Handpicked experience · Port Louis
Port Louis, Mauritius
The cape is called misfortune because the British landed there in 1810 and took the island, and the market you walk through is the direct result of who arrived by ship afterwards.
A landmark whose name records somebody's defeat
A harbour that reshaped the population of an island
A covered market holding four inheritances at once
Street food with a national consensus behind it
A half day that fits a shore call or a short stay
Four hours across the north of Mauritius: the central market in Port Louis, time at the Caudan waterfront, and a drive up the coast to the church at Cap Malheureux.
Cap Malheureux is the most photographed spot on the island and its name means, flatly, cape of misfortune. That is not decoration either.
In 1810 a British force came ashore here — the northern tip being the one stretch of coast the French had left lightly defended — and marched south. Within days the island had changed hands, ending French rule and beginning a century and a half of British administration. The name is what the losing side called the place afterwards.
The small church with the red roof, which appears on more Mauritian postcards than anything else, sits looking out over the water they arrived across.
Port Louis is a working port and always has been, and the single most consequential thing that passed through it was people.
After the abolition of slavery, the British used Mauritius as the trial run for a new labour system, and between the eighteen-thirties and the early twentieth century something approaching half a million indentured workers arrived here, the overwhelming majority from India, processed through a depot on the harbour front. The scheme was then exported across the empire. It is why the island's population, food, festivals and languages look the way they do, and why the depot site is now protected as a place of world significance.
Knowing that changes the market. What you are walking through is the direct result of that arrival: Indian, Chinese, African and French inheritances in one covered building, sold by people descended from all of them.
Look for dholl puri, which is the national street food and not seriously in dispute: a soft flatbread made with ground split peas, wrapped around bean curry, pickle and chilli paste, folded and handed over in paper. They are eaten in pairs, two of them make a light lunch, and every Mauritian has a strong opinion about who makes the best.
Alongside them you will find gateaux piments — small fried split-pea cakes with chilli — and stacks of fruit, vanilla, chilli pastes and tea that make up most of what the market actually sells.
The market is crowded and the aisles are narrow; keep bags closed and in front of you as you would in any busy market.
Cap Malheureux is a photo stop rather than a visit, and the church is small and in active use — if a service is running, stay outside. Four hours is enough for the north in outline, not in depth. Sun on the coast road is strong, and the market is hot and unairconditioned.
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It means cape of misfortune. A British force came ashore there in 1810 and took the island from the French within days.
The French, who had run it for most of the eighteenth century and left their language, place names and legal traditions behind them.
French rule ended and roughly a century and a half of British administration began. The name is what the losing side called the place.
It runs daily and is busiest in the morning, which is when this tour reaches it.
It shaped the island's population, food, festivals and languages, and the scheme trialled here was then exported across the empire.
Dholl puri — a soft split-pea flatbread wrapped around bean curry, pickle and chilli paste. They are eaten in pairs and two make a light lunch.
Gateaux piments, small fried split-pea cakes with chilli, alongside the fruit, vanilla, chilli pastes and tea that make up most of the stalls.
It is small and in active use. If a service is running, stay outside — this is a photo stop rather than a visit.