Images
|
|
|
|
|
• Walk around the capital, Port Louis, to see fine colonial architecture such as Government House atop the palm-lined Place d'Armes. Gaze at one of the world's rarest stamps at the Blue Penny Museum (website: www.bluepennymuseum.com) or gawk at dodo skeletons in the Natural History Museum (website: www.mauritiusmuseums.org).
• Go souvenir shopping at Port Louis' bustling Central Market, the craft market at The Caudan Waterfront (website: www.caudan.com) or shopping centres around the island. Bargain hunt in Chinese and Indian shops in the inland towns.
• Families should head to Casela Bird Park (website: www.caselayemen.mu) in the west. With 90 aviaries on 25 hectares (61 acres), it has more than 140 bird varieties, from five continents. The main attraction is the pink pigeon, one of the world's rarest birds.
• Stroll around Pamplemousses Gardens (e-mail: ssrbg@intnet.mu), the third oldest botanical gardens in the world, created in the 18th century. Its international collection of plants includes giant Amazon lilies and the talipot palm, which flowers once every 60 years, then dies.
• Visit Mauritius Aquarium (website: www.mauritiusaquarium.com) in the north, populated by 200 species of fish, invertebrates, live coral and sponges originating from the waters around the island. It also has a touch pool for children.
• Follow the pilgrimage route to Grand Bassin, a natural crater lake and sacred Hindu site up on Plaine Champagne. A new 33m- (108ft-) high Shiva statue heralds the entrance to the few temples heaving with colour, incense and people at festival time.
• Visit the National History Museum (website: www.mauritiusmuseums.org) in Mahébourg in the southeast to see the bell from the shipwreck of Le San Geran that inspired Mauritius' most famous romantic legend, Paul & Virginie, and rooms dedicated to the Dutch, French and British periods.
• Visit the most characterful town on the island, Mahébourg, and head to its new waterfront for gajaks (snacks) and a view across the bay of Grand Port, the site of the famous 1810 naval battle, to Lion Mountain.
• Snorkel or take a glass bottom boat out to see the fish and coral in Blue Bay, Mauritius' only marine park. Or better still, take a luxury excursion to the private island just off the coast, Iles des Deux Cocos (e-mail: individual.CRO@naiade.com), to explore it from there.
• Head to the untamed south coast to see unusual rock formations such as the blowhole at Le Souffleur, a natural rock bridge at Pont Naturel and at the wild clifftop of Gris Gris, near Souillac, a rock shaped like a witch.
See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.
• Go souvenir shopping at Port Louis' bustling Central Market, the craft market at The Caudan Waterfront (website: www.caudan.com) or shopping centres around the island. Bargain hunt in Chinese and Indian shops in the inland towns.
• Families should head to Casela Bird Park (website: www.caselayemen.mu) in the west. With 90 aviaries on 25 hectares (61 acres), it has more than 140 bird varieties, from five continents. The main attraction is the pink pigeon, one of the world's rarest birds.
• Stroll around Pamplemousses Gardens (e-mail: ssrbg@intnet.mu), the third oldest botanical gardens in the world, created in the 18th century. Its international collection of plants includes giant Amazon lilies and the talipot palm, which flowers once every 60 years, then dies.
• Visit Mauritius Aquarium (website: www.mauritiusaquarium.com) in the north, populated by 200 species of fish, invertebrates, live coral and sponges originating from the waters around the island. It also has a touch pool for children.
• Follow the pilgrimage route to Grand Bassin, a natural crater lake and sacred Hindu site up on Plaine Champagne. A new 33m- (108ft-) high Shiva statue heralds the entrance to the few temples heaving with colour, incense and people at festival time.
• Visit the National History Museum (website: www.mauritiusmuseums.org) in Mahébourg in the southeast to see the bell from the shipwreck of Le San Geran that inspired Mauritius' most famous romantic legend, Paul & Virginie, and rooms dedicated to the Dutch, French and British periods.
• Visit the most characterful town on the island, Mahébourg, and head to its new waterfront for gajaks (snacks) and a view across the bay of Grand Port, the site of the famous 1810 naval battle, to Lion Mountain.
• Snorkel or take a glass bottom boat out to see the fish and coral in Blue Bay, Mauritius' only marine park. Or better still, take a luxury excursion to the private island just off the coast, Iles des Deux Cocos (e-mail: individual.CRO@naiade.com), to explore it from there.
• Head to the untamed south coast to see unusual rock formations such as the blowhole at Le Souffleur, a natural rock bridge at Pont Naturel and at the wild clifftop of Gris Gris, near Souillac, a rock shaped like a witch.
See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.
