We fancied a bit of winter sun, and were drawn to Mauritius after our younger daughter had her honeymoon there, so I've been away for a few weeks. As ever I'll try not to bore you with too many holiday snaps and instead focus on things of historical interest.
We stayed in Chamaral in the southwest corner of the island, which is still largely mountainous tropical jungle (the rest of the island is largely given over to sugar cane production) . This the view from the mountaintop near our hotel, which we slogged up in 30 degree heat and 80% humidity for the excellent view. That big rock in the distance is Le Morne Brabant, tucked in behind the coral reefs.
Le Morne Brabant from sea level. It was a holdout for escaped slaves on the island prior to the abolition of slavery. Originally colonised by the French, Britain captured Mauritius in 1810 although French (and Creole) is still very much the lingua franca.
We stayed in Chamarel for a few days and then relocated to the capital, Port Louis (named after Louis XIII iirc)
Port Louis features a combined natural and military history museum!
It is pretty easy to spot thanks to the large mortars on the grass outside. 4.2" perhaps?
The military museum is on the upper floor, and features various uniforms like this WW1 one.
And this WW2 one. This was typical of the uniforms worn by the Mauritian defences forces. 35,000 Mauritians served in WW2. Who knew? The majority (27,000) were pioneers.
But many of then weren't. Being French speakers, some ended up employed by the SOE.
There was a nice array of 1/35 scale models.
And some sections on Napoleonic naval warfare.
The natural history museum wasn't huge, but inevitably featured a section on the Dodo.
Including this rather nice reproduction. The museum has some of the few remaining complete skeletons.
Up on a hill in Port Louis is Fort Adelaide, constructed by the British in the 1830s after the island was captured from the French. It is a fair old slog up the hill as it is quite steep.
But is is pretty spacious inside. This is the main courtyard. Even though it is cloudy weather the day was very hot and sultry. Not much fun for the garrison I imagine.
There are various random muzzle loading artillery pieces scattered around. I do like a metal gun carriage.
On top of the bastion is the site of a swivelling gun carriage. The post in excellent condition considering its age, location and weatehr conditions (the island is often hit by cyclones). The carriage wheels would have run around the raised lip below the parapet.
This lengthy battery faces the hills inland, probably its most vulnerable spot, although the fort is in a very commanding position over the city and port.
Courtyard from the ramparts. You can see the hills behind.
After a week in Mauritius, we took a cruise across to South Africa via Reunion and Madagascar.
Reunion was fairly remarkable as it is a French overseas territory, so it is in the EU and treated as metropolitan France. It was settled as an alternative to Madagascar, which proved to be very difficult to subdue, and was originally under the inhabited iirc.
This battery is along the waterfront in the capital, St Denis, near the site of the original settlement in a natural harbour.
This rather magnificent monument commemorates General de Gaulles visit in the 1960s.
But really, you could be in any town in the south of France. This is the Great War memorial outside the town hall. The main difference between Reunion and mainland France are the enormous volcanos on the island. The ones in the centre are dormant, and the active site has moved to the eastern coast. It erupts fairly regularly. The sea is 4000m deep here, so you can imagine how huge the volcano is
After Reunion we had a brief stop in Madagascar, docking at Port Dauphin. Site of the first French colony, the Dauphin in question being the future Louis XIV. Due to a rebellion, Mauritius was a no travel zone until fairly recently, but a military coup has restored some order.
This is Fort Dauphin near the site of the original settlement. It is used as family accommodation for the nearby military base.
The old fort walls are still in evidence.
It has dominating views across the bay (similar on the other side as it is on a peninsular).
There are still some surviving bastions with rusty cannon placed in them.
There is an interesting museum distributed across some of the buildings on the site. In this case a dugout canoe and fishing gear.
Weapons and other artefacts. The French initially evacuated Madagascar after fierce local resistance.
Various types of woven goods.
Accommodation blocks in the old fort.
Fort Dauphin commemorative plaque.
I know I said I wouldn't put up any general holiday snaps, but we were in Madagascar so Lemurs....
They were all very interesting places, although it was very much a whistle stop visit to Reunion and Madagascar (you can hardly do an island the size of a small continent justice in one day!). I'd recommend Mauritius to anyone, lovely place and direct flights from the UK.
Reunion has no less than four direct flights a day from Paris which also makes it attractive. It has amazing hiking trails and there is a large off grid community living inside one of the old craters, who are supplied by helicopter.
Madagascar? Well, one of our friends lived out there for a year working on development projects, and as one of the poorest countries in the world (most of the population live on less than a dollar a day), it is much as you'd expect. We didn't feel unsafe, but the grinding poverty was everywhere, and pretty miserable.
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