A spectacular sight, the SSR Botanical Garden (Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden) is a jewel in the history of Mauritius. Stretching over endless acres of land, the whole garden has been lovingly nurtured by botanists. Sitting pretty close to Port Louis, seven miles NorthEast of the capital, it spans over a total area of 33 hectares.

You will find more than 500 varieties of plants housed at the botanical garden, with the ineluctable Giant Water Lilies, the famous Baobabs, a large spice garden, adding to the décor of the amazing collection of plants.

You will also find a range of trees planted by world leaders at the garden, including Indira Gandhi, Princess Margaret, Francois Mitterrand, and Countess of Snowdon among others.

The 282-year-old (one of the oldest botanic gardens in the southern hemisphere) Botanical Garden was formerly known as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Pamplemousses. It was renamed as the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden on 18th September 1988 which was the 88th Birth Anniversary of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, the first Prime Minister of the island and later Governor General of Mauritius.

But now it is most popularly known as the Pamplemousses Botanical Garden due to its location in the village of Pamplemousses. It is one of the most famous attractions for those on holidays on the island with its ebonies, giant water lilies, spices, sugar cane mill model and 85 varieties of palms brought from Central America, Africa, Asia and other islands around the Indian Ocean.

The main objectives of the SSR Botanic Garden today are conservation, education, recreation, culture and history.

PAMPLEMOUSSES, THE CRADLE OF MAURITIAN HISTORY

Why does the village bear the name of Pamplemousses? This name was given by the French due to the abundance of grapefruit trees (Pamplemousses in French) in the area. Do you know that this village was one of the first outbreaks of French colonization? Many famous French lived at Pamplemousses, such as Mahé de Labourdonnais and Pierre Poivre.

It is most probably its historic aura which inspired Bernardin de St Pierre for his epic novel Paul et Virginie. A few kilometres from the capital city, Pamplemousses is a district situated in the North of Mauritius. The village is particularly renowned for its botanical garden and its relics of Mauritian history. A trip in Pamplemousses is similar to a walk on our country’s vestiges, by going through the old powder mills, the cemeteries, the famous botanical garden, the colonial houses and the old sugar factory transformed into a museum.

The jewel of Pamplemousses

You probably guessed that the jewel of the village is simply the Pamplemousses Garden, the most remarkable botanical garden in Mauritius. Created by Pierre Poivre, it was renamed in the name of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, former Prime Minister of Mauritius and father of independence. However, many Mauritians still call it the Pamplemousses Garden. This garden is full of treasures, such as the talipot, a single plant of its kind that blooms only once and dies immediately after flowering.

Attractions in the Botanical Garden of Mauritius

For our tour through the garden we took about 1.5 hours and saw the most beautiful and well-known spots. The park was not overcrowded at all around this time, so we could walk relaxed through the garden.

Turtles & Deer

Right at the beginning of the park there is an enclosure for giant tortoises and deer. Since it was very hot, almost all the turtles lay under their dwelling, which protected them from the sun. The deer have also been lying in the shade and rested. Overall, we didn’t like the enclosures because they were relatively loveless and not appealing.

The Grand Bassin

Opposite the two animal enclosures is the Grand Bassin, which has three small islands. On the north and south sides there is a pavilion in which there are seating areas.

The great water lily pond

The highlight in the botanical garden is definitely the pond with the giant water lilies,which impressed us very much. At the end of the 1930s, this rectangular pond was created for the Amazon giant water lilies (Victoria amazonica).

The Amazon giant sea lily originates from the Amazon region in Guyana, Brazil and Bolivia. Their leaves can become very large and swim on the water surface. The flower of the giant water lilies only opens on two consecutive days: on the first day, the flower is white and attracts beetles. While the Beatles sit in the flower and enjoy the sweet nectar, the flower closes. The next day, the color of the flower has changed from white to pink, it reopens and the beetle is released and can fly to a new, white flower. How fascinating such natural spectacles are again and again!

The Lotus Pond

In the immediate vicinity of the giant water lilies is the Lotus Pond, which houses the Indian Lotus Flower (Nelumbo nucifera). Half the lake is filled with countless long-stemmed lotus flowers, some of which have also bloomed. On one of the leaves we tried out the lotus effect with drinking water and filmed in slow motion with our mobile phone. Here you can really see the typical Abperl effect really perfectly. Very impressive!

Das Château Monplaisir

Our last stop in the Botanical Garden was the Chateau Mon Plaisir. The two-storey colonial house was built in 1823 and is now a listed building. In its many years of use, it served as a residence for various people, e.g. the directors of the park. In 1995, the building was extensively renovated and converted into a museum.