Horse racing is by far the most popular sport in Mauritius. Though the racing itself takes place only about seven-eight months a year (May to December) and only once a week, on Saturdays, it still plays a major role in the local cultural, fashion, financial and of course sports scene.

Official horse racing on the island have been running since the first racecourse was inaugurated in 1812, shortly after the foundation of the Mauritius Turf club.

Nowadays, the famous Champs De Mars , located in the capital city of Port-Louis, racecourse is still in use, without any changes to the hippodrome itself. The Champs de Mars is built in such a classic way that one can have a clear view of the entire course from one spot, unlike in modern courses. Horseracing in Mauritius is highly considered around the world and live coverage of these races are available in South Africa, Australia and several European countries. This is mainly due to the fact that all horses and most jockeys are foreign (especially South African, Australian, French and English).

The entry to the inner area of the hippodrome is free of charge and is only closed a couple of minutes before the race (8 heats per racing day). Whereas access to the stands will cost you around 100 Rupees. Every racing day brings to the hippodrome about one hundred thousand (100 000) spectators and pointers and several hundreds of thousands stay tuned to their radio or television sets

From your resort on the island, you can easily book a seat in more luxurious boxes, usually kept for the Mauritius Turf Club members including transfers to and from the resort for around 10000 Rupees per person. These VIP boxes offer excellent service and complimentary food & beverages for guests all day long.

Like most racing courses around the world, the Champs de Mars, runs several “classic” races, which attract a greater crowd than usual ; The Duchess of York cup (usually the first racing day, in May), The Barbe cup, The Maiden cup (most important and valued race of the year) and The International Jockeys weekend (where the leading jockeys from around the world are invited for a special 2 days meeting in a very festive environment).

Horse racing is a very important factor in the Mauritian life and has played a vital role in shaping the country’s financial, cultural and social life. Adding to it the fact that it is a very entertaining form of leisure, it is a must for all those visiting the paradise island of Mauritius.

Once horses have retired from active racing, they are usually donated to privately owned stables or hotels (Le Coco Beach for example), in order for them to relax in their older days and entertain the larger crowds with greater ease and less stress.

The island of Mauritius is often called as the tropical Indian Ocean Paradise. This island is gifted with a rich variety of flora and fauna. Although, Mauritius is located far apart from all the landscapes being like a drop in the sea, it has a lavishing and amazingly planned infrastructure. The beauty of this island is such that it would leave you spellbound and amazed at the same time.

The climatic conditions of the island suit perfectly for many waster sports. Whether it would be a professional diver or a beginner, this island is the place to check out for diving sports. It is estimated that there are about 430 species of fishes present inside the sea, which surrounds the island of Mauritius. All these species are unique and many of them are extinct in much part of the globe. This is the reason that has made Mauritius a favorite destination for divers, all around the world.

The eastern part of the island is comprehensively influenced by the trade winds, so this part of the island is not considered as a safe place to practice diving. The lagoons located at the north eastern coast are away from the influence of the dangerous trade winds, this encourage all kind of divers to this place. Although, it is surrounded by sea in every way but the experts advice to practice diving outside the barrier reefs of the island because interior lagoons are very deep and not ideal for diving.

The Tourism Authority of Mauritius invests huge interest in promoting the diving, as the tourism industry of the country generates a huge amount of revenue for the country. All the diving sites are accredited by the tourism authority. The responsibility of the maintenance of these sites also lies with the authority. There are a great number of trained divers, who are licensed by the tourism authority, and provide a great help to the beginners practicing diving. This support of the government enables to diving agencies to take a better care of these wonderful diving sites. All these sites are ideal for diving for the beginners, with reasonable depth and good facilities available.

There are over 200 wrecks located in the surroundings of Mauritius. This enthralls the veteran and the beginner divers because every one has plenty to discover under the blue water. People get wide options to choose for their favorite spot to pursue diving. And all these sites live up to an international standard and offer you with so much to explore.

The island is a beautiful place for the divers to explore. If you are have the undying zeal for diving; then Mauritius is the place to consider for your next holiday. The place offers you with world class facilities to pursue diving. Get ready to hit the blue water surrounding the beautiful island of Mauritius and prepare yourself to experience the exotic underwater life.

The Sands resort is a very cozy and inexpensive 4 stars resort located on the west coast of Mauritius, in Flic en Flac to be precise.

The area of Flic en Flac has become a major tourist spot in the last couple of years thanks to various tourism projects and facilities offered. As so, several high quality resorts have opened their doors in this region (Hilton amongst others).

The relatively inexpensive rates, compared to other resorts on the island, make it quite popular among young vacationers visiting the island. Most of the guests in the hotel are young couples from western Europe (mainly Italy, Spain, UK and Scandinavia) though one will find guests from all over the world.

As any quality resort on the island, the Sands resort is located “pied dans l’eau”, meaning it is set on the beach itself and as so, has the ability to offer its guest various water sports and sea related activities which are very popular, some even without charge (glass bottom boat, kayak, water skiing, windsurfing…). If interested, one can ask at the front desk for other activities such as diving, parasailing…

The Sands resort has made itself a name in the last couple of years as a wedding hotel, meaning that one can organize the entire ceremony (civil & religious) within the hotel itself. Can you think of anything more romantic then saying “I DO” on the white sandy beaches of the paradise island of Mauritius?

Though the hotel has a small number of rooms compared to larger resorts, the 91 Deluxe rooms are everything you need and offer all you might want withing their 53m2 (air conditioning, TV, safe box, wifi facility…).

As the resort’s name says, the hotel is also a Spa, which is considered to be one of the best on the island. It offers different types of massages and treatments as well as hair treatment.

For your next stay in Mauritius, be sure to consider the Sands Resort & Spa. For more information about the resort, please visit it’s website.

Mauritius was one of the British Colony and in 1847 the British issued one penny and two penny stamps. The island of Mauritius is very famous for these two rare and special stamps. These stamps are also known as Penny Orange and Two pence Blue. These two stamps are also the first two official stamps of the Island of Mauritius. These stamps were not actually invented for postal services. These stamps were originally meant to be used for inviting guests to the inaugural ball bye the new governor’s wide of that time.

The popular blue penny stamp was designed by Joseph O. Barnard (1816 – 1865). Barnard who in fact was a jeweler by profession. On this wonderful blue penny stamp, the picture of the lady engraved is actually the British Queen. The initials of the designer “J.B” were also engraved on the neck of the queen on the blue penny stamp. As already mentioned, this beautiful stamp was not designed for the postal service, so it was obvious that even the intention of the designer was not to make the same and that depicts also. So, the jeweler was confronted with immense pressure to complete the design. As a result of this pressure, the designer made a huge mistake. Barnard was working very late at night and was not given his time space to work upon, so in hurry he engraved the words “Post Office” which should have been “Post Paid” on the blue penny stamp. And this mistake was unknown until more than 240 stamps were actually sold in the market.

The famous blue penny stamp depicts the picture of Queen Victoria, with the inscription of “Post Office” on the left side of the stamp. The dimensions of the stamp were 3.25 inches by 2.5 inches and the whole design was engraved on a copper plate. When the blunder committed by Joseph O. Barnard was discovered, Lady Gomm (the governor’s wife) did not even waste a single day. She instantly ordered the authorities to destruct all the stamps having the errors. Many of those stamps were successfully destroyed but due to the lack of the records about the invitees few were left at that time. But how many? No one ever knew the exact number. But it was estimated that about thirty more stamps still existed. In the year 1929, an official catalogue was issued according to which the unused one penny orange stamp was valued as $20,000 and the unused two penny blue was valued as $17,000. And the used copy of one penny orange stamp was valued as $12,500 and the used copy of two penny blue was valued as $15,000. And surprisingly, the value of unused blue penny stamp was $1,100,000 in the 2007 Scottish catalogue. This value shows the heritage value of these famous stamps. These beautiful stamps were put on to display at the Blue Penny Museum in Mauritius and the British Museum in London. All the unused copies of these are still in the museums. And one unused copy still lies in some private hands.

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The island of Mauritius is an amazing and exotic destination for a perfect holiday. This paradise on earth will offer you with all the things that you expect from an ideal holiday destination. The island of Mauritius is one of the best and hot favorite choices for the travelers all around the world. The beautiful and astonishing beaches of Mauritius have already made their mark as the world’s best beaches. The local tourism industry generates the most income for the island. And some part of the success in making the island’s a world class holiday destination goes to the government. The government understands the situation and makes sure that they attract a great number of tourists to the island.

This involvement of the government brought the traveling expenses to Mauritius way to cheap. Once you get to know about the attracting schemes presented by many airlines, you will surely think of the planning your next holiday at Mauritius. You can easily

Aerial view of Le Morne

manage a cheap flight to Mauritius regardless, which part of the globe you belong to. No matter the reason of your visit, it could be holiday trip or a business trip; you can find a wide range of flights to Mauritius which are not very expensive. Seeing the market position of the island, all the leading airlines companies of the world are stepping into the arena. This is one of the main reasons of budget flights to the island of Mauritius. Providing you the fly to Mauritius for good price does not mean that the standard will be degraded, you will be spell bound by the warmth of the reception by the airlines. In fact, they make your journey faster and comfortable.

Looking for cheap flights to Mauritius will only do well for you, as it helps you to plan your dream holiday within your budget. The island’s very own Air Mauritius runs over 30 flights to and from Mauritius on daily basis, which is tremendous.

Just by spending some time on internet, you can get to know about the various airlines which offer you such low budgeting flying to Mauritius. Being a fabulous tourist spot, many airlines offer attractive bundle vacation plans, which include even your accommodation details. It is very necessary to plan your vacation way to ahead, because it is difficult to obtain tickets and accommodation before a span of week’s time. By doing so, you can plan your whole vacation in an appropriate manner.

Condor Airbus

Some of the leading players of airlines industry which can serve you are:

Air Mauritius Emirates Airlines

South African Airways
Cathay Pacific Airways
British Airways
Air France

Condor

Make sure that the airlines you choose are trust worthy. There are many extra charges like tourist entry fee and some other kind of taxes; you need to make sure that all such charges are included in your ticket fare. These are small things that could lead to you a big problem, so you need to act smart, when you choose your airlines and the travel agency. This will enable you to make the most of your dream holiday on the beautiful island of Mauritius.

Mauritius is officially known as the Republic of Mauritius. This island of Mauritius generates a huge income from the sources like golf, tourism and export of sugar cane. The island comprises of a number of great and amazing golf courses. Some of its golf courses like the Anahita Golf course, the Ile Aux Cerfs course and the Tamarina Golf course which have made a tremendous mark on international level. People of Mauritius love this sport. And soon this love developed into passion. And this started an international golf tournament, The Mauritius Golf Open.

The Mauritius Golf Open was started in December, 1994. The Constance Belle Mare Plage golf course is also known as the womb of the Mauritius Golf Open. The Belle Mare Plage golf course hosted 60 amateurs and 30 professionals in the month of March in 1994, when this tournament was officially launched. Since then, the island has grown with respect of golf culture. The tournament became such a hit that it encouraged initiating a separate tournament for female golfers. Soon within a span of 5 years, the Mauritius Golf Open in 1999 witnessed over 140 armatures and 65 professional. The Mauritius Golf Open hosts the tournament for the golfers from about 25 countries; this is evident to its popularity. The Mauritius Golf Open provides a great platform to the amateur golfers, to get close with international golfing standards.

Aerial view of Mauritian Golf course

The MAURITIUS GOLF OPEN offers amateurs the opportunity to see some of the leading lights of European golf at close range while also enjoying first rate pro am competition. Couple this with 10 days on one of the most beautiful island in the world and you have the reason the MAURITIUS GOLF OPEN is one of the most popular end of year golf tournaments for pro’s and amateurs alike.

The Mauritius Golf Open is a 10 day long tournament. The tournament kicks off with the International Pro-Am. In this phase of the tour, golfers form different teams, each team consists of one Professional and three amateurs. Here, two best scores of the team are counted. Then the second leg of the tournament starts with The Air Mauritius Amateur Championship and the Ladies Championship. Then the last leg starts (the Mauritius Golf Open for male and female Professional golfers), which is one of the most celebrated golf tournaments in Europe. This whole competition is played on the Legend Course of the Constance Belle Mare Plage golf course.

Soon, this Mauritius Golf Open has been able to attract a great number reputed brands as their sponsors and the makes the prize money of the tournament very high. And this prize money is evident to its popularity and the respect enjoyed by this tournament. The Mauritius Golf open offers a wonderful environment for the professionals to relax and tremendous platform to amateurs to learn things. All these factors make the Mauritius Golf Open, as the most popular golf tournaments which begin at the year end among the professionals, amateurs and golf lovers.

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This hotel is located in Mauritius and it is one of the best five star hotels in the region. If you are willing to spend your holidays in Mauritius then this is the best place to stay. Because this have all facilities which could make you feel happy and comfortable. This hotel is located in the middle of tropical gardens in the south side of Mauritius. This hotel also has three private beaches in the nearby area. It also has a Shandrani Sailing Club which is recognized internationally. The main specialty of the Shandrani hotel is the Shandrani Kitesurf School which is an IKO certified school. This suits best for beginners and provides all international facilities for Kitesurf.

The three beaches which are very vast in space accommodate many gaming facilities and also offer snorkeling for guests to have a great look at the sea life. This also has the glass bottom boat which provides you a marvelous under water trip. This trip is very special for all guests, if they experience this for the first time as the underwater creatures and their colors are eye capturing. This resort hotel also arranges Beachcomber Sport and Nature programme for guests. After signing up in this programme they could participate and enjoy the wild south of Mauritius. The sports includes mountain biking, kayaking, and abseiling. All these sports are supervised by experts and to provide safety the equipments are tested frequently. Other than these sports the hotel also arranges for different entertainment programs for guests ranging from live concerts to fashion parades.

This resort is also famous for its PADI- National Geographic Diving Center which allows only expert divers to dive and enjoy. This is the first diving center in this region and attracts many divers from the world. This Shandrani Hotel also incorporates a 9-Hole Golf Course with lagoon at its side. The “tee-off” of this golf course is just at a distance of 100 meters from the reception and the beach.

As the name Shandrani Resort and Spa itself shows it has Spa, which allows the guests to relax. This hotel has La Source Spa which is affiliated to Decleor Paris and this contains 11 massage rooms in two wings. In the first wing you could see 2 saunas, 2 hammams, and 6 massage rooms incorporated with private gardens. In that 2 have a private gazebo other than that it also has 4 rooms to relax after the treatment. In the second wing this has 5 rooms each for special purpose such as Ayurvedic, Aqua treatments, Shiatsu, Traditional massages, and beauty treatments.

This also has La Source Wellness Center which was introduced recently to guests. This also comes under the Decleor affiliation. It includes 20 massage rooms, Sauna, hammam and a swimming pool with lush vegetation. This has high ceilings and private outdoor showers. Also the decoration in the wall with stones, and wood makes the look grandeur. As an offer this new wellness center offers free massage for 45 minutes for each adult staying in this hotel. This is a whole body massage from head to toe which makes the adult to relax and enjoy their holidays.

The Road transport has seen much development in recent years. Efforts are made to keep Mauritius more welcoming to the tourists. Traveling by road is the best way to enjoy the scenic beauty of Mauritius. Tourists can drive in the cities if they have international drive permit. Vehicles like limousines are also available for the tourists.

To have a spectacular view of the enchanting scenery, traveling by car seem to be the best. Cars are the easiest mode of transport in Mauritius but quiet expensive. Different cars ranging from mokes to limousines are available for rent. The government of Mauritius is taking the essential steps to improve the road transport. There are both paved as well as unpaved roads. Road transport has undergone many phases of improvements so far. Since the years of colonization serious steps have been taken to improve the road transport to make the island more hospitable to the tourists. Mauritius has no railway facilities but has well enhanced airline facility. Reaching Mauritius from any part of the world is achieved with the help of International airlines. There are five airports in Mauritius and flights serve as an easy and convenient mode of transport. There are many flights to and from Mauritius. Mauritius flights are operated from different parts of the world at affordable cost.

Taxis are the cheapest mode of transport for the tourists. Taxis are found in every corner of the cities. The drivers of the taxi can communicate in English also to guide the tourists. The taxi fares are set by the law and so it is fixed.

Mauritius has extensive bus service to all tourist locations. Local buses in Mauritius are also cheaper means of transport. The tourists can get along with local people of Mauritius while traveling by local buses. The road transport has improved to a great extent and many buses have come up to offer comfort, speed and with better carrying capacity.

The government of Mauritius has given special consideration to the French people. The government has offered them access to Mauritius without possessing a passport. To strengthen the historic and cultural tie up with France, the government of Mauritius has now acknowledged the French tourists.

The summer season starting from November and ending up in April is the best time for big fishing. The deep water currents attract

a variety of small and big fishes. The common fishes are blue Marlin, Sail fish, Bonito, Barracuda, Wahoo, tuna and shark. The best fishing spots are located in north, south west and west coast of the Island. The notable locations are Riviera Noire and Morne Brabant. The deep sea fishing in Mauritius is sure to thrill the anglers. Mauritius Island is suitable for fishing throughout the year but the best season is summer. Blue and Black marlin are the most common species found in Mauritius. Wahoo, the fastest swimming fish in the sea is seen in the month of September. The varieties of Tuna fish move in to the Mauritius waters in March and April. Sail fish is a challenge to the anglers because it flies through the air when hooked to express its anger.
There are some categories of the fishing boats and they vary from 60 foot to 45 foot. All fishing boats are well equipped with international reels, Fenwick rods and life jackets, high frequency radios, radar, skipper, crew, basic first aid box, fresh water showers and toilets, sun deck with gallery. Soft drinks, bottled water and beers are available free of cost. The boat has no facility to offer food and other beverages. The boats can be organized for full day or half day trips. Fishing boats can accommodate five anglers. Even the tourists who are not anglers can enjoy the fishing boat trip. The Paradis resort offers a unique type of fishing boats known as the challenger boats. These boats are considered to be the best in the Island. The boats are professionally manned and equipped and are well suitable for catching very large blue Marlins.

With innumerable species of fishes in different varieties, shapes and colors, Mauritius Island is a charming place for big game fishing.

There are many hotels, villas, resorts and bungalows in Mauritius that can provide accommodation to the tourists who come to explore this island. There are many agencies in Mauritius that can make hotel bookings for the tourists at reasonable rate. They also ensure the safety of the tourists. There are many private bungalows situated near the beaches. After relaxing in the white sand and having a dip in the azure water, the bungalows near the beach are sure to offer you recreation and tranquility.

The hotels in Mauritius are exceptional and tantalizing. The hotels are constructed with stunning beauty and most of them are situated in splendid surroundings. The lagoons margin the hotels on all sides. The hotel settings are marvelous and extravagant. Many star hotels offer new rooms, new cuisines, new spa relaxations and new golf tours.

Though there are many hotels and holiday resorts, the bungalows in Mauritius have attracted the tourists to a great extent. This is because the bungalows are set in a luxurious manner and most of them are self catering. Located among the tropical garden, the bungalows are perfect for holiday stays. The hotels provide accommodations depending on the family size and take care of food from the restaurants near by. The bungalows on the other hand offer kitchenette where the tourists can do their own cooking. The bungalows create a homely environment. Also the bungalows have recreation facilities, including swimming pools. The bungalows in the island reflect a blend of Asian and tropical sensibility. The bungalows offer perfect harmony along with exotic views. Most of the bungalows face the ocean .The bungalows are air conditioned and are equipped with private bed rooms, living room and a dining room, kitchenette, microwave oven, private bathrooms, telephone with international dialing and also multi system TV, private parking etc.. The restaurants in the bungalows offer delicious cuisines. There are also special play zone for kids. The bungalows also provide water sports and land sports and musical entertainment. Bungalows are very convenient for the tourists in terms of privacy. Also they are more suitable for disabled people. Bungalows guarantee you a happy relaxed family atmosphere and well suited for tourists who come with their family.

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