Mauritius Map

 

 

 

        Map of the Indian Ocean

latest picture: September 8, 2011

• click a picture to see details

064  A remembrance photo of one of the

most attractive coastlines in the Southwest

of the island. From the peninsula in the

background lures the massive rock of

“Le Morne Brabant” .....

065  ..... opposite, just a couple of

yards away, runs the coastal road

behind an alley of casuarinas

066  We enjoy our picnic at the

“Morne Brabant” beach

Where ever we picnic, birds are never far away. At the “Morne Brabant” beach we see:

067  the yellow village weaver (Ploceus

cucullatus) that gets its shiny color

only when he is looking for a bride

068  the Red Fody (Foudia

madagascariensis) with the

same signal of changing color

069  the Red-Whiskered Bulbul

(Pycnonotus jocosus) with its

black crown and the red ears

070  The “Morne Brabant” sandy

beach looks deserted

during the week …..

071  ..... on weekends however,

„Morne Brabant’s“ Kite Surfing

beach is busy

072  Behind the silvery shining sea,

the dark rock of “Le Morne

Brabant” is a stunning sight

073  We are driving along the East

coast Northwards. The scenery along

the river towards the “Bambous”

mountains on the outskirts of

Mahébourg gives a rural feeling

074  The white washed pagoda of

an Indian temple between the villages

of 4 Sœurs and 2 Frères (!),

14 miles North of Mahébourg,

raises skywards

075  The “Lions Head” (Montagne du Lion)

near Ferney is one of the most impressive

mountains on the Eastern side of the island.

In the front left is the memorial stone of

the first landing of the Dutch in 1598

076  A strelitzia flower (Strelitzia reginae),

also called “bird of paradise flower,

is blooming in a garden …..

077  ….. a wild flower meadow in the

vicinity of Blue Bay in the Southeast .....

078  ….. and a white bottlebrush

(Callistemon rigidus) in full bloom

079  Liliana tests one of the hammocks

at the Bambou Beach of the Four Seasons

Hotel at Beau Champs on the East coast,

while we stroll through the beautiful

gardens of this top-end resort …..

080  ..... we have every reason to smile:

Patrice, the Resort Manager, invited us

for lunch at the Bambou Beach

Restaurant. We enjoy the excellent

food and the wine .....

081  ..... and relax then a while at

the second hotel beach, which

we have for ourselves

082  In the blue lagoon, between

mangroves and the reef, a

sailing boat is gliding past

083  A deep red Hibiscus flower –

one of the beautiful tropical plants

084  The blue of the pool of the Anahita

Resort merges with the blue of the bay.

Opposite the white sand of the Bambou

beach of the Four Seasons Resort is

shining. The two top-end hotels

belong to the same complex

085  The sociable village weaver

(Ploceus cucullatus) builds its nest at the

end of thin branches of the casuarinas.

It braves even the strongest winds

sweeping it from one side to the other

086  A female village weaver is fitting

out the interior after it accepted the

nest built by its partner. Besides, a

male starts to make a new nest. The

first thread is already fixed …..

087  ..... one hour later it made

already an astonishing progress.

Until its completion it will need

18 days and 500 flights to

its “construction site”

088  Green in all shades: The landscape

in the Southwestern hills between

Chamarel and Baie du Cap

089  Typical for Mauritius: The chimney

of an old sugar mill emerges from a

narrow sugarcane tunnel (between

the Rochester Falls and Souillac)

090  End of the road: On our way from

the mountains to the West coast the

track ends suddenly und we are

surrounded by sugar cane from all

sides. We backtrack to Vacoas

091

092

093

The three “Mamelles“ in the Western Highlands show always new faces. We see them again and again – once from far, then from close

094  The “Laughing Cow“

(La Vache qui rit) belongs

somehow to Emil. Not once

during our epic world journey

he was missing the triangle

cheese for breakfast!

095  The “Mare aux Vacoas“,

Mauritius’ biggest water reservoir

in the highlands, has reached

an alarming low level

096  Unbelievable: This water filled

potholed track from Roselyn Cottage

to Malenga at the foot of the

mountain “La Pouce“, is supposed

to be a normal paved back road

according to our IGN map

097  A potato field nestling at the foot

of Pieter Both Mountain, with 2’690ft.

the second tallest mountain in Mauritius.

The boulder, which balances on the pinnacle

on the far right, is about 30ft in diameter

098  View to the flat North with

the islands “Coin de Mire“ (left) and

“Ile Plate“ (right) …..

099  ….. View back to the mountainous

and more pittoresque Southern

part of the island

Visit of the “SSR – Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam“ – Botanic Garden in Pamplemousses,

named after the first Prime Minister of the independent Mauritius

100  Giant water Lily “trays” (Victoria

amazonica) from the Amazon River

Basin are swimming in the “Giant

Water Lily Pond”. They reach a

diameter up to 2 yards and are the

gem of this beautiful garden …..

101  ….. the white water lily is

reflecting in the water. It is white

when it opens and gets

red the next day …..

102  ..... from a wrinkled ball, the

heart-shaped “tray“ unfolds

itself within hours

Visit of the “SSR – Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam“ – Botanic Garden in Pamplemousses,

named after the first Prime Minister of the independent Mauritius

103  The “Pink Shower Orchid

(Congea velutina) from Southern

Thailand and Northern Malaysia grows

exuberantly, forming huge “balls“

104  This extraordinary “Venezuela

Rose” (Brownea-grandicepts) from

Northern South America grows in

the dense foliage of a high tree

105  The palm tree sticks out of

all the green with its silvery leaves

106  Local Indian ladies in colorful

saris step out of their tour bus at Blue

Bay near Mahébourg and swarm

out to look for a nice picnic spot …..

107  ….. some head directly to

the water to pray and to perform

their religious rituals …..

108  ..... others are still looking

for a free shady space to sit

109  Sunday morning: We are still almost

alone at the lovely beach of “Pointe

Vacoas“ close to the airport. At noon the

place fills with families and tour busses …..

110  ..... South of “Pointe Vacoas“,

at the deserted “La Combuse“ Bay,

a fisherman keeps his calm despite of

the approaching breaking waves …..

111  ..... small sandy beaches, as far

as the eye can see, adorn here

the wild “La Combuse“ Bay

112  1st of August 2011 – our National

Day in Switzerland: The bonfire is burning

brightly at the Nautilus Center in Albion at

the West Coast, where we celebrate

together with around 80 members of

the Swiss community in Mauritius …..

113  ..... we pose in front of our

National Flag: It is the 5th time on

our epic journey that we are invited:

2001 it was in Panama City, 2003

in Trinidad & Tobago, 2006 in

Brunei and 2009 in Samoa .....

114  ..... the surprise of the evening:

Drummers and dancers entertain us

with the powerful rhythm and dance

of the Sega music

115  We are amazed at the many places

we can pull out to a beach with our car.

Here in the East at Palmar, a bit

North of Trou d’Eau Douce

116  Youngsters are never short of ideas!

117  Simply beautiful are all the lovely

public beaches – every couple of miles

there is another one. This one here

close to Palmar along the East coast

118  The church Marie-Reine in

Poudre d’Or in the Northeast is

one of the typical old churches.

It was built in 1847 …..

119  ….. the appealing interior

of the church

120  The “Notre Dame Auxiliatrice“

church sits at the most Northerly point at

Cap Malheureux. It is one of the most

photographed churches of Mauritius

121  Three men are fishing with the

backdrop of the tiny island

“Coin de Mire” in the North

122  Grand Baie in the Northwest

is the island’s most popular seaside

resort. Along this sandy beach

locals enjoy themselves …..

123  ..... around the corner is the tourist

ghetto with the expensive hotels

(beach of the Le Mauricia Hotel)

124  Yachts and motorboats belong

to the image of touristy Grand Baie

like souvenir, dive and fashion boutiques

and restaurants, bars and discos

125  The beautiful sandy beach lined

by casuarinas stretches from Trou aux

Biches to Mont Choisy. The Mont

Choisy beach is public and very busy

with families on weekends .....

126  ..... Hindu deities watch

over the beach

127  A lovely young Mauritian

girl in Grand Baie

128  A “fake” palm tree hosting a

transmitter station of the Emtel Telephone

Company. It looks like real and fits nicer

into the environment; alone its enormous

height looked suspicious to us

129  The serenity of the sunset in

Albion at the West coast is captivating

130  Mahébourg’s main market day is

Monday when also the farmers come

down from the ‘highlands’ to sell their

fresh produce …..

131  ….. Vegetable and fresh herbs

are in abundance. A salad and a bunch

of parsley cost Rup. 15 (US$0.50) each,

one kilo tomatoes Rup. 60 (US$2.05).

More expensive however are leek and

cauliflower

132  Coconut street vendors have

always customers. The milk is a lovely

and an affordable thirst quencher

133  Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a

flightless bird endemic to Mauritius, related

to doves and pigeons. It has been extinct

since the 17th century. Its height was

about 3.3 feet, its weight about 44 lb. Still

today it is “adored” in Mauritius and

still can be found painted on shacks

134  “Salon de Coiffure” – only the

nostalgic facade signalizes this once

little hairdresser shop on Mahébourg’s

main street, called “Royal Road”

135  Obelix’ perpetuation in

Morisyen (Mauritian Creole)

136  Mauritius had an extended rail

network between 1864 and 1964

(120 miles). This now unused bridge

near L’Escalier originates from this time

137  From the same time

comes this nostalgic mile stone

in the city center of Mahébourg:

”30 miles to Port Louis”

138  This road is the only one leading to our

panel beater. Being market day, we have to

struggle past the tarps across the road. After

we hit one, the vendors lift them with sticks

139  Rude awakening: Since the

rejuvenation of our LandCruiser on

June 21, 2006 in Miri/Sarawak on

the island of Borneo, the rust

takes over rapidly again …..

140  The panel beater does a good

job. He cuts out pieces …..

141  ….. and welds in new sheets. The

whole job lasts three full days. Inclusive

spraying (the paint itself we still had

with us from Sri Lanka, where we did

some tinkering too) we paid US$400

142  On September 2nd, 2011, the festival

of God Ganesh is celebrated. Ganesh with

the elephant head is the son of Shiva and

Parvati and is widely worshipped as the

god of wisdom, prosperity and fortune.

Devotees pray to him for success at the

beginning of any new venture or also

at the start of a new journey …..

143  ..... a dancing and singing

procession accompanying the statue

of Lord Ganesh is approaching the

waterfront in Mahébourg .....

144  ..... after a ritual of prayers and

offerings, a group of young men carry

their idol out to the sea. With acclamation

of the crowd they immerse the statue a

couple of times before consigning it

definitively to the sea .....

145  ..... then the singing and dancing

begins, accompanied by the beats of

the drums. The girls use long sticks

in their dances .....

146  ..... a musician is

absorbed in thoughts .....

147  ..... end of the ceremony: The

devotees leave the festive ground

148  We bid farewell to Mahébourg’s

waterfront where we often strolled along,

and to the „Liones Head“, one of the most

impressive mountains in the East .....

149  ..... to our guesthouse „Le Saladier“

in Mahébourg, where we felt home for

73 days and our LandCruiser had a

privileged covered place beneath flowers

150  It is time once more: On

September 8th, 2011, we say goodbye

to our travel companion, which drove us

932 miles across the „Pearl of the Indian

Ocean“ and stuff it into its 23rd container

with destination Madagascar

 

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