About La Vanille Nature Park
La Vanille Nature Park is a picturesque and idyllic nature reserve located at Riviere des Anguilles in
the south. This nature park extends across 3.5 hectares, full of luxuriant vegetation consisting of
beautiful palm trees, banana plants, giant bamboo trees and other gorgeous shrubs-reflecting a tropical
rainforest setting.
It is a sanctuary for a variety of animal species such as the Nile crocodiles, tortoises, monkeys,
iguanas, bats, deer, geckos, eels, wild boars, and an amazing collection of insects. These animals and
insects come from the Mascarene and other southern Indian Ocean Islands, including Rodrigues, Reunion
and Mauritius.
You will have the chance to encounter 1,500 Nile Crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus) which are bred and
reared. These crocodiles are all offspring brought from Madagascar to Mauritius in 1985. You can see
crocodiles in their different stages of growth, from the young in the nursery through to fully grown
adults.
The park is also the world’s largest captive breeding centre for giant Aldabra tortoises (Geochelone
gigantea) and also breeds the smaller Radiata tortoises (Astrochelys Radiata) with over 500 tortoises of
all ages in the reserve.
You will have the chance to visit the insectarium which houses one of the most extensive private insect
collections in the world, with more than 23,000 species of impressive coloured and patterned
butterflies, beetles, moths and other insects.