Safety Tips in Mauritius

I have visted many countries. Mauritius is a beautiful country but the destination management company Summertimes is the worst that I have ever encountered. The staff were very unfriendly. One of them even slapped a child! I would strongly not recommend making use of the services of Summertimes. One's life may be in danger because of their disgusting staff.

Mauritius has a lot of people crammed onto a relatively small island. As a result, it has a lot of traffic in its large towns and cities. We got stuck in a couple of traffic jams that took us 20 minutes to go a kilometer while driving through Quatre Bournes, one of the larger towns on the island. If you have to drive through a large town or city, budget extra time to account for traffic. We almost missed our flight due to traffic, and quickly learned our lesson.

Mauritius generally has pretty decent roads. However, it does not have a lot of road signs, which makes driving around the island challenging at times. The other problem is that the maps given out by the rental car companies are not very good. We rented cars twice (from two different companies) and got mediocre maps both times. There were a number of roads that were missing from our maps, and we got lost a few times. Fortunately, we were always able to find a friendly local resident to give us directions to get us back on track. Spending a few rupees for a good map will be money well spent.

Like Canuck says, the rain can be devastating. 4 people died in the floods last week when I was on holiday - the drains backed up, rivers burst banks and bridges got swept away. There seems to be very little back-up for ordinary mauritians when things lke this happen and it is a bit of a weid feeling to be 'in a tropical paradise' but seeing and knowing how little most folk have to survive on. The photo is a road - it might look a bit romantic but the road was totally swept away.

There are no poisonous reptiles or dangerous animals on the island. However some creatures can inflict painful stings. Some individuals can be allergic to wasp stings. Contact chemist or doctor in case of several stings particularly on the head and on the face. There are few fishes namely sea urchins, stone fish, and lionfish, which are harmful, and its advisable to ensure their existence. Be careful not to step on them. Some swimmers wear shoes

Before deciding on the trip or even before boarding your flight to mauritius, do check the cyclone warning. If a cyclone is passing by then you cannot get out of your hotel and do anything else but sit in your room.
Try to avoid visiting mauritius during the cyclone prone season.

A votre arrivée à l'aéroport, vous trouverez des guichets de banque seulement avant la sortie de la "Salle des tour-opérateurs".
À départ, les banques et changeurs de devises opèrent dans le couloir de l'enregistrement.
Il n'y a plus de compagnie bancaire après immigration et contrôle des passeporst.
Au départ et les salles de l'arrivée, les services suivants sont offerts :
Barclays - http://www.africa.barclays.com/mauritius.htm
State Bank - http://www.sbm-online.com
Banque de L'Île Maurice - http://www.mcb.co.mu
Shibani Finance
Thomas Cook
Banque de Hong-Kong & Shangaï

On arrival in the airport, you will find banking facilities just before the exit of the Tour Operators' Hall.
At departure, banks and money changers operate in the check-in hall.
However, there are no banking facilities after immigration and passport control.
In both the departure and the arrival halls, services are offered by the following :
Barclays - http://www.africa.barclays.com/mauritius.htm State Bank - http://www.sbm-online.com
Mauritius Commercial Bank - http://www.mcb.co.mu
Shibani Finance
Thomas Cook
Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank

Ces femmes qui choisissent avec attention leurs pommes d'amour vont certainement négocier le prix annoncé par le vendeur. Le marchandage est une tradition à Maurice, et tout acte commercial est sujet à négociation. Au bazar, il se passera très rapidement, en kréol. Pour les fruits et légumes, les tarifs sont le plus a souvent indiqué sur les petites pancartes en bois, mais il ne vous dispense pas de négocier, surtout si vous achètez une quantité plus importante qu'à l'ordinaire.

Pour les autres produits, il n'y a aucune indication de tarif. Le touriste européen, aura tout intérêt de tendre l'oreille pour écouter ces marchandages, et donc avoir une idée du prix proposé aux mauriciens, avant de se renseigner pour un article.

These women who choose with attention their apples of love are going to negotiate the price announced by the seller certainly then. The bargaining is a tradition Maurice's, and all commercial act is topic to bargaining. To the bazaar, it will happen very quickly, in kréol. For the fruits and vegetables, the tariffs are the more often indicated on the small placards in wood, but it doesn't prevent to bargain, especially if one buys a more important quantity than to the plain.

For the whole remains, there is not any indication of tariff. The European tourist, will have all interest to raise the ear to hear these bargainings, and so to have an idea of the price proposed to the mauriciens, before inquiring for an article.