My friend Jimmy played tour guide for me and Ervin for a full day of exploration in the south.Walking from Souillac to Gris Gris provides views of the more rugged Mauritian coastline. The black rocky cliffs are due to a break in the coral reef that surrounds most of the rest of the island.
The far rock in the picture to the left is knows as La Roche qui Pleure (the Crying Rock). It is said to resemble the profile of a man and when the waves crash over, he looks as if he's crying. I didn't see it but Jimmy said the weather was too calm.
The term gris gris traditionally refers to 'black magic' and looking at the tortuous coastline, you can see how the area got its name. There are signs at the "beaches" warning against bathing, but every once a while we would see a lone fisherman out on the rocks.
Next we visited Rochester falls. The path winds through sugar cane fields, and with the sun beating down, entering the serenity of the falls felt like a beautiful escape. I, of course, went swimming. The river water and shaded trees reminded me a lot of summer days in western Massachusetts. It also reminded me a bit of those swimming pools in skymall that have a continuous push of water coming at you so that you can do laps without actually moving. I enjoyed attempting to get to the rocks in the middle but to no avail.
Next up was Ilo Sancho. The island we are standing on here is made entirely from dead coral. We waded across from the main island to stand on the spiky earth and survey the coastline we had just covered.
As I sat looking out at the ocean from the south of the island I could feel it's enormity. Travelling due south behind this wave, there is nothing until Antarctica.
