Tag: mauritius

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MAURITIUS ORIENTEERING

2023 ACTIVITY REPORT AND 2024 GREAT NEWS (read until the end!)

One year after the very first international competition, 3 Days Mauritius Orienteering, held in cooperation with Park World Tour and with the support of IOF and the Orienteering Ministry of Sport, many things happened in this beautiful country.

The local organisers held several activities to spread orienteering:
In May, for the World Orienteering Day, 4 different activities took place:

On 10th May, a training on Orienteering was organized for CAIE PE students at Q. Militaire SSS. Cluster of 4 Girls schools with over 50 participants

A race in Palmar Public beach on 13th May 2023

Activities were organised at MIE – Mauritius Institute of Education on 18th May 2023

On 19th May 2023 a Training on Orienteering for CAIE PE students of Zone 2 cluster is organised by PE Section for Boys n Girls (G10 n G11) at SIG SSS, Q. Militaire. 70 students in attendance. 21 Girls n 49 boys.

Mauritius orienteerign news

The biggest success so far occurred on 1st June during an Orienteering activity in Palmar beach: over 160 participants were on the starting list!

Local organisers worked very hard during this year to test and develop the orienteering skills of people of Mauritius but also the skills to organise orienteering events at different levels.

The interest of this sport is increasing and therefore the local Federation is planning to enlarge the orienteering family of the country by organizing another webinar starting in the month of January 2024, wishing that many more new people and energies will gather to get help.

The big goal is set for the end of 2024, and get ready for it… 3 Days Orienteering Mauritius will be back!
From 21st to 24th November 2024, with a brand new competition area on the south of the island mapped by the locals!

3 events, of which 2 will return to the spectacular areas of Pamplemousses Botanical Garden for a very interesting sprint race and to Domain de Lagrave for a challenging middle race!

So… book your flights, let’s het ready for a new orienteering adventure!

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Mauritius – starting with the maps

From 15th October 2021 Mr Roman Horky, a professional map maker, was in Mauritius to start to draw the first orienteering maps following the international standards.

He started from Palmar beach area, on the East side of the country.

Roman with John of Orienteering M at Palmar beach
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Looking for suitable places for an international event

On 10/10 a practical test for Cambridge International Examination was held in Bras d’Eau National Park for about 20 Educators.

Once again the PE were tested with Sport Ident System with the help of Mr Jaroslav Kacmarcik, on a course prepared by local course setters. After this experience, a short visit to the nearby beach was due.

In the afternoon, Jaroslav Kacmarcik – IOF GDC and Giulia Zenere – PWT Academy together with Orienteering M delegates visited Chasée La Rivière du Post, guided by the owner Mr Anaida Bhugeloo. The private area is a hunting ground with interesting open areas, tracks and forest.

Later on, enjoying the pleasant sunshine, the international delegates strolled in Palmar forest beach, an appealing area for a very fast sprint race, checking the tracks and the possibilities for an international race, as well as an area for school orienteering activities.

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Mauritius – discovering the south west

On 08/10 Mrs Hima Seeboruth and Mr John Domah of Orienteering M guided Mr Jaroslav Kacmarcik of IOF – Global Development Commission and Ms Giulia Zenere of Park World Tour Academy, thanks to the facilitation of NPCS, to visit Black River Gorges National Park from the entrance in Pétrin (Black River) and on an easy track up to the first viewpoint.

From left: John Domah, Hima Seeboruth, Jaroslav Kacmarcik and Giulia Zenere
  • The visitor centre in Pétrin

The park and its nature look stunning, the tracks are wide and provided with brand-new signs, from here the nature is very exposed to sunshine.

There are four entry points to the National Park. This nature reserve provides over 60 km of trails of different lenghts and difficulty – the longest of 14km, waterfalls, pristine rivers, picnic areas, wide canyons and dramatic mountain ranges, together with two information centres.

Staying on the south-west part of the Island, the delegation continued its journey to Green Village – Le Morne to meet Dr. Bernard Baptiste, Head of Youth on the Move and Elderly programmes, responsible for the Outdoor Education.

Dr Baptiste guided us through Green Village, a fantastic venue. The idea is to implement the activities in the village with orienteering, and have an orienteering map to be used also for schools, together with a punching system.

First from left Dr Baptiste

The delegation continued to Black River Gorges NP from the south entrance. The park on this side looks totally different than from the north. Very tall and shady trees and stream, on an almost flat terrain with stones, makes it look gorgeous.

More info coming soon…

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Visiting Domain de Lagrave – Mauritius

On 07/10 Mr Jaroslav Kacmarcik – IOF GDC and Ms Giulia Zenere –PWT Academy visited Domain de Lagrave, a deer hunting ground in the middle of the country.

Mr Gilbert Quéland, owner of the venue, fully supported the idea of hosting O-school competitions as well as an international O-event.

Domain de Lagrave suits all the requirements for a Middle Distance Orienteering race, being a mixture of open areas, forest, streams and paths. The venue is provided with a restaurant, as well as bungalows to rent.

Ms Giulia Zenere presents with PWT book Mr Gilbert Quéland

The visit continued then to Bras d’Eau National Park, with a walk starting by the Entrance on Poste de Flacq, where lies the ruins of an ancient French sugarcane mill and the village settled around it, including a well.

The spot immediately catches the eyes because of the million lava stones composing the whole forest and the paths – being Mauritius created from a volcano.

In this site schools doing CI examinations conducted assessments on orienteering coursework in the last 4 years. The visit of the delegates was to prepare a map according to IOF standards, to be used for schools and trainings during the workshops.

first from left: John Domah
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Park World Tour Academy visited Mauritius with a tight agenda of meetings aimed to develop Orienteering in the whole country.

Mr Jaroslav Kacmarcik, also IOF delegate of the Global Development Commission, and Ms Giulia Zenere, delegate of Park World Tour Academy, were welcomed by the Orienteering M, temporary Orienteering Federation of Mauritius.  

The purposes of the visit were to develop orienteering as sport in the school system and find suitable venues for orienteering races, both for school competitions and for international events.

Mr John Domah leaded the operative team of Mauritius, and organised the very first meeting on the Island straight after the flight arrival of the international delegates on 06/10 with the Director of NPCS National Park and Conservation Service Mr. Kevin Ruhomaun and his staff.

The Director illustrated the huge work of Park management, endangered species recovery and conservation of terrestrial biodiversity and, being Orienteering sport so green and respectful of nature, expressed his interested in hosting orienteering events in the parks.

The focus was pointed mainly to 2 of the the 3 National Parks of Mauritius: Black River Gorges and Bras d’Eau.

Black River Gorges National Park is situated in the South West of the island, and covers an area of 6574 ha. It harbours most of our flowering plants, bird species and some reptiles which are native to Mauritius. In 1977, part of the BRGNP was designated Man and the Biosphere reserve, by the UNESCO.

Bras d’Eau is located in the North East of the island. It covers a total area of 497.2 ha and is mainly under Mahogany, Araucaria, Tecoma and Eucalyptus plantations.  The name Bras d’Eau originated from the outline of the mass of water protruding in the land in the shape of an arm between Pointe Radeau and Belcourt Bay.

The visit to the Parks were scheduled for the next days.

(continues in the next post…)

Meeting with NPCS, first from left Mr Ruhomaun
  • Ms Giulia Zenere presents a copy of PWT 25years anniversary book
  • Mr Jaroslav Kacmarcik signing a copy of PWT 25years anniversary book