Mauritius-Unity in diversity

Mauritius is considered to have one of the world's most breathtaking coral reefs and marine life. In fact, special care is taken to preserve and protect our lagoons and marine world. As Mauritius is an island, the water is very clear and is suitable for many water sport activities. For many generations, sailors and scientists have been baffled by the mystery of coral reefs scattered across the oceans. Fun fact, sand is created by coral reefs which are broken by waves along a long period of time. Mauritius is just as fun on land as under water with a plethora of activities, some of which we are going to explore below.  Sea shells are collected by the locals on the beach to make beautiful decorative items and even souvenirs for tourists. Some of the items made are bracelets, necklaces and you will notice the people living near the coast wearing many of those on a daily basis. Many water sports have been set up to explore the life under the sea.   So here are some of the top...

Often dubbed the 'Bob Marley of Seggae', Joseph Reginald Topize, was found dead in his prison cell at Alcatraz in the capital city of Mauritius, Port Louis. Also known as Kaya, he was born on the 10th August 1960 and died on 21 February 1999. He is widely known for inventing the genre of Seggae which is a mixture of Reggae and the Mauritian Sega. His early childhood was spent in Roche-Bois and at the beginning of his career, he performed mostly in wedding parties as a guitarist being inspired from the great Reggae singer Bob Marley. On 19th February 1999, Rama Valayden, the leader of Republican Movement had organised a musical concert to eradicate the consumption of cannabis, as at that time around 2000 people were sentenced due to several soft drugs and to prevent a bad image for the country. Five groups of local artists were invited to perform on that concert, including the Seggae singer Kaya. During the concert Kaya and his friends smoked the marijuana in open air and were l...

As with part 1, we shall continue to look at some of the dishes that are used in the Mauritian cuisine and how they are prepared. You can visit part 1 on this link: https://tinyurl.com/y587guv7 1.Vindaye Poisson(Fish Vindaye) Fish Vindaye, also known as Vindaye Poisson in the local language, consists of fried fish mixed with mustard seeds, garlic, turmeric, chilli to give it a distinctive taste and flavour. Ingredients: 1 Kg of fish fillet Chopped onions 5 crushed garlic cloves Chillies(optional) 2 tsp of crushed mustard seeds 2 tsp of turmeric powder Salt  Cooking oil Lemon Juice Preparation: Scale and cut the fish fillet into slices and marinate it with salt and 2tsp of lemon juice. Fry in hot oil and put aside. Heat oil in a pan or wok until medium hot and turn off. Mix the chopped onions, garlic, mustard, turmeric in the oil and add fried fish on top. Stir the pan or wok gently enough to allow the ingredients and the fish to blend into each other. NOTE: DO NOT STIR THE INGREDIE...

As you already know, the world is suffering from global warming and this is the cause for uneven weather conditions and major catastrophes. The most recent ones being the Australian wildfire from which approximatively1.25 billion animals were affected and lost most of natural habitats. Mauritius too has known many such calamities, though not as detrimental as the wildfires but they were nonetheless damaging to the country.  Floods One such calamity was the massive flood which occurred on the 30th March 2013 in city of Port Louis and claimed 11 lives. It was caused by the sudden rainfall which poured on that unfateful morning. It did not help that the city is surrounded by mountains and rivers and the drains were clogged with waste due to the numerous shops and malls which are located in the city. The flood caused a big chaos in the city as the roads were filled with debris, fallen trees and dozens of vehicles collided with ever causing a severe traffic jam and causing many accident...

 As you might already know, the International Day for the abolition of slavery is right around the corner. A day celebrated to remind us what slaves endured in the past and had it not gone away, in what plight we might have been. Mauritius too has quite its fair share of slavery history, all starting way back in the 1600s. During the Dutch settlement in Mauritius, in 1600, Van Der Stel was the first governor who brought slaves to the island from Madagascar. A slave is categorised as a person who is forced to obey and work from dusk till dawn for  his masters without any pay.  These slaves were needed to cut ebony trees which were extremely rare trees used to make ships, trade to other countries and were very hard to cut down.  After the Dutch settlement in 1710, when the French rule started, they started bringing even more slaves but this time from Mozambique, India etc. They had to clear forests and cultivate sugarcane and other crops all over the island. The govern...