My research group at the University of Helsinki gave me the chance to experience a field campaign to Madagascar to sample data for my thesis project. After a smooth flight from Helsinki to Istanbul, my second flight to Antananarivo via Mauritius got delayed for several hours. This resulted in an inconvenient postponement of the field campaign, as all the passengers to Madagascar missed the connecting flight and this route apparently does not operate every day. However, this also meant having an unplanned opportunity to discover the wonders of this Indian Ocean gem and its biodiversity by myself for some days.

Mauritius is an island country in southwestern Indian Ocean, east from Madagascar and Réunion Island (the latest belonging to France). The country is composed of a main island where the international airport, capital city and most tourism services in the country are allocated; Rodrigues Island some 560 km east; and distant atolls up north. Réunion, Mauritius (main island) and Rodrigues make the Réunion volcanic hotspot, a currently active hotspot that originated these volcanic islands and is today responsible for the eruptions in Réunion.

The main island used to be covered in endemic vegetation and was home to remarkable endemics such as the dodo. Centuries of human disturbance made the local ecosystems shrunk, and most endemic species struggled and still struggle accordingly. However, there are some world-class examples on conservation among Mauritius endemic avifauna. Late in the 20th century, the populations of several species peaked down extremely close to extinction: 5-6 Mauritius kestrels in 1974, 10 pink pigeons in 1991 and 8-12 echo parakeets in the 1980s. Today, all three species have several hundreds of individuals thanks to conservation efforts. All in all, there are 8 extant bird species endemic to the main island, plus 2 from Rodrigues Island and other 3 Mascarene endemics (shared with Réunion Island).

While my time and budget while visiting the island were limited and I did not have time to plan ahead, I had the chance to visit a couple of great birding sites and connected with some of the bird and reptile endemic species. While I would have wished to have a rental car to connect with more endemics in the last rainforest remains on the main island, it was fun to have this ‘double life’ of staying in a top-quality hotel and enjoying fine dining (for a change) while wearing field gear, sharing local means of transport across the island and getting to know people on the street. Mauritius was a great surprise.

My research group at the University of Helsinki gave me the chance to experience a field campaign to Madagascar to sample data for my thesis project. After a smooth flight from Helsinki to Istanbul, my second flight to Antananarivo via Mauritius got delayed for several hours. This resulted in an inconvenient postponement of the field campaign, as all the passengers to Madagascar missed the connecting flight and this route apparently does not operate every day. However, this also meant having an unplanned opportunity to discover the wonders of this Indian Ocean gem and its biodiversity by myself for some days.

Mauritius is an island country in southwestern Indian Ocean, east from Madagascar and Réunion Island (the latest belonging to France). The country is composed of a main island where the international airport, capital city and most tourism services in the country are allocated; Rodrigues Island some 560 km east; and distant atolls up north. Réunion, Mauritius (main island) and Rodrigues make the Réunion volcanic hotspot, a currently active hotspot that originated these volcanic islands and is today responsible for the eruptions in Réunion.

The main island used to be covered in endemic vegetation and was home to remarkable endemics such as the dodo. Centuries of human disturbance made the local ecosystems shrunk, and most endemic species struggled and still struggle accordingly. However, there are some world-class examples on conservation among Mauritius endemic avifauna. Late in the 20th century, the populations of several species peaked down extremely close to extinction: 5-6 Mauritius kestrels in 1974, 10 pink pigeons in 1991 and 8-12 echo parakeets in the 1980s. Today, all three species have several hundreds of individuals thanks to conservation efforts. All in all, there are 8 extant bird species endemic to the main island, plus 2 from Rodrigues Island and other 3 Mascarene endemics (shared with Réunion Island).

While my time and budget while visiting the island were limited and I did not have time to plan ahead, I had the chance to visit a couple of great birding sites and connected with some of the bird and reptile endemic species. While I would have wished to have a rental car to connect with more endemics in the last rainforest remains on the main island, it was fun to have this ‘double life’ of staying in a top-quality hotel and enjoying fine dining (for a change) while wearing field gear, sharing local means of transport across the island and getting to know people on the street. Mauritius was a great surprise.