Timo, OH1NOA will be active as 3B8/OH1NA from Mauritius Island, IOTA AF - 049, 25 February - 7 March 2024.
He will operate on HF Bands, CW, SSB, FT4, FT8.
QSL via LOTW, ClubLog OQRS.
Mauritius: a tropical island for romantics, honeymooners, partygoers and extremists
From a height, Mauritius looks very much like a paradise island in its classic sense - emerald greenery surrounded by sandy beaches and blue waters of the ocean. And in many ways it really is a wonderful place for a vacation. On a compact territory, slightly larger than a modern metropolis, combines almost all types of leisure activities - beach vacation and surfing, urban entertainment, amazing natural phenomena and rare beauty of landscapes. In addition, the island is considered one of the safest places - there is a very low crime rate, there are no common tropical diseases, dangerous representatives of animal and plant life.
Mauritius: climate quirks
Vacation on the paradise island is far from equal in different periods of the year, and sometimes even unsafe. The best season is considered to be our fall - from September to November. At this time, the weather is hot - about 30 ° in the daytime, there is practically no rain, and the water near the coast warms up to a comfortable 25 °. But even going on vacation in the "high season", experienced tourists advise to take a light windbreaker or a summer jacket - sometimes the wind comes - and it gets quite cool. And bad weather can take you by surprise, and short-term rain is possible.
In December-January the heat increases, and with it - and humidity, the rains begin, though strong, but still short-lived. So lovers of tropical climate will be comfortable enough. Beach vacation for New Year in Mauritius - an option that attracts many tourists, despite the possibility of getting a little wet in the rain.
Starting from February and almost the whole spring is quite comfortable temperature - about 20 at night and up to 27 in the daytime. This period could be safely recommended to those who do not tolerate the heat or prefer excursions, if not for the rains, which can last several hours, and strong wind.
Keep in mind that in February-March there is a high probability of tropical cyclones on the island. There is usually no serious threat to life, but unpleasant moments, like blackouts, may well occur.
Summer in Mauritius, on the other hand, is a chill that can be quite sensitive at night (degrees 13-15), so warm clothes will be needed. So much for the tropics! The water near the beaches also becomes quite cool, few people dare to swim. Although you can sunbathe, of course, especially if you hide from the wind - during the day it warms up to 20-23 degrees. This period is the time of surfers, as the wind raises gorgeous waves.
Language, history and peculiarities of the local population
The uninhabited island, later named after the patron saint of Prince Moritz of Orange (which sounds like Mauritius in Latin), was known to Arab navigators as early as the 10th century. Europeans discovered it only a century later - in the XVII century. The Portuguese founded a colony here: they brought slaves and began to extract rare black ebony and grow sugar cane. Survivors of the conquerors were rats, which became so abundant that they threatened the safety of people.
However, the island was not empty for long - just a few years later came here the French, who renamed Mauritius in Ile-de-France. They built the fortress of Port Louis (the current capital), bridges and roads. The island became strategically important, allowing France to control the sea route from Europe to India, one of the lucrative trade routes. Pirate attacks on English merchant ships are also carried out from here.
The British military operation allowed them to capture the island, which returned its name - Mauritius. It was a British colony until the second half of the XX century. After the abolition of slavery, the British brought many Indians to work on the plantations. That is why the island is now a kind of Noah's Ark. There are two official languages here - English and French, but most of the population prefers to communicate in French, which comes as a surprise to tourists. Among the inhabitants there are Hindus - their majority, but there are also many Christians and Muslims.
Local traditions are also a bizarre combination of Indian, European and Muslim. Maha Shivaratri - the Hindu great night of Shiva in March, Catholic Easter and the secular Labor Day on May 1 - are celebrated with equal gusto and merriment.
Where to live in Mauritius?
The choice of the most decent neighborhood in small Mauritius can be discussed only with a stretch. After all, from one end to the other can be reached literally in an hour and a half. And yet the island is usually divided into three main regions - north, southwest and east, which differ in the choice of housing, the contingent of vacationers and those entertainments that are outside the hotel.
By the way, the accepted worldwide five-star classification of hotels here is not valid. If you are offered in a travel agency hotel 5 * - it is only their point of view, although almost all accommodations are in very good condition. And the choice is rather in the location and a set of additional services.
The northern part - youth and party. Developed infrastructure, crowded, metropolitan Port Louis with a theater, university, stores and casinos. Beaches with white soft sand. And the main thing is that the wind here is not as strong as in other places.
It doesn't blow too hard to the west either. In addition, here are the most attractions located literally within walking distance.
The southernmost tip and the east are for lovers of privacy and quality service. Here there is practically no tourist infrastructure outside the hotels, but the hotels themselves are luxurious, with their own golf clubs, a lot of restaurants of different cuisines and excellent service. The eastern coast is "famous" for strong winds.
The beaches of Mauritius are quite narrow, covered with fine, pleasant sand. But on the "wild" beaches there are fragments of coral and stones - so you should not go barefoot, it is better to protect your feet with special slippers for bathing. Hotel beaches are usually safe from this point of view - they are regularly cleaned.
It is very fortunate that the island is surrounded on all sides by coral reefs, which protect the coastal waters from the huge ocean waves. The water warms up faster in shallow waters, but not everyone likes to wade knee-deep for a long time.
Mauritius: a must see with your own eyes
"Underwater Falls" is one of the wonders that make a colossal impression, especially when viewed from above, from the air. There are helicopter tours here. But there are also ground viewing platforms. Not far from the shore, in the lagoon, huge masses of water are moving, rushing into the bottomless abyss - and all this underwater. The sight is magnificent, especially if we take into account that it is only an optical illusion created by the moving underwater current masses of grains of sand. It is worth considering that there are only a few places like this in the world. And Mauritius is one of the most magnificent and at the same time accessible.
In the park Casela you can venture into the cage with lions or scratch behind the ear of a cheetah. The attraction is not for the faint-hearted, but it is so popular that you need to book in advance. Here they offer safaris on various types of transport - quad bikes, jeeps, buses. You can feel like a mountaineer by climbing one of the routes, as well as fly across the abyss on a rope.
In the Chamarel dunes, from special bridges you can admire the colored dunes, shimmering with bizarre shades from burgundy to blue-violet, yellow, green, purple. The play of colors is not a trick of the tourist industry, but a natural phenomenon. The color of the local soil is given by impurities of metals that have a natural exit to the surface. Moreover, minerals of different colors do not mix even during rain, because they have different specific gravity. Until the 60s of the last century it was possible to walk freely on the dunes. But the invasion of tourists forced the authorities to fence the attraction. And a souvenir with a small amount of colored earth can be bought from local traders. Here there are also giant tortoises, on which (of course, for a fee) you can even ride.
The Pamplemousses Botanical Garden is not just for plant lovers. Its amazing plants are lilies with two-meter leaves that can support the weight of a teenager or a small adult, huge baobabs, which even a whole family (unless there are 40 people in it, of course) will not be able to embrace.
If you have never seen how tea grows, then Mauritius offers you an interesting sight - tea plantations. By the way, local tea is a very worthy competitor to Ceylon tea, and guides will tell you about its healing and even magical properties. And what tea is without sugar? So a visit to the sugar factory, where sugar cane stalks are turned into refined sugar, is a natural continuation of sightseeing. Lovers of spirits will be invited to a rum distillery. Many people bring local rum as a souvenir.
Speaking of shopping - the prices for branded clothing, and especially - for products made of precious stones here are lower than in European cities, so you can buy not only souvenirs.
And in general, vacation in Mauritius is quite inexpensive, if it were not for the flight. In addition, the already short distance due to connections makes the road to the paradise island long and tiring. Experienced tourists often prefer to spend a few days in one of the European capitals to catch their breath and then take a direct flight to Mauritius.