Under the shade of a parasol in the still bearable early morning heat of the West coast, Michael Bootle recalls how he first came to Mauritius on a 7-year contract as Director of the British Council.

This Englishman who has travelled widely to places as different as Greece and Kuwait, admits to have very quickly taken a liking to our country. The proof is that he returned to settle here at the end of his contract and has spent 14 years in all in Mauritius.

The initial impression he gives is that of a rather cool person, but, as our conversation progresses, we realize that what might be mistaken for indifference is simply his reserved manner. His smile is one of affirmation. His movements are smooth and assured, revealing an unruffled personality? Behind his sunglasses, Michael Bootle volunteers: ?What I find enormously attractive in Mauritius is the warmth of the people.?

He goes on to describe how in Europe people are distant and life is anonymous, especially in big towns. But, over here, he enjoys walking down to the shop and passing people on the street who say hello to him out of pure friendliness. ?You?ll always bump into at least one person who?ll have a little chat with you,? he adds and we can easily understand the attractiveness of this aspect of Mauritius to a European. ?It?s not surprising that the tourism industry does so well here. The friendliness of the staff is something that money can?t buy??

Another aspect of Mauritius that encouraged Michael Bootle to stay on is? the climate: ?Basically I like seeing the sun and the blue sky. In Europe the climate tends to make people stay indoors most of the time. Over here, you feel like being outdoors?? He likes swimming and walking, sometimes with his dogs (a typically English habit that he hasn?t lost!)

Obviously there are aspects of Europe that Michael Bootle misses, including the straight forward way of doing things in the UK. There, ?things happen fairly simply?, which is not always the case in Mauritius?

Working on a free lance basis from home, Michael Bootle seems to be managing his professional life very well. He works with ?anything to do with English?: teaching English for work situations at the Mauritius Employers Federation and also translating and editing material to be published in English.

He is a person who evidently knows what he wants in life, and seems to adapt situations to his own needs with great success? He has planned out everything just as he wants it to be: choosing which jobs to accept and which to reject, with the result that he can do a wide variety of different jobs. He only travels for the courses he teaches: no rush hour in traffic jams every morning. And he can start planning for other things he wants to do: the odd training course which interests him, or maybe writing stories for publishing as he?s already done in the past.

When asked about how satisfying working in Mauritius is, he says that it ?depends on what you want. If your ambition is to have loads of money, then this country is not the place to be, but I see things differently. There?s more to life than money. It?s the quality of life which is important.?