Travel Diary: Port Louis, Mauritius
The country of Mauritius: the little red dot right above Pamplemousses was the location of the The Grand Mauritian (Starwood Hotel). Note the distance between the Airport (SE part of the island) in relation to Port Louis and the hotel.
HISTORY
Mauritius has an interesting history that I would love to share with you.
The island was uninhabited until 1638 - the island was visited several times by Arab, Portuguese and Dutch people. Around the year 1000, Arab merchants came upon the three islands - Rodrigues, Mauritius, and Réunion. They didn't colonize the islands and remained deserted.
There was a Frenchman - the sole survivor - of an English shipwreck expedition in 1596. He was marooned on the island for two years and lived off the "fruit of the trees and the meat of the turtles." It was this story that inspired Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (which I didn't know!).
By 1611, the island was referred to as Mauritius by all sailors. It was a point for the ships to stop and get fresh water and fruit. The Dutch began cutting down the abundant ebony trees. It was not until 1638 the Dutch set up a fort, which to this day can still be visited opposite the church at Vieux Grand Port (pic above).
With the clearing of ebony trees, settlers began to bring slaves from Madagascar to help with the tobacco and sugar can plantations (which are still being grown to this day). Sugar cane came from Indonesia and tobacco from the colonies in North America. Once the ebony trees were all cut down, the Dutch left the island for good in 1710.
From there the Portuguese came and went as did the English, but it was the French that named the port "Port Louis" in honour of the French King Louis XV. The French used it as a base for ships repair, but also for sugar cane,spices and coffee which were successfully grown on the island. Slaves from Madagascar were used for this cultivation.
Paris abolished slavery in 1796 and when they came to Mauritius to enforce the law the settlers rebelled - 80% of the population of the island were slaves! They continued to use slaves even when the Treaty of Paris in 1814 gave Mauritius (and Seychelles) to the British. The British wanted to abolish slavery, but its inhabitants, mostly all French, rebelled. They were expanding production of sugar cane and needed the extra labour. Also, slaves were property and they felt it was their right to own property.
The British government ended up buying the slaves freedom in 1833. These slaves ended up becoming fishermen or small land holders. But the plantations needed workers - so under and indentured system, which was similar to slavery since if the worker didn't work, he could be imprisoned. Planters brought workers from India, China, Mozambique, and Madagascar In seventy years, a massive immigration was going to change the island's population radically.
In 1968, the island got its independence and Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam became the first Prime Minister and in 1992 became a Republic.
MAURITIUS TODAY
Mauritian society today is majority Indian (Hindus in a mixed proportion of Muslim), 30% mixed Croele origin, 3% Chinese and 1.3% European origin.
This was important because you can understand about the peoples of this beautiful island. They are extremely nice and laid back and have the whitest teeth. I asked one of the guys who would drive me around the island why everyone has such great white teeth. He told me that from achild they had pure sugar cane in their mouths.
Arriving into MRU airport is quick and easy. The ride to the hotel is long - up to two hours. The 42 kilometer/26mile trek is on a two-lane road and it goes through Port Louis. Depending on the time of day, the ride to the Grand Mauritian from the airport can be at least two hours through winding roads, The island is beautiful, but after a Chicago-London-Dubai-Mauritius flight, the first thing you want to do is get to the hotel.
Port Louis is not a small city, Zurich seemed smaller to me than Port Louis did. There wasn't much to see though for the exception of the fort pictured above. Because of it's short history, there are not something similar to the pyramids or the Eiffel Tower.
Mauritius though is good for one thing: beaches. The beaches are magnificent, some of the most beautiful in the world. It is far for us Americans to get to, but it is well worth it. The island is dotted with upscale resorts and is mostly visited by English, French, and believe it or not, nationals of India. It makes sense because the majority of its' population is Indian. Even their currency, the Mauritian Rupee is named after the Indian Rupee. The note above is worth $3.50USD.
The extinction of the dodo bird is one of the biggest examples as to how we have driven an animal to extinction.
Getting to Mauritius isn't as tough as it would seem. Air Mauritius is the national airline and actually a good airline with a modern fleet. They fly from many points in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia (route map) and it's a good way point between Europe/Africa and Australia/SE Asia. The airport is named after the first prime minister, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam.
Grand Mauritian
I stayed at the Starwood resort in the northwest part of the island and I was impressed with the layout, the rooms, and the people. Again, the only drawback was how far it is from Port Louis, but even farther from the airport. The property is also a spa and you really don't have to venture off outside.
Categories: Travel
Tags: spa port louis emirates turtle mauritius the mauritian bay grand
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