The island nation of Mauritius sits off the coast of Africa, east of Madagascar, a dot in the Indian Ocean. Once a huge volcano, this coral reef-ringed idyll hasn’t experienced an eruption in 700,000 years. Today it’s a safe and serene picture-postcard location with a central plateau, a rim of jagged basalt peaks and shoreside plains edged with white-sand beaches.
My stay was on the unspoilt and verdant south-west coast in the Domaine de Bel Ombre where gentle trade winds diffuse the heat. A former sprawling sugar cane estate has been transformed into eco-conscious luxury resorts with world-class golf courses and soothing spas. Bel Ombre even has its own original 19th-century chateau and 3,200-acre nature reserve.
