Black River Gorges, Mauritius

Mauritius is one of our favourite Indian Ocean holiday destinations and certainly one of the most accessible islands in the Indian Ocean…..

Mauritius is not only a genuine tropical paradise, it’s very good value for money.   The island boasts fantastic beaches and Tropical Sky can offer some outstanding beach holidays: for example at the Tamassa Hotel at Bel Ombre, on the south-west coast of Mauritius.  A picture postcard landscape stretches across sugarcane fields to the mountains behind the Tamassa, while In front stretches a sandy beach and a turquoise lagoon.

However, there’s more to paradise than fantastic beachfront.  In the south of the island is the Black River Gorges, the largest nature reserve in Mauritius and famed as a bird watchers’ paradise, with thousands of bird species inhabiting the highlands.  Home to numerous rare bird species and perhaps the most famous extinction of all – the Dodo - the tropical climate ensures that the island country has a large forest cover as well as palm groves and fruit orchards that can serve as habitats for these exotic creatures.

Other wildlife at the park includes macaque monkeys, which have lost all fear of humans through a long period of contact. They will calmly pose for photographs and beg for food, though it is not advisable to feed them!

Black River gorges is also a superb spot for hiking passing  through trails lined with Chinese guava trees and  fields of wild sugarcane.  Walking trails of various lengths take visitors through dense forest and lush landscapes full of breathtaking waterfalls, mist covered hill slopes and clear pools.  The Black River Gorges National Park lies on a plateau slightly higher than the surrounding plains, so you can get fantastic panoramic views of the southern shores of Mauritius.

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