Mauritius… you love it and hate it in the same heartbeat. Used as a pit stop between major routes since the fifteenth century, this ministate saw fortune and heartbreak accumulate side by side over five hundred years. Its atoning independence in 1968 thrust the island into one of the success stories of our time.
Leaving the colourful tapestry of pirates, privateers and slave traders for readers to discover on their own, in My Mauritius Life I paint a slice of The Rock, whose intricacies don’t always surface for visitors and expats. Potential holidaymakers and immigrants will find useful material here. If you’re a new settler on the island, look for community on this page.
Let’s make this site interactive and eclectic. Publish glimpses of your own experiences in the space provided. Send your stories, advice, tips, but don’t stick to your physical environment or to Mauritius. Include on this blog your soul journey, your insights and the growth of your wisdom in this complex little place. Write us a life snippet about your country, paint us a picture.
Who am I?
My Mauritian roots run deep, although I grew up and wild in Africa. I stumbled back into my birthplace in 2016 to start an agricultural project. A pen-pusher choosing a volcanic island (pure rock) in the tropics (crawling with pests) to grow organic vegetables.
Oh, really, that’s what you tried? You ask.
Scalded by my fantasies and the local business culture, I conceded defeat after two years, and curled up in self-pity. But we can’t rest on our failures. They’re our allies. We think the pain they inflict will incapacitate us forever. It doesn’t; it stuffs our heads with sense. Now rebooted, I’m cracking the unwritten codes of Mauritius. It helps to speak French and Creole; a hotchpotch of languages simmers under the skin of this nation, whose sometimes infuriating “no problem” lifestyle belies complex social systems.
I live with my three dogs in the North. We walk the forest or sugarcane fields at sunrise, the beaches on Sundays. I’m nosy and I love adventure.
Come, grab your coffee and let’s go beyond the mundane.
Catherine Leclézio
Failure is a greater teacher than success. Listen, learn, go on.”