Today we hired a driver to take us around the south side of the island. Five hours of touring and we barely scratched the surface of Mauritius.

We started with a view of Trou aux Cerfs, a volcanic crater formed millions of years ago. Lots of stray dogs and cats around and men selling “Mauritian strawberries” which looked exactly like raspberries by the road.

After our driver took us to duty free tourist spots that sold diamonds, silk scarves and models of ships, we insisted he take us to a local supermarket “Intermarket express” so we could shop for local groceries: Mauritian sugar, Mauritian tea, snacks for the plane. That made us VERY happy — 340 rupees ($11) later.

During the course of the drive we saw varying vegetation – wild orchids, banana trees – based on the elevation of the site we were seeing. Someone said there were more than 20 microclimates on Mauritius which doesn’t surprise me based on the weather extremes we’ve had this trip.

We then saw a huge reservoir that supplies drinking water to 1/3 of the island. The forest nearby reminded us of New England with its vegetation.

Next, as we drove down the two lane highway, rising up out of the distance we saw Mangal Mahadev, a massive Shiva Statue. The statue is 108 feet and is the highest known statue in Mauritius (and one of the 50 highest statues in the world). Around the bend we experienced Grand Bassin, also known as Ganga Talao. Grand Bassin is a holy lake for Hindus which represent 60% of the Mauritian population. The lake rests in the crater of an extinct volcano. It is said that the water inside the lake communicates with the waters of the holy Ganges of India. Beside the lake there is a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and other Gods including Hanuman, Lakshmi, and others. Many families were there making offerings of coconut milk, bananas, coconut and more, to the gods and wading in the holy lake.

Next, our driver brought us to Black River Gorges Nature Park and Alexandra Waterfall which had a few really cute cats meowing for food. We saw young Mauritian soldiers in army fatigues walking along the side of the road. Our driver told us they do their training at this high elevation and chase marijuana growers.

The second waterfall (Chamarel) was very impressive. Three distinct streams plunging down from almost 100 meters from the St. Denis River, down into the gorge.

Then, on to Chamarel “seven-colored earth” a group of dunes created by volcanic rock and nothing can grow on them. So these multi colored dunes are surrounded by lush green everywhere, and some tortoises In a nearby pen.

Finally, we had some Mauritian vegetable curry and chicken curry for lunch before heading back to the hotel.

We spent the remainder of the day on the beach avoiding sea cucumbers, finding sea urchins and coral and schools of fish.

A full day and looking forward to more adventures tomorrow!