Curepipe, Mauritius - Shopping Centre, Botanical Gardens, Carnegie Library, Royal College, New George V stadium

Scenic, Beaches

Effectively Mauritius’ second metropolis, Curepipe is a busyupland commercial centre well-known for its rainy weather and clothes shopping. It’s strange name apparently stems from the malaria outbreak of 1867 when people fleeing from lowland Port Louis would ‘cure’ their pipes of malarial bacteria by smoking them here, although in fact it’s more likely to be named after a tenderly remembered town in France.Shoppers looking for bargain clothes will fare well here and there are a couple of fascinating sights, including a completely formed mini volcanic crater.Curepipe is the highest of the plateau townships. At 550m above sea level, temperatures tend to be more refreshingly cool in summer, but the municipality is often enveloped in cloud.