Mauritius is a small island situated in the Indian Ocean. We are connected via direct flights to almost every capital city. So getting there is relatively easy. The island is about 720 square miles in area, long by around 40 miles and wide by around 30 miles at the biggest ends. The population is around 1,2 million and comes from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
The climate is temperate and some may call it hot in summer. Summer ranges from December to April. The best area to stay around summer would be along the east and south eastern coasts because of their direct exposure to the general winds known as the south east trade winds.
The island is volcanic although the main crater, the Trou aux Cerfs is now as extinct as the Dodo, which, by he way, was unique to the island.
The adventurous will discover many rivers and streams as well as lakes, waterfalls and mountains very typical of a volcanic island. Many types of activities can be organized to make the most of these beautiful sites or sights.
The island was primarily discovered by the Arabs but they did not make great use of the place. They called it the Dinarobin.
Much later the Portuguese came around and named it the isle of the Swan, maybe because of the dodo bird. Then it was taken over by the Dutch who called it Mauritius after one of their royal members. They were the first to attempt to colonize the place but finally abandoned.
The French then arrived in 1715 and called the island Ile de France. They started trading and cultivating sugar cane maximizing the slave trade.
But a hundred years later Mauritius regained its Dutch name when the English took over and the island remained a British colony and never stopped developing it until its independence in 1968.
Mauritius is now a well respected republic and well acclaimed democracy, with seats on various international organizations.
