Mauritius Map

 

 

 

        Map of the Indian Ocean

latest picture: July 16, 2011

• click a picture to see details

001  On June 22, 2011, Air Mauritius

brings us in an 8 hour flight from Kuala

Lumpur in Malaysia to the island of

Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

During this flight we leave Asia for

Africa while crossing the Equator

from North to the South

002  Bizarre mountains rising steeply

from the plains and sugar cane fields

are our first impressions on our

approach of this island that

geographically belongs to Africa

003  Villages interrupt the green

of the vast sugar cane fields

004  “Lion’s Head“in the Southeast

is dominating Mahébourg’s waterfront.

Once it was a busy port, today there

are only a few fishing boats

005  Liliana is standing in front of the

“Statue of Harmony Swami Sivandanda”

built by young volunteers at

Mahébourg’s waterfront

006  The sun is setting at the ocean

front at Mahébourg. It is a favorite

place for local families at weekends

007  “Blue Bay“ in the South of Mahébourg

deserves its name! Surrounded by white

sandy beaches and tiny offshore islands,

it evokes a whiff of the South Pacific …..

008  ..... mothers are playing with

their kids at the public beach

009  View over an upscale beach

resort at “Blue Bay“ South

of Mahébourg

010  Beautiful Hindu temple in

Mahébourg. The majority of the

Mauritius population is Hindu

011  The Mahébourg Mosque is rising

against a deep blue sky. There is quite

a big Muslim community in this city

012  The Christian church “Notre Dame

des Anges“ is the focal point of Mahébourg.

About 52% of the Mauritians are Hindu,

28% Christians and 17% Muslims (Wikipedia)

013  July 7, 2011: Our container is

opened in the port of Port Louis in the

presence of the head of the customs

and other staff. Our LandCruiser was

loaded on May 25, 2011, in Sri Lanka

and reached Mauritius via Malaysia

and Réunion

014  Emil is adding the “Mauritius sticker”

at the country band of our LandCruiser.

Mauritius is our 170th visited country on

our almost 27th years lasting epic

journey around the world

015  With the help of our agent, Emil

attaches the temporary local license

plate “VIS 169“ at our LandCruiser

016  View from Fort Adelaide over

the city center of Port Louis. The citadel

has been built by the British but was

never used as a Fortress

017  The sea of houses of Port Louis

is spreading towards the surrounding

hills. There are about 160’000 people

living in the capital of Mauritius

018  The appealing “Caudan”

Waterfront in Port Louis invites to

shop, stroll or just take a break

019  The “Boulevard Place d’Armes“

in Port Louis is lined with majestic royal

palms and is compared with Champs-

Elysees in Paris

020  The white turrets of Port

Louis’ Yuma (Jummah) Mosque

rise against a stormy sky

021  Mauritius beauties gather at

the Caudan waterfront in the

center of Port Louis

022  Port Louis‘market place is sticking out

pleasantly against the modern skyscraper

023  A street vendor tries to

find a buyer for his vegetable

024  A market corner in Port Louis

cramped with all kind of house ware

025  Journalists and TV crew pose

for a picture after the press conference

at the Tourist Promotion Authority in

Port Louis. Behind Liliana is Mrs.

Roselyne Hauchler who arranged a

bond free entrance of our LandCruiser

026  At a family restaurant in

Port Louis, our Beef Curry is

served in the private living room

027  Finally “on the road again”! We

drive through endless sugar cane fields

whose “flowers” are shining

beautifully in the evening sun

028  Chimneys of the ancient sugar

cane mills are still dotting the landscape.

Annually 600’000 tons of sugar are

produced in the average; 530’000 tons

are exported to the European Union

029  The sugar cane harvest is in

full swing. Highly and heavely

loaded trucks are on the road

030  The sun is setting behind

a sugar cane field

031  Our LandCruiser drives towards

a small “alley” of deep hanging roots

on the Southeastern coastal

road near Savannah

032  Teatime: Workers of a potato

field walk along the edge of a field

033  The Rochester Falls near Souillac

in the South are gushing into a small

pond, surrounded by trees. The name

“Rochester” was given during the

period of 1847 when the novel “Jane

Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë, with the

main character “Mr. Rochester”

was published

034  The black rocky coastline near

Souillac’s Gris-Gris beach in the

South is known for its strong waves

035  Though the small Gris-Gris beach

near Souillac in the South looks inviting,

swimming is not recommended due to

the strong current

036  Emil is standing in front of

impressing tree roots at the sea

shore park of Souillac in the South

037  Emil chats with Wynette and James

who invited us to a barbecue to their

house in Mont Désert near Plaisance.

Both are enthusiastic travelers too

038  Looking down from the nearly

2’300 ft. high Black River

National Park to the South Coast

039  The “Grand Bassin” Craterlake

(Ganga Talao) in the Southern Highlands

is a sacred pilgrimage place to the

big Hindu community

040  The bronze statue of the Hindu God

Shiva is standing guard to the holy “Ganga

Talao”. With 108 feet, it is the tallest statue

in Mauritius. Wrapped around his arms

and shoulders are three cobras …..

041  ….. The view through the temple

gate to the „Ganga Talao“ with the

temple on the other lake side

is simply stunning …..

042  .....The silhouette of the

Hindu God Shiva against the

darkening evening sky

“Ganga Talao” is a famous pilgrimage site for the approximately 500’000 Hindu population of Mauritius. Every year, at Maha Shivaratri

festival in February/March, devotees from all over the island make the pilgrimage to the lake bare footed to make offerings to their gods

043  to Hanuman

044  to Lord Vishnu

045  to Ganesh

046  Flic-en-Flac in the West is a

famous tourist center. Top-end resorts

are side by side. Here at the Hilton

beach that borders the public beach …..

047  ….. its umbrellas are

arranged perfectly in a line …..

048  ….. no chairs, no umbrellas – the

public beach, sandwiched between

Hotel Resorts. However there are many

public beaches around Mauritius, which

are accessible to everybody for free

049  Water sport is not lacking in

Flic-en-Flac. There is a big

competition at the high-end resorts

050  Our picnic consisting of baguette,

salami, cheese, olives and local Phoenix

beer takes place under casuarinas at

Flic-en-Flac’s public beach

051  Inland, South of Flic-en-Flac, the

mountain peaks of the “Montagne du

Rempart” (left) and the three “Mamelles”

tower almost vertically against the sky

052  View towards the “Piton Canot”

from the Western access road to the

Black River Gorges National Park

053  The Chapel of Saint Anne in

Chamarel, lying at 1’000ft. altitude

in the Southwestern hills shines

in the afternoon sun

054  A rum distillery in Mauritius:

The „Rhumerie de Chamarel“

sitting in the fertile Chamarel

Valley in the Southwest

055  The mild climate of the fertile

Chamarel Valley favors also the

pineapple growth

056  View over the gentle Western

hills from the Black River Gorges National

Park towards the South. The block in

the back at right is the “Morne Brabant”

057  Swaying palm trees border

a pineapple field in the Chamarel

Valley in the Southwest

058  View Northwards from the

lookout of the Black River Gorges

National Park over the rolling hills …..

059  ..... and the waterfall

cascading almost vertically

through dense vegetation

060  The skies darken over the “Pieter

Both” Mountain, with 2’690ft. the

second highest mountain in Mauritius

061  The sun catches the fan-shaped

„voyageurs“. This plant from the family

of Strelitziaceae grows more than 30ft.

and collects water what gave it the

name „traveler’s tree“ (Ravenala

madagascariensis). Although there

are forests of it in Mauritius, it is

originating from Madagascar

062  The red berry of the

“Brazilian Pepper“ (Schinus

terebinthifolius) contrast to the

luxuriant green of the highland.

It is not a true pepper but is

also used as a spice, often

together with real pepper

063  The delicate flower of the tea

plant. The tea plantations in Mauritius

cannot be compared to those in

Sri Lanka or Malaysia. They are found

only at an altitude of around 1’600ft.

and are rather small-area

• Mauritius (part 1: Island of Rodrigues)
• Mauritius (part 3: Main Island 2nd part)

 

Articles in newspapers about us in Mauritius:

Article:  "Le tour du monde en LandCruiser", Daily Newspaper "Le Mauricien" - July 9, 2011

Article:  "Globe lovers", Weekly Newspaper "Le Dimanche" - July 10, 2011

Article:  "Emil et Liliana Schmid sur les routes à Maurice", Daily Newspaper "Le Matinal" - July 12, 2011