As we start thinking and planning on where we are going next, it’s impossible to not think about what we’ve loved and what we will miss. It’s difficult to convey how much of Mauritius will come with us, memories of friends, food, culture; we have learned so much, and it seems fair to say Mauritius is leaving the biggest impression on the T&T House, more so than any other place to date. Part of that is the place, part of that is getting better at allowing a place to change a person. Here are some highlights.
We absolutely love the discovery; it might be that we grew up on Star Trek, so it feels pretty natural to Boldly Go. We find humans have a tendency to stay within a ten-mile radius of their home. We love to venture out, then continue to make our way to the best shops, pubs and restaurants far and wide. We also find taking a walk is the best way to see the most. Even on bike it’s easy to miss a lot. So we would often take walks around the homestead as well around the island.
Our first attempt at Biryani with a standard pot. Not so good. This started the adventure of discovering Mauritius cookware and recipes 
We cannot ever get enough street food. 
Walking around the neighbourhood in spring 
Tree in bloom near our house 
Of course we had to try every flavour of the local beer to see what we liked. The verdict – classic Phoenix 
You just have to ask “What’s that?” everywhere you go, then give it a try. Wasabi Rum – we’ll be trying to replicate this! 
Grand Baie 
The #1 rated restaurant in Fic-en-Flac according to TripAdvisor. 
Pub crawls are a great way to discover a city 
T&T pub crawl House rule: order one drink and a starter per place, when paying bill, get a bottle of water to drink while crawling to the next pub. 
New Years. When the fireworks start, cars are abandoned in the street, and it ends up taking hours to get home. 
Port Louis is an old city, but very clean with more and more refurb and restore happening each year 
We would go in to Port Louis every other month or so, and a trip to Mr. Kabab was always required. 
We stayed in Port Louis for Spring Festival (Chinese new year) and it was fantastic. 
We discovered the meat market and would take a trip every other month or so to stock up 
The Port Louis race track is the oldest in the Southern Hemisphere. 
Our favourite pub in Port Louis, about 5 minute walk from the waterfront. 
The port!
For us the biggest advantage of working remotely or as an expat is that you tend to be surrounded by other people from far away places who are also far from home. This is a recipe for socialising, as newcomers are anxious to make new friends and get acclimated. A great way to get everyone involved is theme days. Here are two examples – highlights from the T&T House Deep Fry Day, and the annual International Gin Day celebration.
Scotch Eggs 
Everyone brought something to deep fry. 
On International Gin Day, everyone brings a Gin and we score each one 
By third Gin day, we learned a lot of food is helpful 
Pimp your Gin!
We love it when our friends share their culture with us! Two highlights were South African Food Day and the Annual Danish Christmas Celebration. South African Food Day was one of our going away celebrations and is a day that will live in our memory for a long time.
Danish Christmas happened twice. Two Danish friends would spend months gathering the supplies for proper Danish Christmas fare, which included giving lists to friends of what to bring from Denmark on their Mauritian holiday. Most of the expats leave Mauritius during Christmas (pre-COVID), so Danish Christmas day was early in December, where we could all get together before the mini Christmas diaspora.
Another SA friend introduced us to Melktert liqueur, so we wanted to try the real thing. 
Boerewors Roll with tomato, onion and mushroom relish 
Longdrop 
The proper chocolate was not available, but the homemade concoction came out fine! 
Trying to illustrate why it’s called a “longdrop” 
We were first introduced to Springbokkies during birthday camping. Mint liqueur and Amarula 
Getting a lesson on proper Danish craftsmanship 
Properly done! 
A shot between each course 
September is a House birthday month, and each year in Mauritius we would talk some hardy friends into Birthday Camping on Île D’Ambre, or Amber Island – an islet close to our house. Most would hire a boat to take them and their gear to the island. Some would paddleboard over. A mini version of the T&T House would be packed up into two Kayaks and paddled over by the hosts. Highlights included foraging for firewood upon arrival, cooking over open flame, taking the kayaks out, lots of alcohol, good friends and fun.
Living in Mauritius means being surrounded by amazing resorts. The resort lifestyle isn’t quite in sync with the T&T House, but we would enjoy going to special events, such as guest gourmet chefs, pop-up kitchen events and some of the most amazing buffets you will ever see.
But nothing beats cooking with friends. A relaxing day at the T&T House or a friend’s house sampling food, making plans for next month’s adventures and just enjoying the life we are blessed with.
Homemade Mauritian crab soup 
Starters! 
Danish Welcome Drink 
Mauritian welcome drink (Ti Punch) 
How to put the kayak to use during the winter
The TnT House 