MAURITIUS

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WHAT TO DODeep Sea FishingMauritius is a paradise for deep sea fishing. Species include the blue or black marlin, all types of sharks, yellow tuna, the Bonitos, the ‘emperor’, the ‘pélerin’, the ‘bécune’ or the barracuda. Huge fishes like the Blue Marlin roam our seas and hunt around the island from November to April, and very often until May. The ocean is 70 metres deep one kilometre away from the coast. Mauritius holds several world fishing records (IGFA), including that of the mako shark of 1115 pounds, the blue shark of 400 pounds, a bonito of 41.5 pounds, a white tuna of 224 pounds and a ‘bécune’ of 125 pounds. African records (GFUA) mention a yellow tuna of 212 pounds and a white tuna of 224 pounds. Other specimens recently caught include blue marlins of 1430 and 1355 pounds. Fishing boats can be hired from almost all hotels. The most prestigious deep sea fishing competition is the Marlin World Cup which is hosted in December by La Pirogue Hotel.

WHAT TO SEE Grand Bay

Grand Bay was the first area of the island to fully experience the tourist boom. A shopping and leisure paradise, Grand Bay also happens to be the area where Mauritians head for when they want a fun-filled night out (restaurants, bars and discos). Recently renovated, La Cuvette beach is well worth a visit.

Pereybere The wonderful Pereybere public beach is popular because of its shopping

facilities, restaurants and pubs.

Balaclava RuinsA few metres away from Baie aux Tortues, which 17th century sailors named after the many tortoises in the area, can be found the ruins of the old Balaclava estate. Visitors will be able to see the sea walls, whose initial foundations were laid down by Mahé de Labourdonnais.

The Triolet ShivalaThe longest village on the island, Triolet offers an opportunity to visit the biggest Hindu temple, the Maheswarnath, first built in 1819 in honour of the Gods Shiva, Krishna, Vishnu, Muruga, Brahma and Ganesha.

The Labourdonnais OrchardsDiscover a large variety of tropical fruit trees, colourful and perfumed exotic flowers. Trips on mountain bikes or hiking are possible.

 

PRESIDENT Anerood Jugnauth Mauritius,

President

FOUR SEASONS RESORTS IN ANAHITA

CURRENCY Mauritian rupee Roupie mauricienne (French) ISO

4217 Code:MUR User Mauritius Subunit   1/100: cent Symbol: ₨ Coins: ₨ 1, ₨ 5, ₨ 10, ₨ 20 Banknotes: ₨ 25, ₨ 50, ₨ 100, ₨

200, ₨ 500, ₨ 1000, ₨ 2000 Central bank: Bank of Mauritius Website: bom.intnet.mu

Mauritius information is very important not only for the locals but also to the innumerable tourists visiting the island throughout the year. Mauritius is located in South Africa in the eastern part of Madagascar. It falls on the geographical coordinates of 20. 17 South and 57. 33 East.

Some important information on Mauritius geography are given below: Mauritius covers an area of 2,040 square kilometres. Out of this, the land covers an area of 2,030 square kilometres and the water bodies cover 10 square kilometres.

It has a long coastline of 177 kilometres. The summer months are between November and May; the

winter months stretch from May to November. The lowest point of Mauritius is the Indian Ocean and the

highest point is Mont Piton. About 49.02% of land is fit for cultivation. From January to March, the island witnesses cyclones.

PHOTOS

WILDLIFE

Marine life Coral reefs are found around most of the Mauritian coastline, most of the

coral life on the ring reef and within the lagoons has been destroyed due to the practice of dynamite fishing which was allowed up to the seventies, the exception is areas which are inaccessible to indigenous fishermen due to excessively rough seas. . The fish life in the lagoons and seas around most of the villages and towns is virtually non existent due to overfishing by the locals who utilise any form of device to catch any marine protein, all fish species and crustaceans are landed irrespective of size and, in the case of lobsters, when the female lobsters have berries. Fishing nets of a certain hole diameter is necessary to protect the species. The lobster population has been decimated to the extent that lobsters are now imported from Madagascar for the tourist (hotel) industry and local consumptiom. Spear Guns are illegal in Mauritius however the local fishermen use them extensively with which to hunt fish, there is a huge anomaly between the laws which exist to preserve and protect fish and the enforcement of these laws, The coast guard is under tight budgetary constraints and does very little patrolling, they are also reluctant to enforce existing laws with creole fishermen as they are deemed un-prosecutable due to their indigenous status. The coast guard is a department in name only, they do excel at inspecting the beaches on sunny days and if a station inspection is due then they'll endeavour to check the dive boats for correct documentation.

The estuaries are becoming polluted due to garbage which is dumped into the ravines, inland ravines are utilised extensively as refuse dumps, this creates a huge problem with regards to toxic water flow into the various estuaries, this also has an adverse effect on various marine life.

At Flic en Flac, on the west coast, there is a resident pod of dolphins which has the habit of resting,socialising and reproducing in a cove 2km South of Flic en Flac but are continuously harassed and exploited by commercial speed boat operators, the speed boats will gather as close to the dolphins as they can, sometimes directly over the moving pod of dolphins, whereupon they then shadow the dolphins and allow tourists to swim with the dolphins, the tourists in the water do their best to try and touch the dolphins, the end result is that the dolphins now move on instead of resting in this cove. The maximum number of boats that I counted harassing/stressing the dolphins during my three month observation period was 18 boats. There is no inforced legislation to prevent the dolphins from being harassed/stressed by boats and the swimmers who get into the water to "swim with the dolphins". "Swimming with the dolphins" is advertised at most of the hotels and the speed boat operators pro-actively canvass for clients for this "tourist attraction".

The sugar estates dump their effluent into their bordering rivers, the resultant water flow is dark brown/black in colour with a strong foul stench, this effluent flows into estuaries, lagoons, and is then flushed by tides into the open sea.

ReptilesA number of endemic reptiles are found in Mauritius, particularly on Round Island. These include day geckos (Phelsuma), night geckos (Nactus), skinks and the keel-scaled boa. Giant tortoises formerly occurred but are now extinct.

Mammals Main article: List of mammals in Mauritius The native mammalian fauna of Mauritius is limited to

bats and marine mammals. The Mauritius flying fox and Rodrigues flying fox are large fruit bats endemic to the islands.

A number of mammals have been introduced including rats, mice, tenrecs, mongooses, rusa deer and crab-eating macaques.

Birds Main article: List of birds of Mauritius Pink pigeon (Columba mayeri) ( Mauritius Fodi) islands of the country.

Over 100 species of bird have been recorded in Mauritius. There are seven or eight surviving endemic species on the main island depending on taxonomy. The Mauritius grey white-eye is the commonest of these, being widespread across the island including in man-made habitats. The others are less common and are mainly restricted to the Black River Gorges National Park in the south-west of the island. The Mauritius kestrel, Mauritius parakeet and pink pigeon all came close to extinction but are now increasing thanks to intensive conservation efforts.

Rodrigues Island has two further endemic species, the Rodrigues warbler and Rodrigues fody. Seabird colonies are present on many of the smaller islands of the country.

A wide variety of birds have been introduced into Mauritius. These include some of the most common and conspicuous birds of the islands including the common myna, Madagascar fody, red-whiskered bulbul and zebra dove. The common myna is becoming a pest due to its well documented habit of displacing smaller bird species from their habitat and also destroying the smaller bird species young. The mynas were introduced for commercial reasons, primarily to help control the locusts which eat the sugar cane leafage, instead, they prey on small indigenous lizards which are easier to catch due to their basking habits which is required for their metabolism, the lizards have become the mynas primary source of food, but due to the myna's preying on these lizards an imbalance is being created with insects which the lizard would prey on which the common myna doesn't eat due to its inability to crawl under rocks and forage in the dense grass, flora, and fauna.

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