On Our Way To Mauritius

We learned all about the political/economic situation in Mauritius this morning in Global Studies. For those of you who have no idea where it is (I definitely didn’t before I was told I was going there), it’s in the Indian Ocean off of Madagascar. (Which we are currently approaching. And it’s beyond me why we’re not stopping there instead- in the land ruled by lemurs!) Back to Mauritius: They are doing quite well considering they are a highly populated (1.3 million) tiny island (790 sq. mi.) with few natural resources. 90% of the arable land is used for destructive sugarcane production (and sugar export generates only 25% of GDP). Their big industries now are textiles and of course tourism. (It is a huge European vacation destination, and is “Spring Break” for SAS students). About 2 million tourists visit each year (DOUBLE the population) so there are a slew of environmental concerns. Mauritius is technically a part of Africa but no one thinks of it as such. GDP/cap is $11,900 (a great contrast to Africa’s poorest country, Liberia, where GDP/cap is $195).
Mauritius is culturally very diverse: the majority (almost 70%) are of Indian descent, 27% Creole, and very small percentages of people of French and Chinese descent. Some say Mauritius is one of the most successful multi-ethnic societies in the world. Tension does exist (mainly between the poor Creole population and the Indo-Mauritians) and there is still an elite Franco-Mauritian minority that owns most of the plantations.
In its effort to become a key economic player in the global society, Mauritius has established a nationwide EPZ (Export Processing Zone) attempting to attract foreign investors with tax breaks, low wages, and other such incentives. And they are working towards a completely wireless island- they are at about 60% now!
Many of you might not be interested in this but I have a test on it tomorrow so this counts as “studying.”
Mark Twain said of Mauritius: “You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first and then heaven, and that heaven was copied after Mauritius.”
This is promising.
On my list of things to do:
Visit the dodo birds at the Natural History museum (they became extinct back in 1680)
Cuddle a tortoise (this is actually possible according to our Inter-port lecturer, Dennis, a tropical ecologist who works with them)
Spot Mauritius’ BIG THREE (they are all birds- not as exciting as the Big 5)
Lay on the beach (but not for four days straight like most people are planning)


Today is my half birthday- I’m almost 21!! We were gonna order an ice cream cake but we didn't so I'm going to share my rum cake from the Bahamas (finally!) with friends at our study sesh tonight.