Mauritius, like in any place on earth, keeps its potential danger hidden behind the image of luxury and paradise that it casts around it. Staying safe during your stay is a priority. When first arriving at your destination, you will have to note down or to look for a phonebook containing the telephone numbers of emergency. Some of the numbers are listed below:

1. Emergency : 114
2. Ambulance : 999
3. Police emergency : 999 or 112

Those telephone numbers concern immediate help. It will however be better to know the telephone numbers of any important branches found at the locality to speed up the process of getting into contact with a person who will be able to help you.

Home Security

If you grew up abroad, you will be very surprised to see how Mauritian homes are set up. Nearly, all houses are surrounded by a wall and a main gate. The windows are framed with anti-theft bars. The upper middle class families often have an alarm system or cameras to guard their homes. It can sound creepy and maybe you ask yourself if ever Mauritians feel imprisoned in their own homes. But it is not the case. It has been an old habit to keep homes safe from thieves and attacks. Although those mean of security is strongly followed, theft or attacks still occur on a regular basis. It is not advisable to keep a spare key under a pot of plant or under the doormat. Keeping valuable belongings near the window is also to be avoided. While living here, you will have to get rid of some unconscious habits like e.g. simply closing a door and not locking it.

Pedestrian Security

Unfortunately, pepper sprays are not allowed here. On the occurrence of attacks or indecent assault, your only weapon will be your voice. Especially in public places, screaming will help you enormously. It is not unknown to have perverts trying to touch or molest women on public buses. Generally, it is quite safe to use electronic devices such as laptops or smartphones in public places. The only thing is to know where and when. Walking alone at night, especially in areas where clubbing thrives, is to be avoided unless you are in a group or accompanied. Try to keep bank notes in your pockets instead of purses as handbags are often snatched. Be very careful when you walk on streets especially those which contain hawkers in Port Louis.

Road Security

Since the 1^st January 2014, a new law is being enforced on Mauritian roads. Drivers are required to have a high-visibility clothing in hand. Motorcyclists and cyclists are required to always wear them whenever they are driving. Backpacks are not allowed to be worn in those cases. Drivers who change their wheels at night should absolutely wear this clothing to be seen by upcoming drivers and avoid being knocked down.

Mauritian drivers are also not the most polite ones. Being diplomatic will help you when arguing with someone if ever an accident occurs or wait for the police to resolve the issue.

Mauritian roads are narrow and less spacious than European or American ones. You will need a lot of dexterity to control your car. Note that cars drive on the left hand side of the road and the priority is for vehicles coming from the right. Foreigners are required to have their international license or a license issued by a competent foreign authority to drive. British car license is accepted automatically. While renting for a car, you will have to check if the required accessories are present. They are the yellow chalk, the warning triangle, the fire extinguisher, an accident report and the high-visibility clothing. If ever one of them is missing, ask the car rental company to provide it to you.

Beach Security

Do not swim in any case when the weather is bad, especially if a cyclone alert has been declared and no matter how weak this alert is. The cyclone warning ranges from I to IV with the strength increasing in ascending order. Generally, a swimming area is most of the time demarked in the lagoon with the help of yellow floating balloons. Swim in those areas. Beach officers will guide you while doing aquatic activities such a kayak.

Holidays can be great and memorable. It is better to be prudent for it to stay so. Do not be scared to ask for help in any case. Most Mauritians will be willing to help you.

Image Source: Jean Marc Lim

A smooth bewitching smell spreads in most Mauritian homes every morning. The sweet vanilla mixed with the delicacy of milk arouses taste buds. It is the signal that a new day is beginning, that it is a time to take a break from a long day at work, to meet some friends or simply to enjoy some calmness. This mesmerizing smell is no other than tea.

Commonly called “dité” – spelled jee-thay – in Creole, tea has been omnipresent in Mauritian life since the colonial period, around the 1800s, where the British brought the habit of tea time with them. Brought from Sri Lanka, tea plants were cultivated for exports and for the use of the population. However, this industry declined with the rise of the sugar industry during the 1990s which was more competitive at that time. Since then, tea plantations decreased substantially to give place to sugar cane fields or residential areas. Nowadays, only two major factories survived, The Corson Tea Estate and the Bois Chéri tea factory owned by St. Aubin Ltd.

La Route du Thé

The absence of tea in a Mauritian home can be qualified as a blasphemy. It is always polite to offer some tea to visitors whether it is Chinese tea or the pure Mauritian one although Chinese tea tends to be offered by the Sino-Mauritians only. Employers are also required to prepare a budget to offer tea, milk and sugar to their employees at any time of the day. Early in the morning, teas are sold in markets known as “bazaar” in Mauritian Creole. They are also widely available in every traditional shops or supermarkets on the island. A variety of tea with fancy different tastes e.g exotic fruits is present on the market now.https://web.archive.org/web/20161128170548if_/http://www.youtube.com/embed/944dJKfm31k

The discovery of tea can be an amazing experience. Fortunately, St. Aubin Ltd designed a journey to make you explore the history behind teas, its manufacture and its taste in its various form. Best known in French as “La Route du Thé”, which literally translate to the road of tea, the journey starts at the Domaine des Aubineaux found at Forest Side. One of the last colonial houses of Mauritius was built on that estate. The house was kept with its traditional portraits and furniture. You will still feel the antique of the environment. It’s like a travel backwards in time. You will also be invited to drink tea in the tea lounge of the house. The surrounding garden overflows with endemic and exotic plants.

Bois Cheri Tea Factory

The journey continues at the second step of the route which is found at Bois Chéri. A tea factory is set up there surrounded by a large tea field as far as the eye can see. The factory is divided into two sections. The first section contains the museum and the second one accommodates all the machinery required to process the tea leaves. You will be able to see the enormous machines in the manufacturing section from the museum through a large glass pane. Travelling further more into the inner estate, a welcoming chalet shelters a cosy restaurant with a breathtaking view on the south of the island. The exquisite menu includes different variations of tea used as an ingredient to season the main course and desserts. A tea degustation is offered by the restaurant on the balcony after the meal. The tea leaves proposed are mixed with different flavours like coconut, mint, vanilla and more. It’s pleasurable if you are an avid amateur of this beverage.

The last step brings you to the Saint-Aubin found at the south of the island. The colonial house of former administrators of the sugar estate was built there with wood from demolished ships. Its peacefulness can be compared to spas. A restaurant proposes pure Mauritian Creole cuisine with ingredients grown in the surrounding garden and poultry raised in the mini-farm of the estate. A small manufacture of traditional rum, made from sugar cane juice, is also present there. The rum is quite strong with a slight sweet taste. It is also available in different flavours. The most common are vanilla and coconut. An independent Creole house has been transformed into an inn and can welcome you for a marvellous week-end.

“La Route du Thé” is the only attraction which will make you travel back to the colonial period where the tea industry was much more important. It is not to be missed. Mauritians’ tea obsession is also not to be neglected. Happy is the Mauritian expatriate who is offered a vanilla flavoured packet of tea. This beverage will not be forgotten or replaced anytime soon.