Expatriate in Mauritius for a few years, our dream had become reality!
We lived and worked on an island far from the megacities, an island where time had stopped despite an obvious willingness of the Government to open the country to foreign investments.
When you arrive in Mauritius, you have this strange feeling of quietude and well-being and you are surprised by the clarity and brightness of the azure blue sky.
The kindness of the inhabitants is not a legend, here you will always find a person ready to help you, the smile is omnipresent on all faces even in this period of world pandemic.
Yes, a simple smile, a simple and rare thing that we have almost forgotten when we live in Europe or elsewhere in the world.
Prior to this pandemic, we had a thriving Prestige Real Estate and Investment business and our role was to help expatriates cross that huge “life change” gap.
My wife and I had mapped out our route, we had our friends, our network of friends all going for the best but life is not a long quiet river, life sometimes plays tricks on us and nothing is acquired.
The year 2020 was a terrible year for us but also for the whole world!
To begin with, my parents were very ill in France and we had to return to Paris in February.
We all have parents and if we are well constituted we can only wish them well even if mine were exceptionally complicated because of their age, their pathologies or their bad habits.
How can you blame them? They were old and had themselves left the Middle East 40 years earlier for France with all the problems that this brought.
At that time they were considered as “immigrants” and not as “expatriates”.
When we arrived in Paris, I was struck by the gloomy faces of the people, no smiles, no empathy, beautiful buildings but at their feet a misery that I had not known before, not to mention the public transportation or even the Champs Elysees which now only bear the name!
Nevertheless, we had to deal with it and from the moment we arrived we did our best to take care of our parents morning, noon and night.
Without going into details, it was not easy to live with these parents again.
One month after our arrival, the Covid-19 started to be talked about with the first confinement, then the second … but also parents whose health was deteriorating visibly, my father heart with kidney problems and then my mother who had lost her head and one eye following a glaucoma.
For my mother, it was neither “Alzheimer’s” nor “Levy’s body disease“, nothing known, but the disease was very present, cognitive problems that were very difficult to manage.
We wanted to get our life back, we were ready for everything, but the situation did not allow us to do so, we had left behind us in Mauritius.
Then came the death of my father in October with all that it induces.
But believe it or not, despite the pain, we always end up getting back up!
This is what we did as best we could with the firm intention that my mother, from now on alone, would follow us to Mauritius, but there again it was a battle that was just beginning.
She wanted to stay in Paris at all costs and not being able to stay alone in her apartment we thought of setting up home help but she rejected this idea.
We then canvassed without much conviction the medicalized retirement homes (EPHAD) but with the problems linked to Covid-19 we were moving backwards, the lack of personnel but also the exorbitant price put an end to our research.
The one and only solution was for her to come with us but not to live with us because she needed permanent support and medical care.
We started looking for a retirement home in Mauritius that would allow us to be reassured about her care and well-being.
After a relatively short search, we found what we were looking for with an exceptional quality/price ratio and services, we registered her from France.
Then we contacted the Caisse des Français à l’étranger (CFE) so that she could benefit from the continuity of services and advantages of the Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie (CPAM) in Mauritius.
Joining the CFE allows her not to lose her rights to the CPAM and to be taken in charge without any advance payment in the institutions agreed in Mauritius.
By dint of arguments, arguments that for her had no logic, we finally put her to the wall.
At 83 years old, after almost 40 years of living in the same place, we proceeded to sell her apartment, to stop the different contracts in progress etc…
For her and her memories it was a real shock, but she had no choice.
She was vaccinated and so were we and after almost a year and a half of gloomy life in Paris, a glimmer of hope appeared on the horizon, Mauritius and its government had decided to open its airspace again on July 15 after an exceptional management of the epidemic.
Indeed, from the first signs of it, Mauritius had closed its doors to protect its population and the result was not long in coming.
The rate of infected people as well as the mortality rate was one of the lowest in the world, it is clear that Mauritians have the respect of the rules of hygiene and distanciation.
We therefore booked our flight following the measures put in place by the Mauritian government but also those of the civil aviation.
Compulsory vaccination for a light quarantine in a prestigious hotel, a negative PCR test performed between 2 and 7 days before boarding.
A night trip and barely 2 hours of jet lag meant that my mother didn’t really notice the journey, as soon as she boarded the plane she fell asleep and woke up 1h30 before landing at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam airport in Mauritius.
On arrival, a flawless organization.
Automatic temperature check with a thermal camera, a customs control and an impeccable management of the waiting lines, then a last control of the health services to whom you give a questionnaire that you will have filled in beforehand (in the plane) and an obligatory passage in a unit of Test Covid-19 where again a PCR test was practiced and finally the reception of our luggage, all realized in less than 30 mn… incredible!
For all these operations, there was enough staff and they were very efficient.
There was a little bit of wait concerning the transfer to the hotel because of latecomers who spent their Euro at the Duty Free because there were very good deals to realize, we could not blame them.
The arrival at our hotel the Sugar Beach of Flic en Flac was done without any problem and our reception was exceptional.
My mother was a bit disoriented, she was talking a bit incoherently, it was certainly due to fatigue.
After 14 days of enjoyment, I can tell you with certainty that the Mauritian climate has “transformed” her, so to speak, could we speak of a miracle?
In Paris, my mother’s spirits were low, she told us that she didn’t want to put her foot in the sand, that she didn’t want to be exposed to the sun or even to swim… but what a transformation!
She even became much easier and more pleasant in her daily life.
Finally, this only confirmed what some of our clients were telling us regularly.
Indeed, in Mauritius the air is very healthy and free of air pollution, the one we know in the big megacities and to realize it, you just have to observe the azure blue sky, it is exceptionally clear.
On the other hand, the Indian Ocean and sea baths have certain virtues and in particular those of relieving rheumatism and back pain, indeed we sleep much better!
The climate in general is also favourable and beneficial for nervous or anxious people as my mother can be.
She won’t get better but her condition is much better in just a few days.
Today and more than yesterday, I could see that the hospital care works very well in Mauritius with equipment and practitioners that have nothing to envy to what we can find in Europe or elsewhere.
Finally, we made the right choice, our life and our activity in real estate has resumed its course.
Indeed, the requests for investments and expatriations in Mauritius have almost doubled since our arrival.
We have inquiries from all over the world.
This suggests that Mauritius could very quickly become a sanctuary for retirees and investors from all walks of life or simply for individuals or families wishing to change their life.
It is true that Mauritius has everything to seduce with modern infrastructure, schools and universities in partnership with the world’s largest institutions.
Mauritius is also a Commonwealth democracy with stable governance and an active and educated population.
Due to the pandemic, the very interesting conversion rate of the Mauritian rupee is currently attracting many foreign clients who are investing in the acquisition of apartments or villas that they will rent out seasonally in order to benefit from a comfortable income with a very low tax rate.
I sincerely believe that Mauritius has a card to play on the world stage and I wish everyone to be able to enjoy the advantages and benefits of this sanctuary one day.
We would be happy to share our experience with you, please do not hesitate to contact us.
