The summit
Views over the lagoon.
"dronepicr" — CC BY 2.0 · "dronepicr" — CC BY 2.0 · Gavish Barosee — CC BY-SA 4.0 · "dronepicr" — CC BY 2.0
A towering basalt mountain about 556 metres high on a peninsula at the far south-western tip of Mauritius, ringed by a turquoise lagoon and white beaches. UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site in 2008 as a cultural landscape carrying the memory of slavery. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries runaway slaves, known as maroons, took refuge in the mountain's caves and rugged slopes, making it a symbol of resistance to slavery and of freedom. A story handed down tells that some threw themselves from the mountain when they saw soldiers coming, not knowing they had come to announce the abolition of slavery. Hikers climb the mountain in about three to four hours return; the final section is very steep, and a guide is recommended. The summit gives a stunning view over the lagoon, the reef and the ocean. At the foot of the mountain stands a Slave Route memorial. Le Morne's beaches are among the island's finest and a world-class kitesurfing spot. From the air, the famous underwater waterfall illusion, created by sand sliding down the seabed, appears offshore.
Views over the lagoon.
At the foot.
Kitesurfing.
Le Morne peninsula, far south-west of Mauritius
About three to four hours return; the final section is very steep and a guide is recommended.