Chamarel is a small village in the hilly southwest of Mauritius, best known for two of the island's most popular natural attractions: the Seven Coloured Earth and the Chamarel Waterfall. The village sits in a lush, mountainous landscape that feels worlds away from the resort-lined beaches of the north coast.
The Seven Coloured Earth is a geological curiosity — undulating dunes of exposed volcanic soil in striking bands of red, brown, violet, blue, and green, caused by the weathering of basaltic lava into different mineral clays. The colours are most vivid in the morning light. A small fenced viewing area and walkways surround the dunes, and there is a gift shop and a giant tortoise enclosure on site. Nearby, the Chamarel Waterfall plunges about 100 metres into a gorge surrounded by dense tropical vegetation. A viewpoint overlooking the falls is a short walk from the car park.
Beyond the headline attractions, Chamarel is also home to a rum distillery, the Rhumerie de Chamarel, which produces some of the best agricultural rum on the island and offers tastings and tours. The Ebony Forest Reserve is a native forest restoration project with guided walks through endemic woodland. The surrounding Black River Gorges National Park has excellent hiking trails through native forest and is one of the last places to spot Mauritius's rare endemic birds. If you are driving from the coast, the winding mountain roads through the sugar cane fields are part of the pleasure.