The Seven Coloured Earths is the most photographed thing in the Mauritian interior and the most commonly misjudged. People arrive expecting a landscape and find a fenced mound the size of a couple of tennis courts. Judged on the dunes alone, it is a fifteen-minute stop for the money. Judged on everything the ticket includes, it is a comfortable half day.
What the entry fee covers
One ticket covers the geopark as a whole, not just the dunes. That means the coloured earths themselves, both viewpoints over the Chamarel waterfall, the giant tortoise enclosure and the short trails between them. Non-resident adults pay around 225 rupees, with children roughly 75. Mauritian residents pay a reduced rate on production of ID.
The waterfall is the part most day-trippers underrate. At roughly a hundred metres it is the tallest single-drop fall on the island, and the upper viewpoint is a two-minute walk from the car park.
Opening hours
The park runs daily from around 9:30am to 5:00pm, with slightly longer afternoons in the October to May high season. Last entry is before closing, so arriving at 4:45pm is not worth the fare.
How long to allow
Ninety minutes covers everything without rushing: waterfall viewpoints, the drive down to the dunes, ten minutes at the dune platforms, the tortoises, and back. Add time if you are stopping to photograph, and add considerably more if you are combining it with the rest of the Chamarel loop.
Why the colours are there
The dunes are weathered volcanic basalt. As the rock broke down, iron and aluminium oxides separated out and settled into bands of red, brown, violet, green, blue, purple and yellow. The reason they stay separated rather than blending in the rain is the different densities of those oxides. It is a genuine geological oddity, not a landscaped attraction, which is worth knowing before you judge the size of it.
Getting there
Chamarel is difficult without a car. There is no practical bus, and the road up from Case Noyale is steep with switchbacks. Most people either drive, take a taxi from the west coast, or fold it into a south-west day that also takes in Le Morne and Black River Gorges.
If you are taking a taxi, agree the fare and the waiting time before you set off. A driver waiting ninety minutes should be priced accordingly.
Worth it or not
Bought on its own, on a cloudy day, as a there-and-back trip, it is thin. Bought as one stop on a Chamarel and Black River day, with the waterfall and the drive included, it is one of the better half days on the island. The mistake is treating it as a destination rather than a stop.
