It was the GM of the Centara Grand Azuri Hotel who insisted that i must go to Chamerel to see the seven coloured earths. I didn't believe the way he described the colours of the sand. At first, i thought he was just joking... after few rounds of convincing, my husband was able to convince me to go and visit as they are busy working during the entire trip.
So i went to see the place, to my surprise. It was really wonderful and even better because the rain just stopped and perhaps its was a perfect timing for photo opportunity.
This tourist attraction is found in the Riviere Noire District in the south-western part of Mauritius. Seven distinct colours of sand can be seen in this area: red, brown, violet, green, blue, purple and yellow. I like the contrast between the uncovered sands and the dense forest area that surrounds the dunes. This place reminds me of Iceland. The earths formed by volcanic activity. When you look closely, We could see the different hues and the almost striped effect of the sands, this is actually a visual reminder of the power of a volcano uneven cooling of the molten rock.
Enjoy the view as much as i enjoyed taking them.
according to wikipedia: (and i quote)
"The Seven Coloured Earth(s)[1] (Terres des Sept Couleurs in French) are a geological formation and prominent tourist attraction found in the Chamarel plain of the Rivière Noire District in south-western Mauritius. It is a relatively small area of sand dunes comprising sand of seven distinct colours (approximately red, brown, violet, green, blue, purple and yellow). The main feature of the place is that since these differently coloured sands spontaneously settle in different layers, dunes acquire a surrealistic, striped colouring. This phenomenon can also be observed, on a smaller scale, if one takes a handful of sands of different colours and mixes them together, as they'll eventually separate into a layered spectrum.[2] Another interesting feature of Chamarel's Coloured Earths is that the dunes seemingly never erode, in spite of Mauritius' torrential, tropical rains.
The sands have formed from the decomposition of volcanic rock (basalt) gullies into clay, further transformed into ferralitic soil by total hydrolysis; the two main elements of the resulting soil, iron and aluminium, are responsible for red/anthracite and blue/purplish colours respectively. The different shades of colour are believed to be a consequence of the molten volcanic rock cooling down at different external temperatures (hence rates), but the causes of their consistent spontaneous separation are yet to be fully clarified.[3]
The place has become one of Mauritius' main tourist attractions since the 1960s. Nowadays, the dunes are protected by a wooden fence and visitors are not allowed to climb on them, although they can look at the scenery from observation outposts placed along the fence. Curio shops in the area sell small test-tubes filled up with the coloured earths."
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