we proceed on a full day tour to see some of Mauritius' most spectacular scenery with a visit to the extinct volcano, Trou aux Cerfs, The Black River Gorges, and Le Morne Brabant, an imposing cliff similar to the Rock of Gibraltar.

A twisting road leads from Case Noyal village to the coloured earth at Chamarel. It is one of the oldest sites on the island and is also known as the Seven Coloured Earth, a mound of undulating land stretching in contrasting layers of colour, and the patches of blue, green, red, purple and yellow earth are believed to be the result from the weathering of volcanic rocks. The nearby Chamarel waterfalls emerges from the moors and primeval vegetation.

The Black River Gorges, a 6,574 hectare park proclaimed in 1994, protects much of the remaining native forests of Mauritius and provides opportunities for the visitor to enjoy spectacular natural scenery and some of the unique endemic plants and bird life. A boardwalk provides access to the typical dwarf forest of the region and a fenced conservation management area (from which invasive non - native plants have been removed) protects a sample of the remaining healthland.

Mauritius basks in splendid isolation in the warmest ocean of all, the Indian Ocean, just inside the Tropic of Capricorn, bounded by Africa, India and Australia. Surrounded by a tropical sea, enhanced by golden beaches, covered with swaying fields of sugar cane and fringed with exotic coconut palms and casuarinas-?Mauritius is truly a garden.

We have an afternoon tour of Port Louis, the capital city. We visit the harbour, sheltered in a semi circle of mountains; the Natural History Museum, famous for some very rare birds, now extinct; and La Citadelle, a stone fortress situated at the top of a hill from where one can see a view of Port Louis. We also explore the busiest place in the capital, the Port Louis market where you can shop at the local stalls.