Cane Harvest Season - Ox Cart in the Field with Cane Harvesters - 1970s

Ox Cart – Saret Bef – Charette a Boeuf – 1970s

Ox-Carts have been used in Mauritius since ages, and even since the beginning of settlement on the island. We have written quite a lot already about these means of transport and it brings nostalgia when writing about this. Nowadays all of these have been replaced by motorised vehicles and people no longer use animal-driven transport. Not only is it costly, but raising such animals to this extent nowadays isn’t easy either. The only two known ox-carts still in use have been spotted in Triolet and Belle Mare, but you will be lucky if you manage to come across them.

The last ox-carts for cane harvest have been seen on the sugar estate of Mon Loisir at Belle Vue Maurel back in 2012. Today the factory is no longer operational and even less for these ox-carts. Bedford lorries have been commonly seen replacing them in the transitional phase towards motorized vehicles. Today even these lorries have become rare.