Valley Ferney, a small nature preserve surrounded by deer-hunting grounds. Owned by the Ciel group, a large industrialist. A small area of forest within the valley is open to tourists. The hotel lobby attempted to build a road through the valley to the hotels in Mahebourg, the Ciel group created an activist body that protested the construction, on grounds of destroying biodiversity. The Conservation Ministry became involved in the project, and discovered particular flora (the Nail Tree below is an example) that would become extinct as a result of the highway. The government therefore disallowed the highway project.
Two-dimensional palm trees in Ferney:
Stone statue in Mahebourg, put together by volunteers in 1977:
Mushrooms full of water:
My cousin Roukaya, a professor at the University of Mauritius.
The humble "Nail Tree" that saved the forest. Only three such examples exist in the world.
Me, pretending to be a deer (at Roukaya's request). The truth came out after I spoke to my uncle (the ex-Director of the National Parks) : the forest was saved in order to preserve the hunting grounds, not the Nail Tree!
200 year old tortoise. In no hurry to avoid the paparazzo:
The old hunting lodge, now a restaurant. We had an excellent meal here:
The road out out of the preserve:
The lagoon in Mahebourg. A battle was fought here between the British and the French for posession.
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