Mauritius is completely surrounded by a barrier reef. In the foreground you see the sugar cane fields. (809k) View of the reef from shore. (814k) Sugarcane fields. This is what you see in many parts of Mauritius when you are driving along. (1213k) There are several extinct volcanoes. This is the view of one of the volcano craters. (892k) There are several interesting waterfalls. This one falls over a cliff of very nicely formed column basalt. (1007k) Colored Earth. This spot is colored by various minerals. It shows some spectacular colors. (1157k) Colored Earth. (1.6M) This type of scenery is mostly along the northern shore. (1099k) On the south-eastern and southern coast, the prevailing trade winds create a quite spectacular surf. (907k) Another view of the big waves. (1040k) This is a view of the only area with supposedly native vegetation. But even there you can see imported species like eucalyptus trees. (844k) This was the highest mountain on Mauritius. (847k) Mangrove on the western shore. (905k)
A termites nest on a tree. (1018k) Violet Dropwing (Trithemis annulata, german: Violetter Sonnenzeiger, french: Trithémis pourpré). Most of the dragonflies had this posture when they were sitting, with the wings pointed forward and down. (777k) Butterfly (Neptis frobenia). It is endemic to Mauritius. (1023k) African Leopard butterfly (Phalanta phalantha aethiopica). (887k) Danaid Eggfly butterfly (Hypolimnas misippus, french: Nymphale du pourpier). Many species are introduced from other countries, a lot of them from Madagascar. This butterfly is the same as one I saw on my trip to Madagascar. (852k) In one area the Guttural Toads (Sclerophrys gutturalis, french: Crapaud guttural) were mating. Here you can see pairs of mating toads. They stay together like that till the female is done with laying eggs. The male stays with the female to ensure that no other males will mate with her. (1064k) The mating Guttural Toads (Sclerophrys gutturalis, french: Crapaud guttural) were croaking. You can see the throat sack that they use to make their calls. What a ruckus! The croaking is deafening. (895k) Introduced animals like this mongoose were the main culprits in exterminating a lot of the native animals. (1.5M)
Under Water
Following are some pictures from my Scuba diving trip. I had a regular camera, not a single-lens-reflex camera. Since I was using that camera for the first time, I had a lot of problems with the parallax between the view finder and the objective. But some of the pictures came out OK.
Corals. (1281k) Corals and sea urchin. (1216k) Brain Coral. (1218k) A small school of Cerulean Damselfish (Pomacentrus caeruleus) around a brain coral. (1305k) Blackspotted Pufferfish (Arothron nigropunctatus, german: Schwarzflecken-Kugelfisch, french: Poisson-ballon à taches noires). (992k) Moorish Idol (Zanclus cornutus, german: Halfterfisch, french: Zancle cornu). (772k) Red Lionfish (Pterois volitans, german: Pazifischer Rotfeuerfisch, french: Poisson-scorpion). It has venomous spines. (910k) Christmas Tree Worms (Spirobranchus giganteus, german: Weihnachtsbaumwurm, french: Spirobranche-arbre de Noël). (1196k) Sea Anemone and Mauritian Anemonefish (Amphiprion chrysogaster, german: Mauritius-Anemonenfisch, french: Poisson-clown de Maurice). It is endemic to Mauritius. (1058k) Sea Anemone and Mauritian Anemonefish (Amphiprion chrysogaster, german: Mauritius-Anemonenfisch, french: Poisson-clown de Maurice). Sea anemones can sting pretty badly when you touch them. The Anemonefish is one of the few fish that can live in the arms of the anemone and not get stung. (1428k)
Dr. Günther Eichhorn Travel Website
Soaring website