On the 'tourist trails'

One of the many advantages having friends visiting, is to play tourist in your own country. We never go to those 'famous' tourist places except if a visitor wants to go there. Earlier this month my girlfriend Kari and daughter Nina stayed with us for three weeks. In spite of Kari being here twice before, there are still many places she had not been to.

You may have noticed the headline; 'tourist trails'... Yes, because most of the tourists we see at Ganga Talao, is to be seen the other places we visited that day too! :)

 

We started out at Ganga Talao  also known as Grand Bassin. I love this place and being here twice already this year, I didn't take many photos. Couldn't miss the monkeys though... :)

 

 

We were lucky to have BIL driving, so we continued to 'Alexandra Falls'. Not easy to spot the waterfall though.... here the responsible sources should cut down some of the trees to get a better view to the falls....

Anyways.... stunning view to the South..... This is part of The Black River Gorges National Park. We stopped at another viewpoint further down the road. It was packed with tourists and vendors, so we just had a look and 'escaped'.

 

 

We continued to the charming Chamarel village (where we didn't stop) and had a stop at Chamarel Colored Earth... The restaurant was closed due to renovation...

 

*This natural phenomenon is due to decomposed basalt gullies. The hot and humid climate helps in the decomposition of the basalt into clay. As a result of total hydrolysis (chemical breakdown of minerals by water) the soluble elements such as silicic acid and cations are washed, leaving a large composition of iron and aluminium which constitute a ferralitic soil. The iron sesquioxydes (Fe2O3) have a red and anthracite color, whereas the aluminium sesquioxydes (AL2O3) have a blue or purplish color*.

(From the information board at Chamarel Colored Earth). 

 

 

 

Facing the restaurant and then turn right... This is what you'll see...

 

 

 

Next to Chamarel Colored Earth, is Chamarel Waterfall....

The waterfall is about 83 meters

 

 

From the waterfall and colored earth, we continued the steep road down to Case Noyale and the coastal road.

We had a stop at Tamarin Public beach... away from the 'heavy' tourist trail - lol!

 

 

This is definitely one of my favorite mountains on the island - Montagne du Rempart! (777 meters).  Looking out of the window here I'm sitting, the view is the opposite side of the mountain.

 

 

I just looooove this scenery! Perhaps I should put up a hut on the beach, facing the mountain - and the sea?! I'll blow away in a cyclone though! :)