Le Morne is the dramatic southwest corner of Mauritius, a basalt monolith rising 556 metres from the sea at the end of a narrow peninsula. The mountain has a heavy history: in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, escaped slaves, known as maroons, hid in the caves and on the summit plateau, and according to tradition, when soldiers came to tell them that slavery had been abolished in 1835, they misunderstood and jumped from the cliffs. Whether or not the story is exact, the mountain became a symbol of resistance and freedom, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Small villages lie nearby, such as Petite Case Noyale and Grande Rivière Noire.
The landscape around the mountain is a mix of lagoon and beach on one side, with kitesurfers drawn to the strong winds and flat water, and sugar cane and scrub on the other. The lagoon is a pale turquoise, protected by a reef that you can see as a line of white surf offshore. The roads along the southern coast are narrow and often busy with local traffic, but surfaces are mostly good. Driving is on the left, and local drivers are brisk, with plenty of overtaking.
From Le Morne, the route turns inland toward the Black River Gorges National Park, climbing into the forested highlands. The change is noticeable: the air cools, the vegetation becomes dense, and the road narrows and bends through tropical forest with views toward the coast. The park protects some of the last remnants of native forest on the island, and rare birds such as the pink pigeon and the Mauritius kestrel, which were brought back from the brink of extinction.
For practical needs, fuel is available in the larger villages along the coast, but not on the mountain itself, so fill up before heading to the peninsula. There are small cafes and snack stands selling dholl puri, a thin pancake filled with split peas, and gateaux piments, fried chilli cakes. The best time to visit is the drier, cooler months from May to December. Cyclones are possible from January to March, and rain can be heavy.