Star ratings say nothing about Happiness ratings

The mile-long drive down to the River House from the main road borders a private housing estate and golf course. The edges are painstakingly landscaped, and at 6.50 each morning remote-controlled sprinklers rise through the turf like instant mushrooms and drench the grass to maintain its verdant sheen.

A typical luxury housing development- with adjacent golf course

An army of gardeners is to be seen most days, cutting back any intrusions from the neighbouring woodland and maintaining a Stepford quality to the estate. There’s nothing beautiful about it: nothing to sketch: nothing to inspire any poetic jottings; there’s only an unintentional prod to write with dispassionate cynicism about the way the world is developing. What does it take to make people happy?  Not the size of the house or the lack of weeds in the lawn, surely there's more to life than this? 

Living it up

Earlier in the week we visited one of the 5-star hotels and lay, lounging on teak sunbeds under a thatched sun-umbrella and nibbling on club-sandwiches at £14.00 each (French-fries and service included.) 

Tourists clad discreetly with pareos over their bikinis, strolled through the lawns that reached from the hotel buildings to the beach, their faces wrapped in dour indifference. 

The staff members were everywhere, but wore blank expressions, as if they’d been reading the latest reports from the Ministry of Tourism, showing visitors from Europe down 17% in Jan/Feb. Joy and happiness were distinctly noticeable by their absence whether on the faces of staff or guests. It was depressing, but it's not only Mauritius that falls victim to the trend. The same process of glamour-veneer is everywhere, so that the whole world blurs into a totally synthetic, Las Vegas-style resort.

The public beach at Flic en Flac

The public beaches in Mauritius are a different story. There are many public beaches, all around the island, free to all and well-equipped with adequate parking facilities. They are cheerful places, especially at weekends, with groups of local people enjoying the crystal-clear sea. 

Everywhere you can find little lunchtime kiosks selling faratas (savoury-filled pancake-bread,) at 2 for 40 pence, and all the other wonderful street food that you can find all over the island at bargain prices. The stall-holders have broad smiles; the beach-goers are laughing and joking; it’s a very different ambiance from the austere chill of the 5-star hotels.

Woodland countryside

Earlier in the week, we drove out to see the wonderful weekend home a friend of my host had constructed, using 3 x 40ft containers to create the basic layout of the living area. The house has become a beautiful wooden bungalow, blending naturally into its surroundings. Only the metal doors reveal the origins of the construction as everything has been insulated with natural materials and enhanced internally with pine cladding throughout. 

The house is in a central part of the island, surrounded with fields of sugar-cane and groves of banana trees amidst jungle-like woodland. 

As we drove through the villages there was a winning photograph wherever you looked: brilliant colours and everywhere broad grins, waves and smiles. 

A family walking through the fields of sugar-cane

The majority of the rural population enjoy a simple life-style and  very basic standard of living, and they make the most of enjoying their lives without the frills and trimmings of modern consumerism. The literacy rate is high and there is universal health-care.

Mauritius will mean different things to different visitors. On the one had you can choose the familiarity of yet another reassuringly-familiar 5-star environment with the occasional nod to local colour with a Folklore Evening or a modified traditional dish on the menu. 

On the other hand you can opt for a simple, but superbly comfortable B&B or Guest House and set out to explore the real Mauritius. 

If you do the latter, you’ll come home with an awareness of the real Mauritius, and not just another Hilton resort in a slightly different tropical location. 

But do it soon, because the global demands of tourism are inching towards a more standardised product that targets the less discriminating market, whether that is the Sheratons around the Pyramids of Giza or the all-inclusive resort hotels crowding around the monoliths on Easter Island.

Enjoy the real Mauritius.