Roy, Please give mine and my lady's good wishes to your "friend",
we have very pleasing memories of Mauritius,
We try to get there each summer for 2/3 weeks of scuba diving along the Reef's,
We like staying in and around the Black River Gorge in the south west of the island,
Lovely people with a brilliant country.
As a biker I laughed like a drain when I discovered that Motorcycles on the Island are limited to 250cc EXCEPT for the Police Motorcycles which are Yamaha 900cc +

Not Fair.
The country being both volcanic and hilly means that the temperatures for an Island only just south of the equator are very variable so that they grow Sugar and Tea and even Brussel sprouts.
I learnt to enjoy drinking tea on the Island at the Bois Cherie Plantation with a particular brew, Vanilla tea, really nice on a hot day.
What nobody tells you before you go is that if you don't speak French you might have a problem sometimes in some of the small shops. Shaun.