MAURITIUS - SEPT 2018

A few facts about Mauritius to get you started: it's an island of about 1.2m souls, lying close to the Tropic of Capricorn, with Africa its nearest continent (Mombasa is 1200 miles away, Perth 3800 and London nearly 6000 - a 12 hour flight).  Its biggest neighbour is Madagascar 530 miles to the west, vastly overshadowing it on the map (and you pass French Réunion on the way). 

It's (very!) roughly oval, max 40 miles long by 28 miles across, with more than 200 miles of coastline (almost all coral) surrounding a large central plateau punctuated by mountains and volcanoes.  We're planning to drive the perimeter, staying at four rented places at different points around the 'clock' for a few nights' each, and using them as bases to venture inland.  To get you oriented, the magnificently named Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam* Int’l Airport is at about 5o'clock and the capital, Port Louis (for Louis XV in 1722), at about 10o'clock.  Talking of time, it's 4 hours ahead of GMT.

*Sir SR's name will appear a fair bit; he's much honoured as befits the constitutional monarchy's first elected Prime Minister (incidentally, the island nation celebrated independence on 12 March 1968 - yes, Mauritius' modern history is a week older than me!)