Deep in the Indian Ocean, this speck of an island has a culture that’s a heady fusion of African, Arabic, British, Chinese, French and Indian influences. But the sense of a rainbow coalition can be taken literally, too. Its interior is the vivid emerald of sugar cane; its coast is lapped by a sea that is myriad shades of blue; and the volcanic dune-like Coloured Earths near the 127-metre-high (417-foot) Chamarel waterfall range from pink to violet to yellow. Lovelier still are the varied hues of the flowers and foliage in the 37-hectare (91-acre) Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanic Garden at Pamplemousses. Mauritius’ little capital, Port Louis, which is dotted with fine colonial structures such as Government House, has a clutch of eclectic, eccentric museums and a bustling market. But the best period building on the island is Eureka, an elegant Creole mansion built in the 1830s with 109 internal doors that serve as an object lesson in ventilation from an age before air conditioning.