Where to find things in Mauritius

One of the few drawbacks to living in Mauritius is how difficult it can be to find certain items, especially obscure ones. Having grown up in the suburbs of a large metropolitan Canadian city (Vancouver), I'm used to the following retail paradigms:

If you're looking for something obscure, Google will be able to tell you where to get it
Big-box retailers are usually your best bet for selection
Generally speaking, stores have websites. While smaller stores likely won't have full-blown e-commerce sites, they'll likely at least give you an idea of what the store sells.

In Mauritius, you can generally get whatever you need, but be prepared to have to dig for it in some cases.

Some of the items I've found difficult to get, and where I managed to find them:

DIN rail (2m sections) Found at Top Queen Company Limited in Port Louis on 18 December 2021

Silicone salad tongs Super-U Grand Baie

Non-metallic spatula Manjoo

LR44 coin cell batteries Mr. Bricolage

UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)

Found at: Fast Click (both in Riche Terre and Bagatelle) on 18 December 2021

Price: Rs 4690

Thoughts / Comments:

Has a USB port to connect it to a computer but does not come with a USB cable
Came pre-wired with a British-style plug (what my apartment has)
Outlets on the back are universal
No button on the unit to silence the beeper when running off battery power

Saddle Mounts

Found at: (have to find receipt; it's in Port Louis close to Direct Auto) on 18 December 2021

Price: Rs 126 (for ten of each size shown here)

Rice paper lanterns (similar to IKEA REGOLIT)

Found at: Xanadu gift shop in Port Louis on 18 December 2021

Price: About Rs 75 each

Isopropyl (Rubbing) Alcohol

Found at: Super-U Grand Baie with the first aid items (band-aids, etc.) on 20 December 2021

Price: ~ Rs 100

There seem to be varying opinions on what constitutes "rubbing alcohol". When I first arrived here, the internet seemed to think that "white alcohol" was "rubbing alcohol", however it is most definitely not (at least relative to what "rubbing alcohol" is in Canada). Here in Mauritius, "Modified Alcohol" seems to be the term for it.

As a fun aside: The Appetika-brand alcool blanc ("white alcohol") as the radiation trefoil warning symbol on it. I suspect someone went a little bit overboard with the clip art, but my takeaway from that is that labeling of goods isn't as strictly controlled here as one might be used to.

230V to 120V Transformer

Found at: Solu-Tech in Rose Hill on 18 December 2021

Price: Rs 1500

Fortunately nearly everything electrical or electronic I brought with me was universal (90V to 250V), but a few were 120V-only and therefore needed a step-down transformer. The build quality on the one I bought is a bit suspect, and the ungrounded plug (the wrong type for 230V input to boot) is a bit annoying so I'll likely replace the power cable.

Motorized Sit-Stand Desk Frame

Found at: Impress AV in Port Louis on 19 December 2021

Price: Rs 15,335 including delivery to Pereybere

To clarify: I was also able to find a motorized sit-stand desk at Kalachand, but it was quite small and about Rs 19,000. Impress had a complete kit (stand and desktop) on their site for Rs 17,802, but when I called to inquire they actually also offered me the option to purchase just the stand itself, which was great as I wanted to use it with the counter top I had purchased from Mr. Bricolage.