Tag Archives: October 2002

Mauritius by Fatiha

Ask most of the people around you: “where is Mauritius?” and they probably could not tell you. And yet the famous writer Mark Twain said: God created Paradise, and copied Mauritius. I am a Moroccan citizen lady, and by recent marriage to a Mauritian citizen, and I am now in Mauritius.

MY WAY is a famous song.

MY WAY OF SEEING MAURITIUS, is another story.

Mauritius is really indeed a beautiful island in the Indian ocean, near the east coast of Madagascar and South Africa. The main industry of the country is tourism, and tourists come from everywhere in the world, and all throughout the year, as there is really no winter here, and the weather is always temperate.

The tourism sector is well boosted and organized, and whatever type of tourist you are, you always have what you want in terms of accommodation and rates. It is very easy to get a good accommodation at even 4 Euros per day per person, in an apartment, studio, bungalow and you can also be accommodated in 5 stars hotels and suites.

If you browse any search engine over the internet and put “Mauritius” in your search box, you will be surprised to the number of information available and to see the number of companies, selling and servicing the Mauritius tourist business.

Unlike other places, Mauritius has lots of activities and places to interest tourists, for example, you get the best of many lovely beaches, interesting sightseeing tours that will lead you for example to the unique spot of 7 coloured earth in the world, situated at Chamarel, beautiful nature forests and waterfalls.

Mauritius is a cosmopolitan island where there is harmony of race. On the island, white people, Creole, Hindus, Muslims and Chinese live peacefully. Each race has its own culture, and it is very visible while going from one place to another, seeing the temples, churches, mosques. People in Mauritius attach great importance to religion.

For the short time that I have been on this island, I have seen the following:

You should always bargain and never accept the first price that is quoted to you. Whether it is for the airport taxi, or whatever goods you purchase, and you will see after the transaction that it was really worth bargaining.

Lots of native people are attracted to tourists and never miss an opportunity to make friends with you. It depends of what you want, but they already know what they want from you! Many Mauritians are proud to be in the company of blondes! (Beetle watch out!) Mauritians are very helpful – ask anything and they will try and help you.

There is also another side of Mauritius, which most of the tourists do not see: there is another way of seeing Mauritius, to live as a Mauritian with a Mauritian. You will see his difficulty for struggling to get his living. The salaries are low and prices have gone up. The gap between the rich and the poor has never been as wide as it is now.

Anyway, I am in Mauritius now, and one thing I want to recommend to you, is that you must not forget to do is to taste the dhull purri and farata, which is in a sense the national food, served on the street as a kind of fast food.

Yours from Mauritius

Fatiha Mray.

If you would like to contact Fatiha for information on Mauritius, please e-mail her on: cbspride@intnet.mu

Jokes sent in by Krys

Flight Log Never let it be said that ground crews and engineers lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual logged maintenance complaints by QANTAS pilots and the corrective action recorded by mechanics.

By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never had an accident. P – stands for the problem the pilots entered in the log, and S – stands for the corrective action taken by the mechanics.

  • P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
  • S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.
  • P: Test flight OK, except autoland very rough.
  • S: Autoland not installed on this aircraft.
  • P: Something loose in cockpit.
  • S: Something tightened in cockpit.
  • P: Dead bugs on windshield.
  • S: Live bugs on backorder.
  • P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200-fpm descent.
  • S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.
  • P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
  • S: Evidence removed.
  • P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
  • S: DME volume set to more believable level.
  • P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
  • S: That's what they're there for!
  • P: IFF inoperative.
  • S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.
  • P: Suspected crack in windscreen.
  • S: Suspect you're right.
  • P: Number 3 engine missing. (note: this was for a piston-engined airplane; the pilot meant the engine was not running smoothly)
  • S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.
  • P: Aircraft handles funny.
  • S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.
  • P: Radar hums.
  • S: Reprogrammed radar with words.
  • P: Mouse n cockpit.
  • S: Cat installed

Large Travellers May Damage Your Health!

A passenger on a Virgin Atlantic flight has won a GBP£13,000 (USD$20,000) award after being injured by an obese woman in the next seat.

Barbara Hewson, from Swansea in Wales, was travelling economy class from London to Los Angeles, 11 long hours when the incident happened. She suffered injuries to her chest, torn leg muscles and developed sciatica after being crushed by the oversized passenger.

The woman next to Ms Hewson, was so large she had to raise the armrest to fit into the seat and because the flight was full there was no alternative seat so the woman's arm rested on Hewson's chest for much of the journey. Ms Hewson is only 4 feet 11 inches tall. When the flight arrived in Los Angeles Hewson was admitted to hospital.

Source: airnews.com