What to see in Mauritius

Perhaps if I jump a bit higher?

This big fellow is in the park at a tourist attraction called the Seven Coloured Earths. He (or she) is one of several giant tortoises on Mauritius. The original giant tortoises died out at the same time as the Dodo (Oh those hungry sailors! Did they realise what they were doing?) This gang of dipsochelys gigantea were imported from the Seychelles in the 1880's. They were sitting/lying down in a group contentedly munching away when one of them lurched to its feet and raced across to these stumps to see if any had fallen over.

Who left this mess?

The Seven Coloured Earths is a small area of sand dunes in the middle of nowhere which are somewhat of a mystery. Nothing will grow on them and despite the area's torrential rains they don't wear down. The key feature though is the stripey pattern consisting of seven different colours - this photo doesn't really do it justice. A range of different coloured ions give rise to the colours which separate again even when mixed together. What a great opportunity for a chemistry school field trip!
 

Is it a bird, is it a plane?

Finally something which I thought was a bird at first - this is the Mauritian Flying Fox  a fruit bat or megabat with a wingspan of around a metre. Most bats only fly at night but you can see these guys throughout the day. Interestingly fruit bats have lost their ability to find their way around using echo location. This photo doesn't show it clearly but there's a tiny Garmin attached to this chap's right shoulder.