MAURITIUS: The ULTIMATE Travel Guide to PARADISE ISLAND the Indian Ocean

Welcome to Woud of the World and thanks for joining us again on our big world trip, which is lasting over a year now, of which the last two months we're visiting Africa. But now it's time to leave the mainland and go island hopping. And the first one is one of the most beautiful islands in the world, because this is Mauritius. But as always, we first look back on the past adventures. Our epic journey through Africa began on Zanzibar. We went on incredible safaris on the mainland of Tanzania. We repeated this in South Africa and Namibia with our own 4WD camper. After Botswana and Zimbabwe we now fly over Madagascar to Mauritius. Wow guys, what a trip did we have last night. It was already pitch black, dark outside, to go to the hotel in the neighborhood of the airport. We slept like a baby here and online people often ask me, doesn't ever something go horribly wrong while you're traveling? Because you travel for such a long time, over a year now, you must have some bumps in the road. And yesterday was such a bump in the road, because I'm standing here with an Air Austral t-shirt and it's not for no reason, because they lost our luggage. And this is the first time in 141 countries that I've been to, that this happened. So it was bound to happen at some point. Today is not really a problem, because we're still close to the airport and I'm going to drive over there to see if the luggage has arrived with the next airplane. So that's what we do today. And then we head on to the north, where the beautiful paradise of Mauritius is waiting for the coming week. Fortunately, our luggage is quickly recovered and we are introduced to the island, which was named Mauritius in 1598, after the Dutch Prince Maurits, brother of the famous William of Orange. After a French and English occupation, Mauritius became independent in 1968. Luckily, from that time they kept some of the good stuff. Pain au chocolat. From the airport we first do the necessary shopping and then we settle in the paradise of Grand Baie. This island is also famous for the dodo that used to live here, but unfortunately they are extinct. Wow guys, we just arrived in Grand Baie, where our apartment is for the coming three days. And this is KI Residences. It's super huge and it's awesome. Let me show you. The living room. Then over here, I'm already tired of walking. The kitchen with a bar where we can chill. Then over here we got two sides. The first bedroom is Jens'. Hey Jens, this is your bedroom. Awesome guys, look at this. And he's got his own en suite here, the bathroom. There's his little toilet. He's got his own shower over here. It's all super modern. Let's check out the other side. Then over here, we first have our bathroom. That's this one. It's so big. And then this is the master bedroom where the magic happens. Let's go. Awesome. I think we're going to enjoy ourselves here, guys. And if you already thought that the inside of our apartment was great, just check out the garden with the largest pool on entire Mauritius. I'll immediately show you how big that pool is. On the west side of the island is not only the capital Port Louis, but also most of the holiday destinations. We chill in our hotel, enjoy the luxurious kitchen in this apartment, and then it's time to explore the island. Good morning, guys. It's a lovely day on Mauritius. The sun is shining and it's time to make a little road trip across the island. We're staying in the entire northern tip, where a lot of touristy places are and a lot of hotels. But a lot of the icons of the island can be found in the south. So today, we'll be driving to the southern tip. So, we're visiting the south of Mauritius first today. And on the most southwestern tip of the island, we find one of the most beautiful spots. It's not only beautiful, it's also very important for the island. The mountain behind me is called Le Morne. It's surrounded by the most beautiful blue bays, white beaches, and it's a beautiful green mountain. But it's also a symbol for the battle against slavery. Because back in the era that the slavery was here, a lot of slaves would find refuge in the caves of this mountain. And they would hide there and they would have a free life. So they started living on this side of the island. And this is why it's still very important on Mauritius. And it's also very beautiful with the drone. In addition to that special history of this large green rock, this is of course also by far the most famous picture of Mauritius. What a natural wonder. It took us about two and a half hours to travel from the north to the south. Fortunately there are many more sights in this area. But first we chill out at this amazing beach. Just because we can. Very near to Le Morne is the Black River Gorge National Park and on the way we already have the best views from these green lush mountains over here. We're going to see some waterfalls as well and some natural phenomenons. But look at this view guys. Awesome. About a half hour drive from Le Morne. We arrive at the next unique natural wonders of Mauritius. The next stop guys. This is the Chamarel Waterfall. And it's giving quite a lot of water because it's been rainy season. The Chamarel Waterfall is the highest waterfall in Mauritius. At 100 meters. And the view that we have is phenomenal. The most special piece of nature that you can find in the Black River Gorge National Park is the seven colored earth. Because of a volcanic eruption and all the lava that went through the earth here. It has all kinds of colors because of all the minerals that are inside the earth. And it's very special indeed. This is a beautiful sight. And we should be able to discover the shades of red, brown, violet, green, blue, purple and yellow here. Obviously you can't walk up to it but we can go all around. And doing so we immediately see a famous resident. The giant tortoise. This particular species came over from the Seychelles. Because, like the dodo, the tortoises were also extinct in Mauritius. We drive a bit further and take a walk among the special eucalyptus trees of the Black River Gorges. So we drove for 30 minutes in the Black River Gorge. And we ended up at Alexandra Falls viewpoint. And it's not so much the waterfalls over here that are beautiful. But the view in general. Especially on the ocean over there. A little further we are introduced to the cultural background of Mauritius. All the way over on the east side of Black River Gorge is yet another interesting place. And it's not only because of the nature but this one because of religion. It's called Ganga Talao and it's also known as Grand Basin. There are a lot of Hindu people here on the island and they believe that their god Shiva flew around the earth and poured the holy Ganga's water into a volcanic crater over here. So it's a sacred lake with around it all kinds of Hindu buildings like statues and temples. And the largest statue here is 33 meters high and of course it's of their god Shiva. We discover a completely different side to Mauritius. Because two thirds of the island is inhabited by people with an Indian background, the Hindu faith plays an important role here. But also the cuisine of Mauritius is very similar to that of India. So delicious. Well, that Indian cuisine from Mauritius will have to wait a little longer because today we promise Jens the Macritus. Tonight is so special guys because we're having some traditional Mauritius food. We got a private chef here at the apartment and he's cooking inside right now. I'm very curious what we're going to eat. Wow, let me tell you. This food was absolutely fantastic. Good morning guys. Today the weather isn't as great as yesterday so I guess we were very lucky back then. It's kind of rainy but it doesn't really matter because today is moving day. We're going a little bit more to the south to a place called Pointe-aux-Biches for another apartment. And I don't know if you've noticed but a lot of names here are in French. So I'm trying to practice my French a little bit. So guys, this is apartment number two. It's called Plage Bleue and it's in Pointe-aux-Biches. This apartment is actually bigger than the previous one and it's right at the beach. So from the beach we're walking over there and I'm going to show you. This is the pool. Look at this. Right here guys. Sun is shining. Pool is over there. I'll show you the inside. On Mauritius you have all kinds of hotels but also many holiday apartments like ours. And this is usually a lot cheaper and more fun than a lot of those massive hotels. The location isn't too bad either, is it? We are thoroughly enjoying the sunshine but we have to remember this remains the tropics. And then the weather can change quite suddenly. So what do you do when it's raining on Mauritius? I know just what to do. We ordered a giant food platter and we're just watching a movie. Tomorrow is another day. I hope it's sunny again. No, let's just watch a movie. But you will see the sun will also come back faster than you think. So the rain is over. Yesterday was not a good day but today the sun is shining. So we moved on to one of the most beautiful beaches and it's called Flic en Flac. It's a French name and you're between the mountains, between the green hills and the beautiful blue ocean. So especially with the drone I will show you that this is paradise. Flic en Flac is located in the most beautiful place, between the volcanic peaks of Mauritius. There are some tourist spots but the beach is also a favorite with the locals. During a beach walk we discover a few more adjacent beaches. And it's nice to know that the paradise here is still completely free. Let's go swimming. That's it guys for today's episode on the lovely and beautifully tropical Mauritius. I love the island, especially all the different sceneries, the beaches, the mountains. But now it's time to go on our world trip and the next stop is France actually. France? Yeah, because there's a small bit of France in the Indian Ocean and it's called La Reunion. It's a wonderful island that looks like Hawaii and I always wanted to be there since I was a kid. So let's head over to the hotel, catch a plane and go to La Reunion. I'll see you there. Join us next time for a new tropical paradise. Although, La Reunion is a lot rougher than you might expect. So don't forget to click that subscribe button and always travel with us. Ciao! you