Trou aux Cerfs

Trou aux Cerfs - the vulcanic crater.

After a busy weekend sewing log cabin blocks, a trip out was well deserved. Actually I'm looking for more shelves for my fabrics, so we decided to go to a furniture shop just outside Curepipe. I know what kind of shelves I need, but the furniture shop didn't have what I'm looking for. It was too early to go home, so we decided playing tourists in Curepipe.

Curepipe is the highest town on the plateau - approx 550 meters (1800 feet) above sea level. A malaria epidemic hit the island in 1867, which caused thousands of people to flee infested Port Louis for the healthier uplands. Curepipe is cool in the hot summers, but the town is often swathed in clouds. According to lowlanders, Curepipe has two seasons; the little season of big rains and the big season of little rains! Always bring an umbrella - it can rain without warning! :) Mark Twain described Curepipe as "the nastiest spot on earth".... But he has also written; "You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first and then heaven, and that heaven was copied after Mauritius"....

Trou aux Cerfs (approx 650m - 2130 feet - above sea level) is an extinct volcanic crater. It is approx 100m (328 feet) deep and 1km (0,62 miles) in circumference. It is one of the "must see" places on the island, and yesterday morning there were already quite some tourists there.

Panoramic view from the crater.

Trois Mamelles - seen from Trou aux Cerfs.

Sorry for the bad quality of the photo. I used the zoom on the digital camera, which didn't turn out very well. The dates on the photos - 31/05/2009 - don't correspond with the day we did the trip; it should have been 01/06/2009, but I didn't change the date when I added the batteries after loading.