River · Mauritius
Grand River South East
Grand River South East is the longest river of Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean. It flows east from the central plateau. Near a famous waterfall it reaches the sea.
Picture credit: Karsten Ratzke (CC0) · Sarvesh Lutchmun (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Z thomas (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Grand River South East?
The river starts here: Central plateau of Mauritius.
It ends in the Indian Ocean on the east coast of Mauritius.
Countries on the river: Mauritius.
The story behind it
For a river, Grand River South East is short, yet on a small island it counts as a giant. It begins in the green hills of the central plateau, where warm rain falls almost every week, and then hurries east over dark volcanic rock. Sugar cane fields, bamboo and patches of forest line its banks. Close to the ocean the water drops over a tall waterfall that visitors reach only by boat, and long-tailed macaques often sit on the wet stones nearby. Fish, crabs and shrimps live in the calm estuary, where small fishing boats tie up in the shade. Between December and April tropical storms can turn the quiet stream into a brown, roaring flood in a single afternoon. The rest of the year its water helps keep gardens and fields green.
Questions children ask
How long is Grand River South East?
The river measures about 34 kilometres. That is short compared with the great rivers of Africa, but no other river on Mauritius is longer. A good walker could follow it from the hills to the sea in one day.
Which country does Grand River South East flow through?
The whole river lies in Mauritius, an island state east of Madagascar. It never crosses a border, because the island is only about sixty kilometres wide. Its water stays on the eastern side of the island.
Where does Grand River South East end?
It ends in the Indian Ocean on the east coast of the island. Shortly before the sea the water falls over a waterfall into a wide, quiet estuary. Boats bring visitors right to the foot of the falls.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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