Road Trippin’ with my favourite allies, time to get away and get lost. The B52 is the most remote road in Mauritius, it runs through the center of the island where almost nothing is marked on the map. We explore it all, from a cow sanctuary, tea estates, abandoned buildings, two dams, and a lot of walking. It was a real discovery trip, that is not to be missed.
It started at a roundabout, and a hidden toilet in a place called Belle Rive, which boasts the SSR Medical Collage and a spinning factory, not the exercise stuff, the thread kind, as its main attractions, well, its only attractions, but it did have a great view of Piton du Milieu Mountain, the mountain in the middle
Our first stop was the Piton du Milieu resivour. A large dam that supplies water to the CWA (the Mauritian water guys). It was the first of many treats along the way. They had wild raspberries, even though I kept calling them strawberries. The ripe ones were the perfect supplement to our snack supplies. And boy did we need them, the stair were designed for fit people. Before we tackled the stairs, there was the mystery of the tunnel disappearing into the dam wall. This was solved when we made our way to the top. There is a jetty that has a huge hole to the bottom of the dam.
We got some great views of the mountain in the middle, very impressive with, what Riki referred to as, elephant skin on the one side and it did look a little like a dinosaur tooth sticking up. We found the home of the Law of Attraction academy, or it might have been a hunting lodge. Remember your gumboots in the wet season, the road does have a lot of water on it, and there might be fish. Oh yes, and they weren’t planting ferns, it was in fact carrots.
We met the mother of the whole universe, it’s a cow, at the Krishna cow sanctuary. The nice man let us play with the cows and bulls. Govern, one of the bigger bull, though I smelt funny. After I learned the whole sequence of mothers in the universe and the secret to a new body we headed off to the most remote village in Mauritius, Dubreuil, but that is for another video.
Midlands dam is really impressive. With a 2.5 kilometer wall, it is no slouch in the dam department and a great piece of engineering. This bastion of water security is also the kickoff point to some great hikes in the middle of nowhere, literally. We complained a lot about walking, but it really was a worthwhile visit. Our next stop was Midlands sugar mill chimney
I performed the worst Scottish accent on record as I discussed James Curry, the original owner and the guy who started Melville oyster farm. This was also the place that the Duke of Edinburgh bagged 40 deer in 1890, now a shooting range. Samlo steel reclamation yard is right next door, where they transform all the old steel in Mauritius into other interesting metal things and try to keep their road from flooding with a very overworked dam wall.
We stumbled upon the old La Chartreuse tea factory, now an overgrown abandoned building. This would be a great place to explore with a little more equipment and a few energetic friends, as it was, Riki got attacked by some swallows, so we left.
I started the montage at the Midlands sign, but we only danced, and there wasn’t an actual montage. We saw a few more things of interest, a sheer cliff wall, Domaine Dam wedding place, and heard some hunting dogs. We arrived at a bridge at the start of Midlands village, which also marked the end of the B52 road and our road trip. After meeting up with a few old friends from along the journey we bid goodbye and drove off into the sunset.
The B52 is more than a road, it seems to be a state of mind. For a short 8 kilometer stretch in the middle of nowhere, it really does have a lot to offer. I’m not saying you are going to find yourself spiritually along it, unless you are a cow, but I think you will find a great trip and one that is worth doing. Go get lost in the middle.
Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.