Good morning Mauritius :)

hello welcome to mauritius and on Expat.com.well for our local network i wil recommend you to use emtel network im using since ages and nether got any problem either local or abroad.as activities their's a lot here golf,wind and kite surf,horseriding a lot more.as for blue bay it's in the south near mahebourg it's rather ok their just very hot now and i guess you wil be very close to the seaside.well i wish you a great stay and enjoy.

Hi Andrea,

Welcome to Mauritius. We will be having an expat meet up soon and I sure you and your husband will make many expat and Mauritius friends here.

Cheers!!!
Terence

Hi Andrea,

Welcome to Expat-blog!

Welcome on Expat.com Andrea

Thanks you for your presentation. May be you can also participate/contribute on the above mentioned forums.

The American expatriates in Mauritius network page can also help in finding some American contacts.

Concerning your other queries, I hope that other members will be able to bring their input soon.

Regards

Hi Andrea,

Welcome to the Paradise Isle!! From what i know, you can cite names and places, unless you are looking to advertise for them

I have tried to answer some of your queries below

cutie-mum wrote:

Hello everyone,

I am an expat from USA, and I landed in Mauritius 3 days ago.The flight experience was terrific and may be I dont have the right to cite the company name! (that part you can ignore, but I just wanna say it)

I came to this beautiful website randomly today and I have already bookmarked it. I got many questions but for now I will ask a few among them! I am sorry if ever one of my questions have previously been covered.

However, being a frequent traveler I can help you in return if you have any questions about USA, Bulgaria, United Kingdom or Spain or France (I have lived for some years in these countries, and may be I can be of some help if ever u got some question)

So here it goes my question (Sorry, if my question are stupid, this is my first visit in mauritius & in this website ):

1. Can you advise which mobile network operator I shall use? In fact, I am use a T-mobile here and sometimes I am getting network error. So, I would like to switch to an appropriate common network used here. I guess there are many companies which provide this service here. So which one is the most appropriate, which package I shall buy. (I will be calling outside a lot)



Orange and Emtel are the two main operators with equal network coverage ( good or bad depends on where you stay). Orange has better offers on the Pre-paid numbers. Though, it would make sense to shift to an operator that your family and friends-contacts are having ( you could pick one prepaid card  up for a short while and then shift,this is given if you produce your passport in many shops) as Emtel to Orange and vice versa is Rs.4 per minute ( same as making international calls on both networks) , while emtel to emtel or orange to orange is about 60cents.

For calling internationally,  i suggest VoIP or Google phone which will be the cheapest option.
For Internet, would make sense applying for Orange broadband as they are the primary operator and you also get a TV -Satellite package along with it. you need to apply for a landline first though.


2. Currently, I am with my husband and I am not feeling lonely so far. Next week he will join his work (which is the main purpose of our visit here) and I will be pretty lonely so can you suggest some activities that I  can do to kill time till he gets back from office.

Activities would be dependant on where you stay and what your interests are. would be an advantage if you can drive and have a car for yourself. Best would be to join groups wherein there are other House-wives , tourists on long stay.( am sure there are a few posts on the blog on a similar thread) If you like nature-trekking, loads of activities possible. not to mention watersports, diving and Kite surfing.
You could look to join volunteer groups, which will probably keep you t most busy of the lot.

3. I am currently staying in a hotel in the north (I dont know if I have the right to cite the name), till the company shifts us to a villa house in Bule Bay (next Wednesday). Can I have some recommendations about this area.

Blue Bay is in the South, and relatively far from the main cities of Port loius, Curepipe, Qtr Bornes, Rose-hill. Tamarin and Flic and flac on the west coast do have a significant amount of Expat residents, while Grand Baie in the north has the tourists.
Blue Bay is close to the fishing Village of Mahebourg which will be the main place for you to go for grocery shopping, markets etc.,.The area around has some of the most beautiful beaches in MAuritius. Its right next to the Airport. It is also the place which has a lot of rain throughout the year ( seas are relatively rough)

4. Are there other American Expat in Mauritius? Are Mauritian friendly, I guess yes? So far, I am enjoying
I love the local language, its a mixture of French I think.

They are quite a few Americans in MAuritius and Using the link Yud's given would help you!!.
Mauritians are very friendly and u will get around very comfortably with English. If you intend to stay for long, it would make sense to pick up on the local Kreole, which is a 70% french but with a very strong Asian and African dialect.
If you know french, it wud be helpful, but otherwise if you intend to take lessons, learn Kreole not French. Its much easier to pick up and helps conversing better.


Thats would be all for now. I hope that my other "future questions" will be welcomed as well. Sorry for being long!!!

Thanks for reading me

Andrea

Hope this helps a little.
All the best for a wonderful stay and life in Mauritius!!

Cheers,
Musheer

Hello,
I wish you all the best in Mauritius. I am a citizen from Holland and live 5 years in Mauritius. For the time I am in Ireland but in this summer i will move back to Mauritius after my study to my family. I am living in Poste de Flacq. Very nice and friendly people. You will enjoy the life over there.
Good luck and GOD bless.

Erwin

Hello everyone,

First of all I would like to excuse myself for replying you all so late. I was in moving process to Bule Bay and didn't got the time to be online at all. Sorry again

I would like to thanks Mike77, Smart Terrence, Beautiful Christine, Tropical Yud, Cool Erwin for their tips, message & encouragements and welcome. In fact, it feels nice to be welcomed by a forum administrator! This is a very wonderful platform, and I would like to thanks all the persons involved for this master piece creation.

A special thanks to Cute Musheer for taking the time in answering & commenting on every part of my post. Thanks a lot for all these useful information!

Now I got some series of other questions (some may b stupid), hope you will allow me to ask them!

Andrea

Hi Andrea,

Just for calling me "cute" u will get an extra n !!
Go ahead n pop those Qs, we are armed with the As( even for the stupid ones- Been there, doing that )

Cheers,
Musheer

"Go ahead n pop those Qs, we are armed with the As( even for the stupid ones- Been there, doing that  )" I like this sentence

Now this is a serious question and I will consider all your suggestions. We'll value ur comments as it will help us to choose a final place to settle for the next 6 months!!

1. In fact we are living in Bule Bay since 4 days, and my husband want to change location (because no social life here, its very true). We don't have any neighbors, most of the houses around are empty, i don't know why!!!! And his company is proposing us 4 locations and it is up to us to choose: Floreal city, Quatre-Bornes, BeauChap GRSE, Mahebourgh (No pool in Mahebourgh so we will discard mahebourgh! )
Can you tell us which one will be more appropriate for us!!! My husband will start working at the AML company as from Monday!

2. Are there local TV channels & Satellite tv in Mauritius? What are the procedures to subscribe! In Bule Bay, we are only obtaining 3 channels which are very boring to watch

3. I will be visiting Port Louis city on Monday with my husband! He needs to do some formalities... Any special places to see there. This will be my first visit there! So any tips

Thats would be all for now... Question 1 is the most important for the moment!!!!

Thanks for reading me... BTW I am addict to this forum!!! I check it every morning
Andrea

Hi cutie-mum, and welcome to Expat.com !

regarding mobile network operators, you haven't got this much choice ... Orange vs Emtel.

Well, I've been an Emtel prepaid user for several years. Communications are really cheap in Mauritius (compared to Europe). The problem with Emtel is that their network isn't very good everytime. Eg I have to go to the first floor of my house if I want to call friends (and that's in Grand Bay). For this reasons, and a few more, I suggest you Orange. I think it's a little bit more expensive (I am not even sure as the prices may have changed in the last years), but they networks seems better than Emtel's.

Hope this helps,

Julien

oops I responded to question n°1 from your first post

maybe you should have a look to the Mauritius expat network, there's a map at the bottom of the page, which shows where the members are located

cutie-mum wrote:

"Go ahead n pop those Qs, we are armed with the As( even for the stupid ones- Been there, doing that  )" I like this sentence

Now this is a serious question and I will consider all your suggestions. We'll value ur comments as it will help us to choose a final place to settle for the next 6 months!!

1. In fact we are living in Bule Bay since 4 days, and my husband want to change location (because no social life here, its very true). We don't have any neighbors, most of the houses around are empty, i don't know why!!!! And his company is proposing us 4 locations and it is up to us to choose: Floreal city, Quatre-Bornes, BeauChap GRSE, Mahebourgh (No pool in Mahebourgh so we will discard mahebourgh! )

Hands down, Floreal.. QB is quite active but also very hectic and high traffic. Floreal has a great neighbourhood, not to mention is the coolest and wettest part of Mauritius along with its neighbour Curepipe. You will find lot of like minded people not to mention every type of emneties

Can you tell us which one will be more appropriate for us!!! My husband will start working at the AML company as from Monday!

2. Are there local TV channels & Satellite tv in Mauritius? What are the procedures to subscribe! In Bule Bay, we are only obtaining 3 channels which are very boring to watch

there are local satellite providers, Canal Plus and Parabole Maurice, both of which will cost you about 1to1.5k a month and are primarily French.
The one you should go for is DSTV, from South Africa with english channels is all categories. Installation and Monthly charges are relatively higher.

3. I will be visiting Port Louis city on Monday with my husband! He needs to do some formalities... Any special places to see there. This will be my first visit there! So any tips

you could go to China Town. other than that the eternal favourite, the Cauden Water Front which has two good shopping complexes in it too.

Thats would be all for now... Question 1 is the most important for the moment!!!!

Thanks for reading me... BTW I am addict to this forum!!! I check it every morning
Andrea

All the Best

Hello everyone..
So here it goes.. i'm a Mauritian living in Berlin. My son who was born in Germany but which also has a mauritian passport, her mother who is German and i would like to do and spend at least 2 years in Beeautiful Mauritius.. Problem is that the mother of my son and i are not married! So my question to you people of the world is. Is the mother of my son allow to spend this time because she is the mother( who doesn't have a Mauritian passport) of a kid who has a mauritian passport? 
I hopethat someone will help us!!
Thanks and take care out there.

Dear cutie-mum,

cutie-mum wrote:

Now this is a serious question and I will consider all your suggestions. We'll value ur comments as it will help us to choose a final place to settle for the next 6 months!!

1. In fact we are living in Bule Bay since 4 days, and my husband want to change location (because no social life here, its very true). We don't have any neighbors, most of the houses around are empty, i don't know why!!!! And his company is proposing us 4 locations and it is up to us to choose: Floreal city, Quatre-Bornes, BeauChap GRSE, Mahebourgh (No pool in Mahebourgh so we will discard mahebourgh! )
Can you tell us which one will be more appropriate for us!!! My husband will start working at the AML company as from Monday!

If you want night life, Quatre Bornes is closest to any; Ebene, Flic en Flac - pubs and lots of nightlife, Port Louis for an afterwork drink or missy gossips!

2. Are there local TV channels & Satellite tv in Mauritius? What are the procedures to subscribe! In Bule Bay, we are only obtaining 3 channels which are very boring to watch

English ones: DSTV! ( I will check and revert back!)

3. I will be visiting Port Louis city on Monday with my husband! He needs to do some formalities... Any special places to see there. This will be my first visit there! So any tips

China town, Champ de Mars, Museum, Caudan Waterfront. There is a Tourist information kiosk at Caudan where am sure they will help!

Thats would be all for now... Question 1 is the most important for the moment!!!!

I hope you find this helpful!

Cheers.

As usual musheer, thanks for your help. Its amazing how people are nice here by helping each other though we are strangers. N i would like to thanks the founder Mr.Julien for the useful link and for his tips. In fact you are right, many people claimed that emtel service is really cr*p. (Sorry if this is hurting some1, I only quote what I heard)
---The founder states that he has to climb each time he has to make a call --- So definitely I am discarding this mobile operator!!!

A heartfelt, sincere thanks goes to the Founder again, for this wonderful platform.

A warmful thx to pretty Alisa_ram!! I am considering all your suggestions. However, we have chosen Floreal because my husband said it will be pretty near for him to get to his office!

to - davidcolin: I cannot help you at all, may be other members can help you. In fact they are all very nice and friendly. Y don't you create a new discussion!

Greetings
Andrea

Hello cute mum i would like to to give you link about satellite tv here ,Dstv is one of my prefered as you have a lot of american movie and channel on it.refer link below of dstv http://www.dstvafrica.com/dstvafrica/co … s_get_dstv
Concerning portlouis well that link will help you very much
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Af … G-C-1.htmlhttp://www.tripwolf.com/en/guide/show/2 … pe-Floreal

Personally i don't like blue bay it's boring and the security isn't that good there specially for a lady around the seaside area in afternoon etc.Floreal will be very good for you as it's just 25 mins to go to aml airport for your husband and closer to quatre-bornes,rose hill ,flic en flac ,ebene etc.You have some shopping mall,clinic fortis darne and then jumbo supermarket phoenix around 10mins by car from curepipe.You can every afternoon go to trou aux cerf for jogging,walk etc.I highly recommend you floreal.Don't hesitate for any ques?
Best regards Mike

Thanks Mike for your answers...

With the permission of all the members who have helped me  - may I pop another series of question?

cutie-mum wrote:

Thanks Mike for your answers...

With the permission of all the members who have helped me  - may I pop another series of question?

Bring it on!!!

I found the DSTV office in Quatre Bornes. If you're heading this way let me know!

Cheers!