Le Pouce (; English: "The Thumb") is the third highest mountain in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

, at 812 meters (2664 feet). Only

Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire (''Little Black River Peak'') is the highest mountain on the island of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean. Located in the Rivière Noire District and rising to a height of 828 m (2717 ft) above sea level. ...

(828 m) and

Pieter Both Pieter Both (1568 – 6 March 1615) was the first Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. Not much is known of his early years. In 1599, Both was already an admiral in the New, or Brabant Company. In that year, he traveled to the East Indie ...

(820 m) are taller. It is named Le Pouce because of the thumb-shaped peak of the mountain. It can be viewed from the capital of Mauritius,

Port Louis Port Louis (french: Port-Louis; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Polwi or , ) is the capital city of Mauritius. It is mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's ec ...

, and is a popular hike for the view of the city. The mountain is in the

Moka Range The Moka Range is a mountain range in Mauritius. It contains two of Mauritius's three tallest peaks, Pieter Both and Le Pouce. It was formed from a basalt lava dome ten million years ago. The Moka Range forms a semicircle around the capital of Mau ...

and is closest to the village of La Laura-Malenga in the

Moka District Moka () is a district of Mauritius, situated in the central plateau of the island. The district has an area of 230.5 km2 and the population estimate was at 83,664 as at the end of 2019. History Places of interest bagatelle mall, Places The M ...

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

ascended the mountain on 2 May 1836.

Natural features

The

Mascarene Islands The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of the islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Thei ...

, the island chain that Mauritius lies in, is a

volcanic belt A volcanic belt is a large volcanically active region. Other terms are used for smaller areas of activity, such as volcanic fields. Volcanic belts are found above zones of unusually high temperature () where magma is created by partial melting ...

. Le Pouce is the second highest peak in the Moka Range, which was formed ten million years ago from volcano eruptions. The range is a

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

lava dome In volcanology, a lava dome is a circular mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings. Around 6% of eruptions on ...

and is no longer volcanically active. Le Pouce is overgrown with

guava Guava () is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava ''Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family ( Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, the ...

and

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

, which are not native to the area. One example of flora

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to Le Pouce is ''

Pandanus pseudomontanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with some 750 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. The greatest number of species are found in Madagascar and Malaysia. Common nam ...

'' commonly known as Le Pouce Mountain Screwpine. This plant is not officially listed on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

, but

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has potentially assessed it as critically endangered. The only individuals of this species are two plants in the Le Pouce Mountain Nature Reserve. Since both of these are male plants, the species is at "extremely high risk of extinction'.

Hiking

The trek to the top of Le Pouce is considered an easy hike. However, the ascent is very steep, especially near the thumb. Le Pouce can be reached from

Moka Moka () is a village in Mauritius located in the Moka District, the western part of the village also lies in the Plaines Wilhems District. Since 1967 it forms part of Constituency No. 8 Quartier Militaire and Moka. The village is administered by ...

or Port Louis. Unlike Pieter Both, climbing gear is not needed. From the peak, Port Louis, Moka, and

Beau-Bassin Rose-Hill Beau Bassin-Rose Hill (or Beau-Bassin Rose-Hill; french: Villes sœurs; ) is a town in Mauritius, located in the Plaines Wilhems District. It is administered by the Municipal Council of Beau Bassin-Rose Hill and has a population of 147,066 habi ...

can be seen, as well as many other places around the island.

History

Le Pouce was formed ten million years ago in a basalt lava dome. Charles Darwin ascended the mountain during his voyage around the world. He recorded in his journal: As time went by and tourism increased, hiking Le Pouce became a tourist attraction.

Le Pouce Nature Reserve

Le Pouce Nature Reserve was created in 1951. It protects an area of 0.69 km² on the mountain's northwest flank.UNEP-WCMC (2021). Protected Area Profile for Le Pouce Nature reserve from the World Database of Protected Areas. Accessed 18 August 2021

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Gallery

Port Louis from Le Pouce.jpg, The view of Port Louis from the summit Moka Range.jpg, The Moka Range from the top of Le Pouce Le Pouce1.jpg, A view of "The Thumb" from a hiking trail Mauritius.png, Panoramic view of Mauritius from Le Pouce View-from-Le-Pouce-facing-Pieter-Both-2017-Luka-Peternel.jpg, View from Le Pouce facing

View-from-Le-Pouce-facing-south-west-2017-Luka-Peternel.jpg, View from Le Pouce facing Moka, Mauritius, Moka village

References and notes

{{Coord, 20, 11, 50, S, 57, 31, 42.6, E, display=title Mountains of Mauritius Protected areas of Mauritius