To get a bird’s-eye view of the island of Mauritius, we have decided to charter a helicopter. This starts at the airport and picks us up directly at the hotel for a sightseeing flight over the island. The flight had to be organized via “Air Mauritius”, as there is no company here offering helicopter sightseeing flights on a flat rate. Accordingly complex was then the organization …. and the price.

The helicopter lands next to the hotel on a free field ….. completely unspectacular and without obtaining a permit …… (in Old Germany probably completely unthinkable). Here on the island of Mauritius, this is handled completely uncomplicated.

The aircraft, we were promised, is more recent and the pilots are said to be trained by Air Mauritius. So we have no major concerns and look forward to the magnificent view of the island from a lofty height.

We start over the lagoon. On the right is the small offshore island “Ile Aux Cerfs”, which belongs to the hotel and maintains its own small beach operation here. In the background is the open sea and the outer reef border, where the water quickly reaches a depth of several hundred meters. The outer reef can be recognized by the small white stripe in the photo below the horizon.

We also fly over the interior and are amazed at the varied landscape. On the right a waterfall that flows into a small lake. The island has a large game population. From the helicopter we see numerous large packs of native deer species, which find sufficient food in the wide grass and shrub landscapes.

It should live on the island up to 25,000 animals. Around 3,000 animals are released annually for hunting. These measures are necessary to reduce the game stock to a level necessary for the ecological balance. Otherwise, the animals would withdraw their food base themselves, as there are no more natural enemies on the island.

The flight takes about two hours. We got to know much of the northern island and inland from the air. From the helicopter we could get a first impression of the diversity of the island. We will use this advantage and carry out our further exploration selectively by car.

After our pilot dropped us off directly at the hotel, he says goodbye to us once more with a short lap of honor. We enjoyed this exciting and informative short trip and now have to process the new impressions. For the next few days we have decided to explore the island with a rental car. We want to take our time and also stay at various places on the island, as day trips on the local roads are just too stressful.

We are curious to see what new impressions we will gain on our next stages.