It’s also very close to the airport so many people call on it just before leaving (or just after arrival).

Aside from a very pleasant beach area and a developing waterfront, there isn’t exactly a wealth of tourist hotspots in Mahebourg. A couple of banks and post office mean that tourists have enough amenities to get by.

Accommodation – Hotels, Guest Houses & Resorts In Mahebourg

You’re not going to find a Hilton type luxury resort here, but there are a couple of reasonably nice places to stay if you’re not looking for the lap of luxury. Coco Villa is a popular resort, as is Auberge Aquarella and both are located on the seafront. The former is set along a spacious estate crowded with swaying palms.

Also, three miles away from Mahebourg is Blue Lagoon Beach Resort which is a neat three star resort with 72 guest rooms. There’s a bar by the pool and reasonable buffet food and entertainment is served nightly.

Other resorts and guesthouses in Mahebourg (and the surrounding Bluebay/Pointe d’Esny areas) include:

  • Le Preskil Beach Resort
  • Nice Place Guesthouse
  • Shandrani
  • Noix de Coco
  • Chantemer
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