Mauritius is a 790-square-mile volcanic island in the Indian Ocean that uniquely hosts populations from four continents (Indian, African, Chinese, and French) living together peacefully, making it the only country in Africa where Hinduism is the largest religion and the only place on Earth where the dodo bird ever lived; the island features remarkable natural phenomena including the world's third largest coral reef, a seven-colored sand dune formation, and an underwater waterfall visible only from helicopters, while its cultural heritage includes UNESCO-recognized traditions like Sega music and the annual Maha Shivaratri pilgrimage where half a million Hindus walk barefoot to a sacred lake.
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Living in MAURITIUS | How People Live Where 4 CONTINENTS Share One Island | 4K Travel Documentary
Added:Imagine an island so small you can drive across it in an hour.
Now imagine that on that same island four continents live side by side. Hindu temples [music] share street corners with Chinese pagodas. Mosques [music] face Catholic cathedrals and nobody thinks it's strange.
That island exists. Its name is Mauritius.
This is the only place on Earth where the dodo ever lived.
It's also the only country in Africa where Hinduism is the biggest religion.
It's smaller than Rhode Island >> [music] >> but it holds two UNESCO sites and the world's third largest coral reef.
And here's the part nobody believes at first.
There's a waterfall here that flows under the water. You can only see it from a helicopter.
There are sand dunes with seven colors that never mix no matter how hard you shake them.
And there's a mountain standing alone at the edge of the ocean that once hid runaway slaves in its clouds.
How does one tiny volcanic [music] island squeeze all of that into 790 square miles? That's what we're going to find out together.
Grab a coffee, settle in, and let me show you Mauritius.
You approach it from the air, and the first thing you notice isn't the island, it's the ring around it. A perfect circle of turquoise glowing from above. That's not a filter.
That's the world's third largest coral reef wrapped around Mauritius like a necklace, right behind Australia's Great Barrier and Belize. Now, the island itself, 790 square miles.
That's a bit smaller than the state of Rhode Island.
From east coast to west coast, you can drive it in an hour and 15 minutes.
And yet, somehow, this tiny piece of land packs in nine districts, four dependent islands, and one of the highest population densities on Earth.
Here's how it got here.
About 9 million years ago, a massive volcano erupted beneath the ocean.
It kept erupting for millions of years.
Then it went quiet.
What it left behind is what you see today, dramatic black basalt mountains, jagged cliffs, and one incredible monolith called Le Morne Brabant.
That's 1,824 [music] ft of pure volcanic rock standing alone at the southwest tip.
Taller than the Empire State Building.
We'll come back to it. The weather, almost too easy.
Winter runs May through October, dry breezy 70s. Summer runs November through April. Hot, humid, cyclones sometimes.
But the ocean stays 73° to 82° Fahrenheit all year.
Miami wouldn't dare. And now the strangest part.
Off the coast of Le Morne from a helicopter, you can see a waterfall.
But it's not on land.
It's under the water.
Currents drag sand and silt over the edge of a continental shelf into a 4,000-ft deep trench.
From above, it looks like an ocean pouring into an abyss.
It's an illusion, but it's real.
And it exists nowhere else on planet Earth.
There's a volcanic crater called Trou aux Cerfs, 984-ft wide right [music] in the middle of a town. There's a waterfall called Chamarel that drops 330-ft [music] through jungle. And there's a hundred more corners waiting. 9 million years of fire softened by 200 million years of ocean. That's Mauritius. Before we continue our wonderful journey to Mauritius, let me know what time it is where you're watching >> [music] >> and which country you're in.
Drop it in the comments below.
Now let's talk about the people because this This is where Mauritius gets truly unbelievable. 1.37 million Mauritians live on this island.
Their ancestors [music] came from four continents. 67% are Indo-Mauritian, descended from Indian workers who arrived in the 19th century. 28% are Creole descended from African and Malagasy slaves. 3% are Sino-Mauritian descended from Hakka Chinese traders.
2% are Franco-Mauritian.
And after 200 years of living together, the faces you'll see here are some of the most beautifully mixed in the world.
But here's the part that changed my mind about this island. There's a word Mauritians use, vivre ensemble. It means living together.
And it's not a slogan.
It's a way of life.
In the Port Louis market, you'll see Hindu vendors selling curry next to Muslim vendors selling biryani next to Chinese vendors selling boulettes.
On Diwali, Muslims join Hindu families.
During Ramadan, Hindus [music] bring gifts.
Nobody thinks it's strange. It's just Tuesday. [music] Say hello here and you'll hear it. Ki manyer, that's Creole for how's it going? Always said with a smile. Now, the language thing.
Get this. [music] The average kid in Mauritius speaks three to four languages before they turn 10.
Creole at home, French on TV, English at school, and Bhojpuri Hindi or Tamil with their grandparents. Two names to remember.
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, first woman president of Mauritius from 2015 to 2018.
A trained biologist. And J.M.G. Le Clézio, Nobel Prize for literature in 2008.
Franco-Mauritian.
One of the greatest [music] living novelists. Oh, and one more thing.
Mauritius has the highest human development index in Africa.
University is free.
Public transport [music] is free for students and seniors. And it's rated level one safe, the same as Iceland.
Next stop, the capital, Port Louis, founded in 1735 by a French governor named Mahé de La Bourdonnais.
Today, it sits like a bowl, mountains on three sides, the Indian Ocean on the fourth.
You feel it the moment you drive in. The skyline is a wild mix.
Colonial buildings from the 1800s, a UNESCO depot called Aapravasi Ghat, modern glass towers, and Le Caudan Waterfront with its umbrella square, a plaza with rainbow umbrellas suspended in the air. Walk 5 minutes and you're in Chinatown.
The Kwan Tee Pagoda was built in 1842, the oldest Chinese [music] temple in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Chinese Chamber of Commerce nearby was founded in 1908, the second oldest in the world. And now, the beating heart, Central Market.
Morning is when it comes alive.
Curry pots bubbling, dholl puri sizzling on hot griddles, vanilla saffron mangoes stacked in pyramids.
You can taste four continents in half an hour for about $10. But Port Louis has another side.
Drive 15 minutes south and you hit Ebene Cyber City. Locals call it the Silicon Valley of Africa.
Over a hundred tech companies. That same guy in a sharp suit at 9:00.
At 6:00 p.m.
>> [music] >> He's at Umbrella Square in a t-shirt drinking Chamarel rum. And on Saturday, the whole city empties onto Champ de Mars, the second oldest horse racing track in the world since 1812.
Even if you don't bet, you go because everyone else does. Port Louis is a small city with a huge heart. But if the city is Mauritius's brain, >> [music] >> the villages are its soul.
Leave Port Louis, drive south 20 minutes, and everything changes. The high-rises fall away.
Sugarcane fields open up like a green ocean rolling to the mountains.
About 35% of the island is covered in sugarcane.
Between those fields, small villages sit tucked away. Traditional Creole houses have sharp roofs, long verandas, and wide canopies. The government protects them as heritage. If you want to see one, visit Eureka, a colonial mansion with 109 doors and windows. Now, here's a special village. High in the mountains, Chamarel. It's the only mountain village on the island. About 800 people live there. Descendants of freed African slaves. And they have some of the coolest surnames you'll ever hear. L'Intelligent, La Sagesse, La Fantaisie. The intelligent, the wisdom, the fantasy. Their ancestors got these names from French priests who described them by their character.
They still wear them proudly today. Head north and it's different. [music] Bhojpuri villages communities descended from Indian workers.
They still speak Bhojpuri. [music] They still perform Geet Gawai, a wedding ritual recognized by UNESCO.
Weddings often 500 to 1,000 guests.
Anything smaller is intimate. Village life has a rhythm.
5:00 a.m. Men to the fields, >> [music] >> women to the market.
Noon, long lunches. 6:00 p.m. The whole village gathers under a big mango tree.
Somebody pulls out a Ravanne, a frame drum, and Sega begins. Because Sega, that famous UNESCO [music] music, wasn't born in a resort. It was born here.
[snorts] From people letting go of the day. In Port Louis, you see Mauritius.
In the villages, you feel it.
You'll hear it before you see it. A drum, a rattle, a triangle, and then the whole crowd starts moving as one. That's Sega.
Born in the 18th century from African slaves on the sugar plantations.
After sundown, they'd gather.
Someone would start a beat. Someone else would sing in Creole. And they'd dance, hips low, feet quick, arms telling a story. Three instruments.
That's all it takes.
The Ravanne, a large frame drum.
The Maravanne, a wooden box filled with seeds, and a simple metal triangle.
No electricity, and a whole beach starts moving. In 2014, UNESCO added Sega to its intangible cultural heritage list. Every Mauritian has a favorite Sega singer.
Ti Frere is the greatest. His songs still play at every wedding.
And there's Kaya. He mixed Sega with reggae and called it seggae.
He died young in 1999, but his music is still everywhere.
Here's what I love. Sunday evenings on Flic en Flac beach.
Locals show up with ravannes. They start playing, and if you're standing nearby, they'll wave you in. Sega isn't a performance, it's a conversation, and everyone's invited.
If you only try one thing on the whole island, make it this. It's called dholl puri, and it's basically a religion.
Picture a thin, warm flatbread, soft, elastic, slightly chewy.
Inside, ground yellow split peas with turmeric.
On top, a scoop of bean curry, rougaille sauce, and pickle.
Rolled up, handed to you in wax paper.
About $1.
The best ones, a place called Dewa in Rose Hill or Sheba.
Ask any Mauritian which is better, and be ready for an argument. Then there's gateau piment, crispy chili [music] cakes made from split peas, deep fried, still hot. You eat them for breakfast >> [music] >> stuffed in a baguette. Rougaille is Mauritian comfort food. A tomato stew with [music] garlic, thyme, ginger.
Add fish or sausage. Serve with rice.
Every family has their own recipe. In Chinatown, boulettes, steamed dumplings in broth.
And to drink alouda, a pink milky drink with basil seeds and vanilla. Kind of like bubble tea's ancient ancestor. Four cuisines on one plate.
Only in Mauritius.
You'll see it before you understand it.
A single mountain, 1,824 ft of black basalt standing alone at the southwest tip.
Taller than the Empire State Building, wrapped in clouds.
And when the morning sun hits it at dawn, time actually [music] stops. But the beauty isn't what makes Le Morne a UNESCO site. It's the story. In the 1700s and 1800s, escaped slaves called maroons climbed this mountain. They lived up there, hidden in caves, hidden in the mist, safe from the world below.
Then in 1835, Britain abolished slavery.
A group of police officers climbed up to tell the maroons they were free.
But the maroons didn't understand.
They saw armed men coming.
They thought slavery had come to reclaim them.
So they made a choice.
Rather than go back down as slaves, they jumped from the top of Le Morne. Today, February the 1st, is abolition of slavery day >> [music] >> in Mauritius.
The Maroons are remembered as heroes who chose freedom over anything else. The mountain became a UNESCO site in 2008.
Not because it was pretty, because it meant something. Here's a detail that hits harder the more you think about [music] it.
The national flower of Mauritius, Trochetia boutoniana, only only grows on Le Morne.
Nowhere else on Earth.
In the same [music] cliffs where those Maroons once hid. You can hike Le Morne today.
It takes 3 to 4 hours.
The summit push requires a guide, about 40 to 50 dollars. And at the top, you'll see the lagoon glowing below. The underwater waterfall drifting west.
Nothing but ocean forever. When you climb this mountain, you're not climbing a rock. You're climbing a promise.
Drive up into the mountains.
1,804 feet above sea level.
Past the sugarcane.
Past the mist.
And then you'll see him.
Standing 108 feet tall.
Trident in hand.
Shiva.
This is Grand Bassin. Or as Hindus call it, Ganga Talao. The lake of the Ganges.
Here's how it happened.
Back in 1897, a Hindu priest in the village of Triolet had a dream.
He saw a hidden lake in Mauritius connected to the sacred Ganges River thousands of miles away in India.
He went searching and he found it.
A crater lake high in the mountains.
In 1972, a priest brought actual water from the Ganges. He poured it into this lake and from that moment this was the Ganges of Mauritius.
Today, the site is guarded by two massive statues. Lord Shiva, 108 ft tall, [music] copied from a statue in India.
And a matching statue of the goddess Durga.
Around the lake, smaller shrines to Ganesh and Hanuman.
Entry is free.
Open 24 hours.
>> [music] >> Take your shoes off before entering any temple. For Mauritian Hindus, this lake is the Ganges and every February half a million of them prove it. But we'll get to that story soon.
Picture sand dunes, but not tan or white. Red, purple, green, blue, yellow, ochre, violet.
Seven colors and here's what's insane, they never mix.
Not even when you shake them together in a bottle.
They separate back into stripes, every time.
The science is beautiful.
9 million years ago, this area was volcanic.
As the lava cooled, different minerals oxidized at different speeds.
Iron oxide turned parts red.
Aluminum oxide turned others blue and violet.
Now you have a natural rainbow you can walk right up to.
You get more than that here.
The 330-ft Chamarel waterfall thunders into a jungle basin nearby.
A pack of Aldabra giant tortoises, [music] 550 lb each, living to 150 years, roam the grounds.
And the only coffee plantation in Mauritius grows right here.
The ticket runs about $10.
Go early morning or late afternoon, the colors explode. Nature spent 9 million years making this. You'll spend 90 minutes seeing it, but it'll stay with you forever.
Off the coast of Le Morne, there's a waterfall. But here's the twist. It's under the water.
And it's the only one on planet Earth.
Here's what's actually happening.
The lagoon is shallow, maybe 20 ft deep.
Then suddenly, the ocean floor drops off a continental shelf into a 4,000-ft deep trench.
Ocean currents pull sand and silt over that edge.
From an airplane, it looks like a giant waterfall pouring off the world.
It's an illusion, but the cliff is real. The helicopter tour lasts 15 to 30 minutes, costs around 200 to 400 dollars.
You fly over Le Morne Chamarel's seven-colored earth and the underwater waterfall in one loop.
Prefer to stay on land, drive inland to Black River Gorges National Park.
26 square miles of forest, 37 miles of trails, home to the Mauritius kestrel and pink pigeon, two birds I want to tell you about right now.
Every kid on the planet knows the dodo, but almost nobody knows this Mauritius is the only place it ever lived. The dodo was actually a giant flightless pigeon, about 3 ft tall, weighing 50 lb.
It evolved on Mauritius for millions of years with no predators, so it never learned to fear anything.
Then the Dutch arrived in 1598.
They brought rats, cats, and monkeys.
By 1681, less than a hundred years later, the dodo was extinct.
Now the good news. In 1974, a small bird called the Mauritius kestrel was down to four. I mean, literally four wild birds left. Guinness called it the rarest bird in the world. Then Gerald Durrell arrived. He founded the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. Captive breeding, rat [music] control, nest guarding. By 2019, the kestrel population had grown to 400. It's now called the most successful bird restoration in the world. And in March 2022, Mauritius named the kestrel its national bird.
Same story with the pink pigeon.
10 birds left in in Today, over 400 in the wild. Mauritius has killed the dodo. Now, it's saving everything else. That's redemption.
Sugarcane covers 35% of Mauritius.
But, forget the sugar. What matters is what happens after the sugar.
First stop, Rhumerie de Chamarel.
Their rum is distilled from fresh sugarcane molasses, aged in oak barrels, deep, smoky, complex.
The distillery tour runs about $15 and ends [music] with five tasting shots.
Fun fact, Chamarel rum has been sold at Whole Foods in the States since 2019.
So, if you like it here, you can find it back home.
Second stop, Bois Cheri Tea Plantation.
Founded in 1892, it's the oldest tea estate in Mauritius.
Their signature is vanilla tea.
The vanilla is grown right on the property.
Museum tour, factory walk, tasting, and lunch with a panoramic view, about $25.
Third stop, and this one is rare.
Chamarel coffee, the only coffee plantation on the island.
Grown on volcanic soil at 1,000 ft elevation.
You can only buy it here.
So, if you want a real souvenir, get a bag.
They call it the Bora Bora of the Indian Ocean.
And once you step off the onto Ile aux Cerfs, you'll understand why. Ile aux Cerfs is a small, semi-private island off the east coast.
5 mi of white sand beach, a lagoon so clear you can see your feet in 6 ft of water.
Coconut palms leaning at just the right angle for photos. You take a catamaran from Trou d'Eau Douce costs $60 to $80 for a full day. BBQ lunch on the boat, unlimited beer and rum punch. Snorkeling stops along the way. Then head south for Blue Bay Marine Park. It's a 353 ha protected marine area.
38 species of coral in one lagoon.
Snorkel straight from the beach, [music] no boat needed. Or take a glass-bottom boat tour for $25.
Some beaches are pretty.
Ile aux Cerfs is a fairy tale.
And once a year, this whole island turns into an even bigger one.
February, maybe March. You'll know it's coming when the roads start to fill, not with cars, with people. Half a million of them.
Walking, some barefoot, some carrying wooden shrines called Kanwar on their shoulders, some singing, some silent, all heading to the same place, Grand Bassin. This is Maha Shivaratri, and it's the largest Hindu festival held anywhere outside of India. Mauritian Hindus walk from home to the sacred lake.
Some are close 5 miles. Some are far 30, 40, even 50 miles. That means walking for two, sometimes three full days. In [music] the heat, on hard roads, feet blistered, faces calm. But, here's the miracle. Along every road, [music] stalls appear. Free water.
Free biryani. Free rougaille.
Free fruit. Free places to rest. And these stalls aren't run only by Hindus.
Muslims [music] set them up.
Christians set them up. Chinese communities set them up. They stand for hours feeding pilgrims they will never see again. Half a million people. Zero incidents every year. When pilgrims reach Grand Bassin, they wash in the sacred water.
They offer flowers, milk, and fruit to Shiva.
They light small oil lamps called diyas on the water.
They stay all night praying.
And in the morning, they carry a small bottle of lake water home to bless their family for the whole year. This is what happens when living together isn't just a slogan.
It's a way of life.
And Mauritius has been practicing it for 200 years.
Before we wrap up, here's the practical stuff. When to go?
The sweet spot is late September through mid-November.
Winter has just ended.
Cyclone season hasn't started.
Lagoons are calm.
Prices haven't spiked.
Goldilocks window. Peak season is late December through early January.
Beautiful, but prices go up 40 to 60%.
Book 6 months ahead. Avoid mid-January through early March. Cyclone peak. Heavy rain constant. Budget travelers aim for May and June.
Prices drop 30 to 40%. Festivals mark your calendar.
Cavadee in January.
Maha Shivaratri in February or March.
Independence Day on March 12th.
Diwali in October. Now the money.
Flights from the US run $1,200 to $1,800 round trip.
You connect in Dubai, Paris, or Johannesburg. Budget guest houses $70 to $110 a night.
Dholl Puri costs $1.
Sit-down meal 10 to 20.
Fresh seafood 25 to 40. Mid-range three to four-star resorts $200 to $340 a night. Luxury all-inclusive at Le Morne or Belle Mare $700 and up. Gas is $1.20 a gallon.
Cheaper than the States. For visas, Americans get 60 days visa-free.
Just show a return ticket and hotel booking.
Remote workers can apply for the premium visa good for a full year. Rules of the road.
Mauritians drive on the left. British legacy.
In Hindu temples, remove your shoes and cover your shoulders and knees.
Don't touch statues.
Tipping isn't required. 10% is generous.
And never touch the coral reef illegal [music] and it damages the ecosystem.
The US State Department rates Mauritius level one safe.
One of the safest countries in Africa.
Mauritius, a monolith standing alone in the mist. Seven colors of earth that refuse to mix.
A waterfall you can only see from the sky.
Half a million pilgrims walking barefoot to a lake that used to be [music] a dream. If you ever set foot on this island, you'll leave with something you can't quite name. Something that tastes like dholl puri >> [music] >> and sounds like a ravane drum. Something that feels like a warm hand on your shoulder saying, "Kimanier, my friend."
Because Mauritius isn't just a place.
It's proof that four continents can share one small island and everyone can win. If Mauritius just made your bucket list drop a bonsoir in the comments below.
That's Creole for hello. If this journey warmed your heart, hit like, subscribe, and ring the bell so you don't miss the next country we visit together. Now tell me, which country [music] should we visit next? Japan, Morocco, Bhutan, Peru? Drop your pick below. And if you know someone who needs to see this island, share this video with them.
Until next time, my friend, au revoir.
Goodbye from Mauritius.
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