Veronique picked me up in Mahebourg and we were on our way to Black River National Park. So called because in early slavery days, some slaves escaped and hid in this dense bush of the mountain range.

Our first stop was Grand Bassin. As the name suggests, it is a deep and crystal clear volcanic crater lake. It was the end of Ramadan and the local Hindu population celebrated in colourful traditional clothing, offering food to their gods.

All colours of the rainbow reflected on the lake. Quite spectacular actually.

Such intimate gathering, amazing to watch and picture it with my camera. The local monkeys celebrated as well, happily gathering the offerings to munch on.

 

We drove on towards Black River National Park and stopped at a few view points.

It was a sunny day and many people too, the opportunity to make the most of the sunshine. There are plenty of hiking tracks on Mauritius as well, good to know. No doubt I will attempt a few of them.

We stopped for a coffee at ‘Charmarel Rum distillery.

A complimentary orange flavoured rum was served as well. It is a very high class kinda resort/restaurant/cafe/distillery, catering for mass tourism. Well set up though. Their Rum is well known on the island, and possibly around the world.

Their bottles and glasses look high class and are quite expensive.

Next stop was the ‘Earth of 7 Colours’. Parts of the ground were so toxic, that no plants can grow  on it. Instead, it displays a colourful image.

Some very large and old tortoise were kept in this park as well.

The waterfall on the park entrance was more interesting for me.

Unfortunately, there is no hiking track leading to the bottom of the falls. There was a track leading up to a viewpoint. The sun cut through the vegetation,which looked intriguing.

We rounded our day off, watching the sunset along the south coast. Colourful along the beaches and palm trees. A wee slice of tropical paradise.