Life after the move!

Welcome to Expat.com Claire and soon to Mauritius.

Harmonie.

Thanks for the welcome! Looking forward to someone (anyone out there????) telling me that their move was not all moonshine and roses! Don't get me wrong... I am really excited but also want to be totally prepared for the "horrid" so that I can be really supportive for my kids!

Maklan,
Contact me on [email protected] with your questions, I will do my best to answer them as ourselves moved from Joburg 8 months ago.
Talk to you soon,

I just moved 2 weeks ago and received a container today, everything is fine, had been in Mauritius about 4 times for holidays before we moved with family, I think that was a key for a fast adaptation. I spent 10 years in Dubai, which is very different, but I am an easy one to adapt to new places, I just find millions of things to be busy with and then it s all ok! You just have to bear in mind that this is an island and life is different- it takes time for everything and nobody is in a rush, except the driving- I must say driving is a bit a problem but I am sure with time it will be fine.

Hi,
We moved here 4 months ago and reading your info I think you will be will be fine - you have children and I think this helps a lot, it means you will meet other mums straight away and build your friends up from there.

For me it is a little different, my children are all grown up. So it has taken me a little longer to meet people.

It has been fine for my husband as he is at work all day, busy, busy

The one thing about this Island is that the local people are very friendly

Best wishes

Yes, all will be fine and remember, the expat community is here to help if we can. Hope to meet you guys soon.
Cheers,

Macklan,

You've asked a large and fairly open-ended question. Rather than try and tackle it all, let me tell you a little about my experience with the move and culture shock:

I found that the hardest adjustment to make was establishing a new routine. I moved from a metro area where I walked almost everywhere I pleased, and could take public transportation from 5 AM to 12:30 AM any day of the week. Being able to quickly walk to the grocery store, multiple concert halls and theatres, and lots of different parks and restaurants is just not how things are arranged in my neighborhood here in Mauritius. This meant that the way the bus service starts shutting down after 6 PM or so made it a bit of a challenge for building a new routine.

For me, an important thing is inviting other people that you meet to join you for activities. If it's just you/you+SO/you+fam, it's easy to default to staying home. Spending time with other people and doing new things was probably part of your routine before, and making it part of your new routine will make things easier. Plus, there's quite a bit to see and do, once you get out to do it.

On a personal note, there are lots of things that I was first told "you can't do that" or "we don't have that here" in Mauritius. Ask the right people and you may find that that's really not the case. For example, someone told me that there are no movie theatres that show English-language films. Not true at all, but which theatres you go to when is important there. So ask away if you have questions, and if you want to meet up with people for (insert activity here), remember that you can always post here and find someone in that part of the island.

Herblanders,
You stay at Baie du Tombeau, no wander you feel lonely. We had a choice of living there when we arrived 8 months ago but were told of it's "isolation" and the fact that it is not too safe, especially at night to walk around. That is why we decided on Flic en Flac. Walking distance to the beach, shops, restaurants, bars, name it.
We come from South Africa and you cannot compare the public transport. Here it is out of this world ( except when you are stuck behind a bus !).
Also, we have met many wonderful people. In fact, we made more friends here in this short period of time than the ones we had in SA.
Mauritus has its downfalls like everywhere in th world but it is still paradise. The way we live. Come on,it is great.
This is it for my subjective opinion.

Hi Claire,

Mauritius, Mauritius....Country of holidays..I moved here few months ago for work and I don't have any children yet so that makes a difference. It's great when you have kids because life is more relax here.

The strong points are: beautiful weather all year long, you can afford big houses with pool, you can have staff at home that cost you nothing, driver, cooker etc which is great if you have 3 kids, good spa, nice outdoor activities.

Weak points: you can't do anything without a car, you can't really walk in the streets, they are trying to open new malls with shops but compare to Europe or USA or Dubai they are really not nice. So if you like shopping forget it, you will save money big time.

It's a great place to live if you can afford to go out of the country at least 3 times a year (my point of view of course). They are lots of South African so you will not be lost. All the Mauritian will tell you it is dangerous, it is not. You just have to be careful like any country in the world.

If you have any other questions let me know will be happy to answer.

Best.

P.

Christian,

I actually like Baie du Tombeau quite a bit, once I figured out how to get everywhere. (A little personal transportation hasn't hurt, either.) Enough restaurants in walking distance that I have yet to try 'em all, too. But the location works for the work that I'm doing, which is the most important bit for now.

How late do restaurants close in Flic en Flac, out of curiosity? 11 PM or midnight is the norm in my home city of Boston.

Restaurants in Flic-en-Flac mostly close on Monday, the day off of staffs. Otherwise it closes at midnight/3 am at the weekend(Twin Garden) or 10.30 (the normal ones).

3 AM on the weekend? That is a different world...

Yep, here they live by tourism so...

I think that the kitchen actually closes at 12 but you can order drink till 3AM. And only on Friday/Saturday.

Claire hi,

Most is mentioned above. To add a dime:
1. No problems of adjustment in school. My son was 6 years old when we moved in 2009 and spoke 0 English. He is better than us now and picks up French quickly. He is in Lighthouse primary school. Our daughter was born here - her first words now is a mix of Russian, French/Creol and a hint of an English. Use this multi-cultural environment to invest in your children future.
2. Open your mind: this is an Island. If you like outdoors and watersports - this is Paradise. Biggest mistake of many newcomers - when you start to compare. Stop yourself as soon as this creeps your mind. Enjoy!
3. We live in the North - great mixture of locals, expats and tourists. Hard to stay bored if you have so many friends around + friends visiting. (our house is like a mini-hotel - booked a year ahead - most of our friends and relatives from Russia and across the world already visited us so we never felt isolated).

Good luck with the move and settling down.

Regards,
Anton