If you have read my drone posts then probably you should notice how amazed I am with this little aerial instrument, and since I was still in my learning curves, one early morning I took the car and headed towards Plaine Magnien as I wanted to get an aerial view of those ‘famous pyramids‘ in the south of the island during sunrise. Of course, winter days and sunrise rhyme with cold wake-ups and dark mornings… but I was determined to get something and by 06:40am I was already on the spot preparing my gears and getting the ‘aircraft’ ready for take-off: the pyramids of Plaine Magnien.
What are those Pyramids of Plaine Magnien?
Well, from past rumors or propaganda, some people have been saying that these structures are linked to extra-terrestrial activities and God knows how they were built as such and in such positions and patterns! From what I know, this theory is exaggerated or the result of too much sci-fi movies! These moles of rocks exists much everywhere around the island and are the results of clearing the lands from rocks to prepare the soil for the plantation of sugar canes. Difference is that in most places they are just dumped together without any fuss in the cane fields and without following any aspect, but in the case of Plaine Magnien, the Sugar Estate (most probably Mon Desert Mon Tresor) occupying this piece of land had the clever idea of making a design when laying these rocks. It is true that these do look more pleasing to the eyes as such than being random. In total there looks to be seven of them, five on the right side of the motorway towards the airport, and the other two on the left side.
Drone No-Fly Zone
Drone users probably are instructed in their drone manuals AND their navigation application that some areas do not allow drone operations with restrictions at different levels, and this area of Plaine Magnien being close to the airport is among those no-fly zones…but as from an altitude of 200m I believe. So the drone will not go beyond that height. But still, 200m is still enough for what I wanted to obtain. I even managed to do some selfies with the pyramids and the drone!
A Closer Look at the Pyramids
Getting close to those stacked rocks required getting much inside the cane fields and reaching for an opening among the cane plants the access to those structures are quite easy, but perspective might give a different view; when seen from a distance, they look rather small but when being close next to them, they are high enough to require some effort and precaution to climb on them. SOMEHOW, I will have to point out that these structures are considered as ‘monuments’ and in my opinion are rather fragile. Yes, I did climb on one of them as well, but I did that very cautiously so as not to pull down the rocks and affect the structure. The rocks are only layed on each others without any kind of adhesive (cement, lime etc) to keep them binded. Why am I saying this? Because! Being a history lover and conservative about the national heritage, I noticed that some parts of those pyramids have already collapsed due to careless people having tried to climb on them. So, if you intend to ‘hike’ them, be very cautious/careful as not to ‘harm’ them!
