Tasting the melting pot in Mauritius
Pro tip: Get off your lounge chair and explore
Each week, we spotlight a dream vacation recommended by some of the industry's top travel writers. This week's pick is Mauritius.
Most visitors to Mauritius come to experience the cliché of a tropical vacation that's "immortalized on office desktops across the globe," said Sarah Khan at The New York Times. They want to lounge on resort beach chairs while pondering the color of the ocean. "Is it azure? Turquoise? Cerulean?" The beaches on this Indian Ocean island are undoubtedly spectacular, but that's not what lured me to Mauritius. I'd become fascinated with the island in college, when my Mauritian friend Santosh told me of the rich multicultural heritage of his homeland. When we reunited on his turf 15 years later, I was determined to explore the island that lay "beyond plunge pools and bath butlers," to sample its melting-pot cuisine, and to explore its interior — which turned out to be a tableau "rife with visual synonyms for the color green."
Before gaining independence, Mauritius was ruled for five centuries by the Dutch, French, and British, and it attracted waves of migrants from India, China, and Africa. All added to the island's linguistic mix — Santosh speaks English with a French accent, and talks to his family in Creole — and to its food. At a market in Quatre Bornes, a hill town surrounded by mountains that "look photoshopped into the background," I tried my first gâteau piment: a deep-fried chickpea fritter that's studded with chilies and often eaten with bread and cheese at breakfast. During a food crawl one night in the capital, Port Louis, I gorged on roast chicken, mine frite (stir-fried noodles), and crepes slathered with Nutella and sprinkled with fresh coconut.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"But really, what of those beaches?" There's a good reason tourists head to Long Beach, Grand Baie, and Le Morne, but locals have their own choice seaside spots. At Flic en Flac beach on the west coast, I bought chunks of fresh pineapple coated with tamarind and chili salt and savored my snack in near solitude. At Blue Bay in the east, I chatted in Hindi with a group of women singing and dancing to Bhojpuri songs. "It's a day off from husbands, kids, and responsibility," one told me. Every Saturday evening on public beaches across the island, I learned, Mauritians host barbecues rich in biryani and booze. "If only more visitors got off their loungers and lobbied for an invite."
Read more at The New York Times, or book a room at Lux Le Morne. Doubles start at $230.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Antony Gormley's Time Horizon – a 'judgmental army' of 100 cast-iron men
The Week Recommends Sculptures are 'everymen questioning the privilege of their surroundings' at the Norfolk stately home
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
'King's horses take free rein through London'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Is pop music now too reliant on gossip?
Talking Point Taylor Swift's new album has prompted a flurry of speculation over who she is referring to in her songs
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Gaza hospital blast: What the video evidence shows about who's to blame
Speed Read Nobody wants to take responsibility for the deadly explosion in the courtyard of Gaza's al-Ahli Hospital. Roll the tape.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Giraffe poo seized after woman wanted to use it to make a necklace
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Helicopter sound arouses crocodiles
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Woman sues Disney over 'injurious wedgie'
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Emotional support alligator turned away from baseball stadium
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Europe's oldest shoes found in Spanish caves
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Artworks stolen by Nazis returned to heirs of cabaret performer
It wasn't all bad Good news stories from the past seven days
By The Week Staff Published