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Unexplored and pristine with powdery white seashores and knee-deep emerald waters, Flat Island is a nature reserve of 253 hectares and volcanic in origin. It is without doubt one of the largest northern islands on the fringes of the east-African nation of Mauritius, which in itself is only a speck within the Indian Ocean.
Many Indian travellers are oblivious that they’re retracing a historic journey on their journey to Flat Island until they set foot contained in the Aapravasi Ghat, the now-restored remaining part of an erstwhile immigration depot. “The indentured labourers introduced in from India had been quarantined on the northern islands of Mauritius,” says Meenakshi, one of many guides on the Aapravasi Ghat, a UNESCO Heritage Web site.
Aapravasi Ghat is positioned on the bay of Trou Fanfaron in Mauritius’ capital of Port Louis. It’s the place of touchdown of near half 1,000,000 Indians as early as 1829, who had signed a contract settlement with employers, in pursuit of land just a bit approach off from northern India, however had been as an alternative despatched on a protracted arduous sea journey.
The people who survived the voyage from India landed right here on the immigration depot in Marich Desh, as Mauritius was then addressed by the contractors who introduced within the labourers. These labourers had been termed ‘indentured’— a shiny time period for affordable labour coined by who else however the British, as towards ‘slaves’ simply after the abolition of slavery. The interval between the 1830s and early 1900s is called the ‘Age of Indentured’.
The indentured labourers upon touchdown in Mauritius, then launched into a flight of 16 steps in pursuit of higher prospects on the now Aapravasi Ghat, solely to be cooped in with 1000’s of others in space-constrained barracks, with deplorable sanitary services for submitting within the immigration procedures.
The immigration procedures had been then adopted by a medical examination, when those suspected of cholera, malaria and different communicable ailments had been despatched into quarantine to Flat Island, which was delegated as a quarantine station, domestically often known as a lazaretto.
On the lazaretto, the indentured Indian labourers had been joined by their counterparts from China and Africa. With abysmal services and dismal dwelling situations, many perished within the first few months of their arrival. Those that survived went to work on the various sugarcane estates run by the colonists in mainland Mauritius for a pittance. Thus, a lot of the prosperity of Mauritius has been a labour of sweat and blood of those migrants and their descendants, particularly Indians.
The Age of Indentured has additionally left its footprint on the island within the type of structural stays and an operational lighthouse that was constructed on a 100-metre excessive hill within the 1850s. These add to the island’s historic hyperlink with Indian immigrants in Mauritius. Right now, vacationers and travellers flock to the as soon as lazaretto Ile Plate in catamarans, motor boats and yachts to enjoy its pure magnificence and chase uncommon butterflies. Evening keep isn’t allowed as they’re protected nature reserves however boat operators usually prepare a grilled lunch for an further cost.
Together with its south-eastern facet counterpart of Gabriel Island, separated by a lagoon, the islets are
additionally house to uncommon endemic wildlife. Birders are in for a deal with Flat Island is house to a few endemic species of seabirds: White- and red-tailed tropic birds, and wedge-tailed shearwater. Certainly a delight when these birds take flight towards a blue sky and mischievously kiss the highest of the emerald blue waters.
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