When we first moved to Mauritius a few years ago, we set out to see the 7 colored earth and the Chamarel waterfall with the plan to visit the Lavilleon Adventure park and the Ebony Forest afterwards, since visiting the 7 colored earth is not a full day trip. In fact, when we looked into this tour, it hadn’t yet dawned on us that they were in the same place anyway and could be visited with the same ticket.
We set off from the north (Pereybere) at around 9:30, which according to Google is about a 1 hour 42 minute drive. It’s not far, you could say, the island is not big, and yet it is. We managed to get there in about 3 hours, and that’s because you can’t help but stop and look around. There are unmissable landscapes and sights along the way.
The first such stop was the Mare Aux Vacoas reservoir. There is a view point next to it, with a small parking lot, where we stretched our legs and of course went down to the shore of the mountain lake. Don’t miss it, it’s a wonderful sight. If you’re lucky, there will be a vendor with his little cart there, who offers divine coconut buns and fresh pineapple.
Continuing on, you can find the Grand Bassin road, which logically takes you to the Grand Bassin pilgrimage site. We didn’t go there this time, since we had already been there, so continuing on in the Black River Gorges National Park, we ran into Alexandra Falls, where we also had to stop. We did well, an amazingly beautiful sight opened up before our eyes. There is a lookout at the waterfall, from where you can see it halfway, but for those who are more adventurous, it’s worth taking the 1.6 kilometer hike down (be careful, because you have to come back), because then you can see the waterfall from below with a much better view.
From here, the Gorges Viewpoint was the next stop, which I would not have missed. This is the real Jurassic Park. The view of the national park that opens up before you is breathtaking, and tropical birds and fruit bats are circling below you. You can find a small resting place here, with food stalls and other tourist-attracting goods. Unfortunately, you can’t sit down and eat, because macaques live freely on the mountain and will immediately pounce on you for food. No, they are not picky. If you don’t do it, they will come and take it out of your hand. 🙂
On the route to 7 colored earth, there is also a rum factory, which is also worth visiting. We skipped this one now, because we want to come by taxi sometime so that Ádám can also taste the rums offered during the rum factory visit.
And finally we arrived. There is a toll gate at the entrance of the park, where the entrance fee is 500 rupees for adults and 250 rupees for children up to 12 years old. For this amount you can visit four places, the Chamarel waterfall, the 7-colored earth, the Ebony forest and the Lavilleon Adventure park. In the latter you can hike freely, but the adventures have to be paid separately, such as the zip-line, the monkey-bridge or the archery.
The 7-colored earth is a miracle with its 3.5 million-year history. Do you understand? It was formed 3.5 million years ago, when volcanic acids and chemicals in the air precipitated and “painted” the soil in different colors. And we can see this now 3.5 million years later…. Unbelievable! This is one of the most iconic attractions of Mauritius.
The park is home to the Chamarel waterfall, which you can also find on every poster depicting Mauritius. This is the highest waterfall on the island, cascading down from a height of about 100 meters. It is very spectacular, as can be seen from the lookout, but with a 3-hour hike you can walk down into the valley through a real tropical rainforest to the base of the waterfall.
After seeing the Chamarel waterfall and the 7-colored earth, the Adventure park won by a vote against the Ebony forest, and what a good decision we made. By then we were already hungry and tired, so we had a good meal at the Lavilleon Adventure Park buffet. Surprisingly, it was amazingly cheap, delicious and in a very beautiful place. So if you go there, feel free to sit down for a chicken wrap or a pannini with fries, you won’t leave your pants there either. The adventure park was the greatest experience of our lives so far. You can pay for different rope courses. We chose the monkey-bridge option to go down the rope course and back. Be careful! You have no other way back and you just slide down, but then you have to come back on a 300-meter board at a height of 90 meters. Well, we were brave… we set off. The slide down didn’t work either, I turned back twice saying I couldn’t do it, Ádám three times. You’re basically jumping into nothingness between two mountains 100 meters high. You can’t even see the arrival point from the trees. We finally did it, but the experience: Don’t think, because if the guy gets it, you sit down at the launch site and think, you’ll really get burned. 😀 And the monkey-bridge was a nightmare again, my adrenaline level was so high that I had muscle fever for 3 days afterwards. BUT!!! Don’t miss it! In the words of my little son: I peed a little, mom! (He was 8 years old when he did this. One of his big dreams in life came true with this.)
Unfortunately, by the time we finished, it was already around 6 pm and it gets dark early here, so we missed a lot of things, including Ebony Forest. We have been back several times since then and we know the area inside out, but it is still unforgettable to us.
To sum up the whole day: one day is not enough to see everything, even if you hike. We couldn’t finish what we planned and we didn’t see many things. You can see on the map that it falls on one area, but at least 2 days if you want to see everything, and if you want to fully use the hiking trails, it can be up to 3.
For example:
- Day 1 – 7 colored Earth Geo Park (All 4 attractions here)
- Day 2 – Bois Cheri Tea Factory and tasting, Takamaka winery (they make Lichi wine) and Chamarel Rum factory (Rhum distillery)
- Day 3 – Grand Bassin, Alexandra Falls, Gorges viewpoint, using the hiking trails.
If you don’t have too much time on your Mauritius vacation, you should still visit the Black River Gorges National Park for 1 day. In this case, it is worth going on a basic southern tour in this order:
- Grand Bassin sacred lake
- Alexandra falls (without tour)
- Gorges viewpoint
- 7 colored earth geopark and Chamarel waterfall (without the adventure park and Ebony forest)
- Chamarel rum factory with tasting.
Our road map: google maps link
For this, it is worth asking for a taxi or joining a group, because if you rent a car at the rum factory, the driver cannot taste.
If you click here, you can book this program here!
If you still decide to rent a car, you can choose another program instead of the rum factory, e.g. a visit to the Bois Chery Tea Factory before or after Grand Bassin is included.
If you click here, you can rent a car!
