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| Mauritius
Information: General
| North | South
| East | Center
| Capital |
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Mauritius
West
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There
is so much to say about in the western region of Mauritius,
that we can concentrate only on its southerly part starting
from Flic-en-Flac to Le Morne. The region
between Port Louis and Tamarin hides two fairly nice
spots that are the Albion lighthouse and "Montagne Jacquot."
However, these spots are best appreciated when visited
by sea. |
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Climate |
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The
climate on the west coast is relatively dry and can
get very hot in summer. It is therefore a pleasant region
all year round, especially during the windy month of
June to August. A T-Shirt (or less) is all you need
in summer (November to March.) A sweatshirt or something
warmer is necessary for winter evenings (June to August). |
| Up the mountains
near Chamarel, it is advisable to bring warm,
long-sleeved clothes, as it can get cool at any time. |
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| Topography |
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The
southern half of the west looks and feels very different
to the rest of Mauritius. Being inhabited in
vast majority by the "Creole" population (i.e.
from African origin) and with its savannas, the west
definitely feels like Africa.
Due to the presence of several rivers and streams, the
western coast does not have many bright white beaches;
adding to its peculiarity. The west has also magnificent
inland sceneries, which are easily accessible. It is
the combination of these two aspects that makes the
west a place to see absolutely. |
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There are several small and picturesque villages in
that region; among them we would mention Flic-en-Flac,
Tamarin, Chamarel and Le Morne Brabant. |
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Flic-en-Flac |
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Flic-en-Flac used to be a charming and quiet beach
resort. Since the end of the 80's, a few hotels
have been built and more recently this part of the Mauritian
coast has been adopted by international hotel
chains like Hilton, Sofitel or Taj, but there is a public
beach left. More recently important property development
projects took place with a great amount of apartments
for sale and rent. The result is that Flic en Flac got
organised and now counts several restaurants, tourist
bureaus, a chemist, bank, launderette and shops of all
types. There is also the "Pasadena Complex" with a supermarket,
gambling house and a night club. |
| To enjoy the
beach in Flic-en-Flac, it is imperative to reside
in one of the hotels on the beach as the village itself
and its unique public beach is a bit limitative, especially
on weekends when mauritians go to the beach. |
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| Tamarin
Bay |
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Tamarin Bay is well known for its surfing
conditions and was one of the most famous "sweet spots"
of the hippy surfers in the late 60's and 70's.
The discovery of more regular surf spots around the
world and the new sophisticated image of Mauritius
have slowly killed its legend. But despite the natural
development of the region, Tamarin village is
authentic; the houses and villas are almost the same
and the people are as open and friendly than they were
40 years ago. By the way, the only hotel of the village,
the Tamarin
Hotel is a building typical of the 70's and has
been renovated in 2003 in the exact same style.
The beach in Tamarin is not white due to the Tamarin
river outlet in the lagoon but the bay has a very peculiar
vibe. This place is magic, if not mystic, especially
on "Big Days" when the whole village is on a buzz, |
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| when all have
one thing in mind... surfing. On those days, Tamarin
is like back to the "Flower Power" times that left several
prints in Tamarin. (See our info on surfing
in Mauritius). |
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| Places
to Visit and Activities |
The
western region offers the widest possibilities of excursions,
sports and activities; several are in open places and
may not require guidance nor pre-organisation.
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Black
River Gorges
The Black River Gorges is
the largest public nature park of Mauritius,
especially since the building of a tarred road leading
straight to the bottom of the valley.
All the paths start (or end) from the parking area
but the best way to visit the gorges is to be dropped
at "Le Pétrin" (not far from Grand Bassin),
walk down the paths and be collected in the parking
area down the gorges. This would be a three hours
walk as compared to almost five hours if you wish
to walk all the way down to the coastal road. |
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| This walk can
be made on one's own or guided by excursionists,
in groups or with dedicated guides. |
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Le
Morne Brabant
Le Morne Brabant is an isolated rocky mountain
and peninsula situated at the South-Western extremity
of the island. The mountain itself is impressive, as
it stands alone, shining in the skyline, or is it due
to all the history and fabulous stories around it?
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Le Morne Mountain is said to be the place where
the runaway slaves went to hide in order to make sure
that they won't be found and captured. The story does
not tell how they got up there in the first place,
but it is said that they had set a wooden bridge across
to come up and down and that they were removing it
once everyone had reached the hide at the summit.
When the slavery got finally abolished, an expedition
was sent to meet them to break the news. Seeing that
many people were coming their way, they thought the
expedition was for the purpose of capturing them again
and many jumped from the top, as they were not ready
to be slaves again.
In addition to the mountain, the peninsula around
it is like paradise in paradise. The lagoon is magic
for its crystal clear waters lying at the foot of
the imposing mountains of Le Morne and "Piton De
La Riviere Noire" (highest peak of Mauritius).
One of the first holiday hotels of Mauritius
was built on this peninsula when the first regular
passenger flights reached Mauritius in 1947.
Over the past ten years, the wild part of the peninsula
saw the settling of several other hotels. The wilderness
has gone, but
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| the site remains
exclusive and is now being re-discovered by the windsurfers
and Kite Surfers as Le Morne is the best Kite
surfing spot of Mauritius. |
The Martello Towers
The Martello tower(s) are famous Worldwide as they have
been built in several places along the English coast,
in Canada, Jamaica, Sri Lanka etc., Mauritius
alone counts five of them. They were built by the British
between 1810 and 1846 for defence purposes against their
empirical enemies, the French navy.
The irony in their history lies in the fact that the
British were inspired by a similar tower on the Mortella
point of Corsica where only 38 men firing from the tower
managed to keep away English invaders for many days.
The name of Martello was given to them following some
corruption of the name of the Corsican point.The Martello
tower of La Preuneuse has been restored in 1999
and is now accessible for guided visits. |
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The Casela Park proposes huge aviaries and thousands
of colourful birds from different regions of the globe,
a petting farm where children can discover the world
of wild animals just to mention a few. Casela is annexed
to the Yemen
natural park, which can be visited in 4 X 4
trips, in a safari bus, on Quad bikes or by taking
part in a climb with lifelines.
It is also possible to go hiking in one of the
numerous private properties of the region if you use
accredited guides such as "Fun & Culture" or "Yemaya
Adventures" or to go and hunt the wild boar.
There is also a Golf
Course at the Paradis Hotel, and one coming up soon
in the region of Flic-en-Flac.
On the sea-side; Yemaya Adventures proposes trips in
sea kayaks along the river and in Tamarin Bay
with some chances to watch dolphins that regularly come
"for a swim" at hardly 1 km off the beach. We would
like to point-out that we do not support excursions
proposing swims with |
dolphins
or observation of dolphins in power boats. We believe
sea kayaks and sailing boats are the only acceptable
means to carry-out such an excursion.
Speedboat trips or catamaran
trips within the lagoon.
The west coast counts several wonderful scuba diving
sites and good conditions for surfing, windsurfing and
of course, Kitesurfing. |
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| Accommodation |
The western region is very complete in terms of accommodation
also, as not only does it counts many 3
star, 4 star and 5
star hotels, there are beautiful private
beach villas for rent as well as apartments and
guesthouses.
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| Updated:
June 2006 |
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| Accommodation:
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| Lodges
& Guesthouses,
Bungalows
110-150 Euro, Villas
180-360 Euro, Luxury
Villas |
| Hotel
Promotions, Golf
Hotels Mauritius, Honeymoon
Packages, Early Booking Offers, Spa
Hotels |
| 2
& 3 star Mauritius Hotels, 4
Star Hotel Mauritius, 5
Star Mauritius Hotels |
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Mauritius
for Two:
Culture
/ Sightseeing,
Holidays
in Spas, Honeymoon
in Mauritius, Weddings |
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Active
Holidays:
Golf Holidays,
Hiking
Holidays, Horse
Riding Holidays, Kite
Surfing Holidays, Mountain
Biking Holidays, Nautical
Holidays |
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Vehicles:
Car
Rentals, Vehicle
hire services, Airport
Transfers |
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