Everybody remembers a child’s fairy tale about the magical rainbow-colored flower that could make wishes come true. But some of us don’t know that it actually exists. Not so much in the shape of a flower but more like in granular state. We mean the sand that one of the villages on Mauritius, called Shamarel, is covered with.

Mauritius is a tropical paradise, for which the area of a small islands is enough to accommodate tourists coming from all over the world. This is a unique intersection of two continents, Africa and Asia, a fusion of diverse cultures, religions, and languages. The place, however, serve as a good example how to get along squeezed but pleased.

Figurines of dodo bird “invaded” all souvenir shops of Mauritius and its image even managed to become a national symbol complementing to the country’s emblem. But the most grievous thing of all is that all this glory came to Raphus cucullatus after it was completely extinct from the face of Earth – and it took it less then a hundred years…

Barely noticeable speck of sand swaying in the waters of the Indian Ocean below the equator is an island of Mauritius. This green patch of volcanic origin covered with lush palm trees and eucalyptus groves, was originally discovered by Dutch colonists, and then equipped with the necessary amenities by the French and the British. The capital city has a name of Port Louis thus immortalizing the name of the King Louis XIV.