Trails from Le Petrin Information Centre
The Macchabee Trail at the Le Petrin Information Centre (665 m) runs west 10 kilometres down to the Black River Visitor Centre (100 m). The Macchabee Viewpoint (570 m) is 5 kilometres from Petrin Information Centre along a moderate going wide track, including the return.
Macchabee Trail Gorges Panorama
View over the gorges from the Macchabee Trail at the Black River Gorges National Park.
Macchabee Trail from Le Petrin Information Centre
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Macchabee Trail from Le Petrin Information Centre
The Macchabee Trail from Petrin is through a Conservation Management Area (CMA). Clearance of invasive cattley (Chinese) guava (Psidium cattleianum) is evident with piles of tree trunks along the trail. Psidium cattleianum, a native of Brazil and naturalised in Mauritius, is one of the worst invasive species shading out native flora.
We stopped about one kilometre from the Petrin Information Centre for vistas across the gorges. Also, to photograph a Fandia Tree Fern (Cyathea excelsa) at last, a native plant to Mauritius and Reunion. Another invasive species is the naturalised traveller’s tree (Ravenala madagascariensis), a Madagascan endemic species. It is also known as the traveller’s palm but belongs to the family of the Strelitziaceae (Bird-of-paradise plants). Also featured is an introduced Star of Bethlehem (Laurentia longiflora) from the Campanulaceae family native to Jamaica.
We walked on and reached the Mare Longue Loop turnoff when it began to rain heavily, so we turned back.
On a second visit to the Maccabee Trail, we spotted two endemic animals. Firstly, a photo of a couple of endangered upland forest day geckos (Phelsuma rosagularis) (Ref 1) sunbathing on the alien traveller’s palm. Finally, an image of a Mauritius grey white-eye (Zosterops mauritianus) foraging.
References and Bibliography – Online Resources
1. Endangered upland forest day geckos. 2021. [Online] Available from IUCN Red List [Accessed 29-Nov-21].
2. Le Petrin. 2021. [Online] Available from Mapcarta [Accessed 29-Nov-21].