PROS AND CONS OF MOVING TO MAURITIUS


Recently I got asked what it was like to leave everything I knew and start all over again in a completely new country... That got me thinking to the first time I visited Mauritius.

I've been with hubby for about 10 years now (married for nearly 8 years) and every year we used to visit Mauritius. I remember the first time I visited Mauritius, I got culture shock! I'm shame to admit, but I didn't know where Mauritius was prior to meeting hubby. After googling and finding out that it was a honeymoon destination, all I could visualise was the famous white beaches and luxury hotels (yes I know, what sort of naive bubble did I living in?!)

When we came on our 2 week holiday we would usually spend a few days at a hotel to unwind and enjoy the Mauritius that many holiday-makers envisage. But on my first visit to a hotel, we went through an area which seemed like one of the poorer regions in Mauritius and I was shocked to see makeshift houses made out of corrugated metal (like in a shanty town) I know you can get shanty towns in developed countries also but I never expected to see one so up and close. After that encounter, living in Mauritius never really crossed my mind but 10 years on, here I am!!

Long Beach Hotel on the East coast

Angsana Balaclava 

I knew that at some point we will have to move to Mauritius as hubby is an only child so when Leo was born, it made sense to relocate then. We visited Mauritius in November 2014 for Leo's Christening and the following March, we were all packed and ready for our new adventure!

Frangipani 

Mauritius is worlds apart from the life I had lived the past 33 years so I knew it was not going to be easy. I'd visited Mauritius so many times before so I knew what to expect to some extent but living here was completely different and new to me. Also I got very homesick (my family live in London) after 6 months.

What made the situation worse was that 1. I can't drive so I am stuck in the house most of the time 2. Our home is STILL not complete so living with the in-laws (this is another problem I faced when living here, explanation coming below) and 3. It doesn't feel like we are 'living' in Mauritius, more like a very very VERY long holiday as we are not living in our 'home'

I think once we move to our new home, things will be different. Also I will need to learn to drive very soon otherwise I will not be able to do anything. I won't be able to take my son to school or even do the grocery shopping!!

Hiking at 7 Cascades

Grand Bay

Anyway, my personal pros and cons of moving to Mauritius so far... I'm sure there's many more but these are what I can think of as I write this post.

PROs

- A lot of nature and glorious sunshine. It's tropical climate so weather tends to be good all year round. It's nice to see the sun shining... I think I suffer from SAD (Seasonal affective disorder)

- People are very nice, warm and polite. They are friendly and adore children!

- It's very multicultural and everyone lives in harmony

- I think Mauritius offers a good life for families and it's safe with a low crime rate

- You get much more for your money, property wise. You can probably get a 4-5 bedroom house in Mauritius for the price of our 1 bed flat in London and still have money left over for a refurb!

- Education and childcare are so much more affordable here. In London, you will be working full-time just to cover the costs.

- Bespoke furniture is reasonable here. When you hear 'bespoke' in London, you need to be prepared to pay premium for it. We got our dressing room made bespoke and I can't wait to use it.

- You don't need to go very far to enjoy a mini holiday with all the nice hotels on the island.

-


CONs (in no particular order)

- Weather is lovely but I hate the mosquitoes that come with it. No matter how much repellent I use, they seem to love me!

- Pace of life is sometimes really slow and it can be frustrating.

- A lot of things are still done manually and it can take forever! It took me nearly 3 months to get my resident permit which someone said will only take 7 days.

- Currently building our flat and it has been a nightmare. It should have been completed last year but still ongoing... So many problems with the workmanship and everything needs to be micro managed yourself. Otherwise nothing will get done and quality will be poor. Standards are not the same as in London and what you think is 'normal' or 'expected' is not done. For example, we had to travel nearly an hour to visit the workshop where our doors were being made, just to double check the quality and colour and to stress to the craftsman that we expect 'high quality'. Also if you're not careful and checking the works on a regular basis, you could get shoddy work which will be too late to fix.

- The shopping and eating is not the same as London. I miss it.

- People with young children, you can only use a stroller in shopping malls.... forget about using it in the capital, Port Louis.

- Not a lot of baby/toddler food options compared to London. I tasted one of the cereals and it was so unbelievably sweet and choices seem limited... am I just looking in the wrong places??

- Getting public transport is not the same as in London... it was quite nice seeing London from a double decker bus but the thought of using public transport here.... definitely not the same! You see bus stops with no time schedule... how are you supposed to know what buses go where and when they are due to come???

- I never used to wash my eggs and chicken in London but apparently you should here... do you wash your eggs and chicken before cooking?

- Can't get hold of Japanese ingredients. The only ingredients I manage to find is soy sauce, wasabi, and rice vinegar....

- Food shopping is surprisingly expensive. If you buy imported food from France it can cost a lot!! Rs200 (£4) for 6 small fromage frais yogurt!!

- All my leather bags and shoes are moulding... need to clean them every couple of months.

- Difficult to find reasonable quality furniture for a good price. I like contemporary design and that's not easy to find here. If you do, it's most likely going to cost a bomb!  I miss good old IKEA.

- The Chinese community is only 3% of the population so everybody knows everybody and it's gossip gossip gossip!!


Looking at the 2 lists, it looks like there's more cons than pros to moving.... lol

Sunset at Flic en Flac

I hope this has given you a more personal and slightly different insight to the pros and cons of moving to Mauritius.

Send me a message if you have any questions!

13 comments

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