Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Environment
The Land
Mauritius is the peak of an enormous volcanic chain that also includes Réunion, though it
is much older and therefore less rugged than its neighbour.
The island's highest mountains are found in the southwest, from where the land drops
slightly to a central plateau before climbing again to the chain of oddly shaped mountains
behind Port Louis and the Montagne Bambous to the east. Beyond these mountains a plain
slopes gently down to the north coast.
Unlike Réunion, Mauritius has no active volcanoes, although remnants of volcanic
activity abound. Extinct craters and volcanic lakes, such as the Trou aux Cerfs crater
(
Click here
)
in Curepipe and the Grand Bassin holy lake (
Click here
)
, are good examples.
Over the aeons, the volcanoes generated millions of lava boulders, much to the chagrin of
the indentured farm labourers who had to clear the land for sugar cane. Heaps of boulders
dot the landscape. Some that have been piled into tidy pyramids are listed monuments!
Mauritius also includes a number of widely scattered inhabited islands, of which the
most important is Rodrigues, 600km to the northeast. Rodrigues is another ancient volcan-
ic peak and is surrounded by a lagoon twice the size of the island itself. Mauritius also
owns the sparsely inhabited islands of Cargados Carajos, northeast of the mainland, and
the Agalega Islands, two islands adjacent to the Seychelles.
Mauritius also stakes territorial claim to the Chagos Archipelago, officially part of the
British Indian Ocean Territory and controversially ceded to the US military until 2016.
Wildlife
The story of Mauritian wildlife certainly didn't end with the dodo. In fact, the island's
reputation for extinction has been transformed by a program of saving endangered species
with a dramatic success rate.
(MWF; 697 6117;
www.mauritian-wildlife.org
;
Grannum Rd, Vacoas; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri)
which was
founded in 1984 to protect and manage the country's many rare species. The MWF vigor-
ously supports the creation of national parks and reserves, and the monitoring of whales,
dolphins and turtles. It has had significant success in restoring the populations of several
