The Bradt Travel Guide states ?the delightful mélange that is Mauritius has its origins in a mixed-up history?. Delightful yes, mixed up, yes. What is the real story between the Mauritians, the British and the French?

This is a country with a parliamentary democracy based on the British system but which also uses elements of French law. A country which has two official languages, a myriad of newspapers in either language, Internet cafes, which always have a French keyboard on site (and it?s usually the one you?ve been typing gibberish on for the past hour!). And, last but not least, an electrical system which makes you wonder if you are truly plugged in or not...

Just take a look at the electrical wall outlets in your room. If they have three rectangular openings in them, you have the national standard ?English? outlets, which have been ISO (International Standards Organization) approved. These are earthed outlets, which reduce electrical shock hazards. If you have electrical wall outlets in your room with only two round openings in them, these are the old ?French? type outlets. While you can use the French type appliances in these outlets, they will not be earthed.

Over the last five to six years, the electrical system in Mauritius has been streamlined to meet ISO standards not only in terms of building materials but also the training that electricians receive here. If the English wall outlets in your room are standard and approved, they should not melt or spark when appliances are ?plugged in?.

In either case, if you find that your appliances don?t fit the wall outlet, you?ll need what they call a ?multi-plug? and you can get it from either a hardware store or a supermarket. This ?multi-plug? will fit into the ISO approved English wall outlet, and it features over 12 openings for an international range of appliances. (Just make sure these appliances comply with the voltage here).

If you need to buy an appliance here, you may find that, once you take it back to your hotel, not only the appliance doesn?t fit the wall outlet, it doesn?t even fit the ?multi-plug?! If you go back to the shop, the salesperson will listen to you patiently, smile understandingly and simply hand you an English plug part and instruct you to fix it to your appliance. You?ll have to cut off the plug on your new appliance to do this - but don?t worry, there are instructions!

While the regulating of appropriate imported appliances is an ongoing objective here, a little bit of electrical surgery on your appliances may be necessary for the time being. You will feel like you?re starring in an episode of ?Mission Impossible? as you connect green, yellow and red wires to each other and hopefully you?ll do it correctly and your new appliance won?t self-destruct. Then again, maybe you should just wait for Tom Cruise to ?drop in?. Good Luck!

<B>Angela KEESSOONDYAL</B>