AT A GLANCE: MAURITIUS

With a population of almost 1.3 million, you would expect Mauritius to feel crowded, but it doesn’t. Although the main towns are frequently teeming with pedestrians and the roads jammed with cars, deserted areas of beach and forest are easy to find.

Each of Mauritius’s ethnic groups and religions brings its own unique qualities to the island’s rich and varied culture. An exciting variety of cuisine, musical styles and languages are a part of everyday life.

Music

Mauritians grow up with music and dancing playing an important role in their lives: at family gatherings, festivals and celebrations. Ubiquitous is the séga (pronounced ‘say-ga’), which evolved from the spontaneous dances of African and Malagasy slaves. At night, after a day’s toiling in the cane fields, slaves used improvised instruments to create a primitive music to which they could dance and forget their woes. At times, this meant defying their masters’ prohibition of music and dancing, which aimed to sever the slaves from their African and Malagasy roots. Songs were often about the slaves’ plight and were highly critical of their masters. Girls danced to songs composed and sung by their admirers while the spectators encouraged them with hand clapping, foot stomping and chanting. The more impassioned the lyrics, the more heated the music and the more tempestuous the dancing.

Climate

Basically, there are two seasons: summer is hot and wet (November to April), whilst winter is warm and dry (May to October). Its proximity to the Tropic of Capricorn assures Mauritius of a subtropical climate that is typically warm and humid. Temperatures during summer