Being a blog about Mauritius, we want to bring to the world, both good and bad sides of living or visiting the island city. Having lived in this country for more than 2 years, I have experienced both good and bad moments and today I would like to write down some of the bad points of living in Mauritius so people can read and make their own minds.
Mauritius is an island divided in two halves: one is the tourist side and one is the local side. I have had the experience of living on both sides to make some really important observations.
The tourist facilities are one of the best in this country, when you have money to spend and the cab fares don’t make a dent in your pocket, you can have the best time of your life. The shopping streets and souvenir shops are superb. However, the local side when it comes to living like a common man is not extra ordinary, schools and colleges are way below par than what global standards entail, medical facilities are not that great because many good doctors prefer to study and work abroad. I had loved the island when I was living but I can see the downsides of making it your hometown.
- Culture – While a lot of development has been made on making the island city tourism friendly, very little has been done to preserve the culture and heritage of the city. Museums are not maintained and most of the time are empty because the government has done enough to promote beaches and water sports but not enough for maintaining the historical sites. People often correlate Mauritius with the extinct dodo bird because you will find it’s mention everywhere but nothing apart from that from history is preserved.
- Education – While the schools and colleges are there in lush green mountains, they offer a great view and are good for primary education but when it comes to higher studies like specialised colleges, there are not enough opportunities. Most of the youngsters prefer to leave Mauritius for higher studies and they never come back. I wouldn’t judge them because the courses offered do not meet the expectations and even there are not enough expert teachers to teach. English is supposed to be one of their official languages but you would not find many Mauritians who can speak proper English because it’s not encouraged to be used.
- Technology and science – The country has so much of natural resources and while the world is using ocean water for various uses now as part of growth and development, Mauritius is not advancing at a pace that it should be.
- Roads and transport – Public transport is really bad. There is no rail network and bus facilities are not very frequent, so you might end up waiting for a while before you can catch a bus. Unless you have your own car, it’s very difficult to travel around and cabs are very expensive. A normal airport drop will cost you around 1200-1500 MUR which is pretty expensive for the distance to be covered.
- Advanced healthcare – If you do require specialised healthcare, you cannot get it in Mauritius and you would need to visit either SA or any other country like India where you can get the right treatment.
I do love the island and would like to retire there if possible, the open spaces, cleaner air and small comforts is definitely worth moving there.