My Weekly Powerup | #club100 | An amazing geological phenomenon on the island of Mauritius | #steemexclusive / 14 photos

A few days ago I took a tour together with my family to the southern parts of Mauritus. It has been ten years since last time I visited Chamarel, But we had guests from Norway, who ofcourse wanted to see as much of the island as possible. Our day tour took us to the Chamarel Waterfall and Chamarel's Seven Colored Earth. The waterfall is the highest on the island and the colored earth is a unique geological phenomenon that has become one of the top attractions on the island.

Our first stop after paying the entrance fee, was at the Chamarel Waterfall. Because it's been ten years since last time, I feel the place had changed. Like the informative sighnboards. I can't remember they were here last time. You get the first view from the carpark, but a map shows that you can walk some trails and see the fall from other angels. The photo shows the fall from a higher position. This waterfall has a 100 - meter drop, created by erosion during millions of years.

We continued to the Seven Colered Earth. It's only a 10-15 minutes walk from the waterfall. Besides a large carpark, you will find facilities like toilets and cafe. Again, I had the feeling that something has changed, but it might be me who just don't remember. The first thing you see is the informative board in both English and French.

Some facts about this geological phenomenon:
It is volcanic activity that has created the island millions of years ago. The humid climate has over the years caused erosion of the basaltic rock, leaving chemically -weathered rock. It is the two metals, iron and aluminium oxide who repels one another, that has created the colorful stripes in the landscape. No plants can grow here because this earth doesn't have the nutrition plants need. It is the different metals that is causing the colored stripes. Aluminium produces the violet / violet-blue shades and ferric oxcide is resonsible for the colors ranging from red to brown. Looking at the striped landscape, you can see where one color blends into the next.

We walked along the path all the way around. I remember the very first time I visited the island in 1982, my son, Christopher was five years old. I have old photos of him walking on the colorful dunes. At that time Mauritius wasn't a developed tourist destination. The Colored Earth was just a naturel part of the island. I don't know when the fence was built and walking on the dunes was prohibitid. But it has all been done for protection. It is still as spectacular as I remembered.