Chamarel Falls and the Colored Earths

The village of Chamarel in southwest Mauritius is home to two natural wonders - the magnificant Chamarel Falls and the colored earths of Chamarel. The earths are particularly unsual; created by volcanic rocks that cooled at different temperatures, the earths form beautiful patterns of color in the exposed hillsides. And if you mix the colored earth together, they'll eventually settle into separate layers.

Sometimes the colors play tricks on you and appear to be shadows.

Over the millennia, the rocks were pulverized into sands which have the amazing property of settling into distinct layers: if you take a handful of each of the seven different colors of dirt and mix them together, they'd eventually separate into a colorful spectrum, each dot of sand rejoining its color caste.

Since the earth was first exposed, rains had carved beautiful patterns into the hillside, creating an effect of earthen meringue. At first I thought I noticed shadows on the hills, creating the illusion of different colors, but soon I realized that the colors were real and the shadows were the illusion....
(From Andy's journal, The Mauritius Grand Tour)

Craggy mountains can be seen in the distance.
You're not allowed to walk on the colored earths, so they maintain a smooth, almost eerie quality.

Fabulous Chamarel Falls plummet hundreds of feet down a cliff. See a video of the falls!
A picture of me by the falls.

We followed a small group of French tourists up a steep, muddy hillside, careful not to slip and crash through the bushes, as it was impossible to tell how far the drop would be - a fateful fall no matter what, I'm sure. Soon we reached a railed platform, with another group of tourists pointing far across the valley. Squeezing in between them, I spotted the most amazing waterfall I'd ever seen - a magnificent flood of water cascading hundreds and hundreds of feet down the side of a cliff. It was the type of watery precipice I thought existed only in Kauai or the far reaches of Venezuela. "That's amazing," I said to Dave. "How tall is it?" "Very tall," he said, clearly as captivated by the view as I was.
(From Andy's journal, The Mauritius Grand Tour)

Fields of sugarcane around Chamarel.
The sugar cane grows right to the edge of the road.

Read the Journal:
Arrival in Mauritius | More Presentations, More Rain | Paying Homage to the Porcelain God
Mo Kontan Monne Zwin U, Moris | The Mauritius Grand Tour

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	Craggy mountains can be seen in the distance.		You're not allowed to walk on the colored earths, so they maintain a smooth, almost eerie quality.
	Fabulous Chamarel Falls plummet hundreds of feet down a cliff. See a video of the falls!		A picture of me by the falls.

	Fields of sugarcane around Chamarel.		The sugar cane grows right to the edge of the road.