Poste de Flacq, east coastMauritius is a real country before it is a resort, and that changes the shape of a holiday here. There is a capital with a market, a mountain range you can hike, botanical gardens two centuries old, and rum distilleries still working. The reef encircles almost the whole island, so the lagoon is calm the way the Maldives is calm — but you can drive out of it. Le Morne in the south-west is the dramatic corner: a UNESCO basalt monolith rising straight out of the water, and the island's best kitesurfing beneath it.
