Madagascar fody

The island of Mauritius is a tourist hotspot for those who worship the sun.  Its beaches are generally quite beautiful, save for the plastic that is never far away, and the water is warm.  It’s a place to unwind and enjoy the ocean.  Travel inland, however, and the story is quite different.  The landscape is dull.  If you are looking for beautiful countryside, better to stay in Yorkshire.

In terms of nature, it is an interesting country mostly for the wrong reasons.  In 1638 when it was colonised, Mauritius was covered in forest.  As you would expect, on an island in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, it had its fair share of Indigenous wildlife species including the long extinct dodo.  Fast forward to 2023 and less than 2% of the island’s native forest remains – a small area known as Bras D’eau national park on the east coast and a larger area known as the Black River Gorge national park on the west.  Only in these forests can you find the remaining nine endemic birds, most of which are concentrated in the Black River Gorge area.

The remainder of the island is now turned over to agriculture, primarily sugar cane.  Travel a few miles south of Bras D’eau and the avian population is sparse.  Those birds you will see are generally regarded as invasive species.  If your interest in nature is more diverse, Mauritius does boast over 160 genera of marine algae and 36 species of seaweed…

Since my visit was not, primarily, a photographic trip, only three endemic birds happened to cross my path – in the Black river Gorge, a Mauritius pink pigeon and a Mauritius kestrel, and in Bras D’eau, a Mauritius paradise flycatcher.

Elsewhere, the common mynah, red-whiskered bulbul, Madagascar fody, striated heron, zebra dove, village weaver and ever present flying mammal, the fruit bat or flying fox.

I wasn’t excited about Mauritius. If you want to combine a beach holiday with nature, best to go somewhere else…