La Tour Martello Traditional Geocache
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Difficulty:
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Size: 
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An easy cache at an interesting location near La Preneuse beach in the village of Rivière Noire, south of Tamarin.
This imposing military fortification at La Preneuse in Black River was previously used against military attacks. The Martello Towers could hold up to 40 soliders, with equipment and stocks of food and water for several days. Given its direct contribution to the Mauritian history, during the 19th century, the Martello Towers have been proclaimed and protected as a National Monument.
The British built five Martello Towers in Mauritius between 1832 and 1835 at Grand Riviere Noire, Black River and Port Louis, of which three survive. They were designed as a coastal defence in case of invasion by the French navy who were unhappy with the British plan to abolish slavery.The Friends of the Environment have restored one, near the La Preneuse public beach in Tamarin, and operate it as a museum for visitors, and as a reminder of the end of slavery on the island. The original entrance to the tower is raised above ground but a new entrance has been constructed at ground level. On show is the original cannon with a 2 km range, and a host of objects discovered in the neighbourhood during archaeological excavations. The Martello Tower situated here at La Preneuse beach is of 30 feet height; the base has a diameter of 30 feet and has 28 feet at the roof. It is subdivided into four rooms:
1. An underground hut of a capacity of 4500 gallons.
2. The ground floor was used to store food and powder for the canon.
3. The first floor was an apartment for the military personnel (One officer and around 20 to 30 gunmen).
4. An open roof with the canon on a pivot.
The Martello towers are famous Worldwide and 210 of these structures have been built around the old British Empire, in Europe, North America, Africa, Sri Lanca and Australia. They were all built by the British from around 1800 to mid 1800s for defence purposes against their empirical enemies, the French navy.
The irony in their history lies in the fact that the British were inspired by a similar tower on the Mortella point of Corsica where only 38 men firing from the tower managed to keep away English invaders for many days. The name of Martello was given to them following some corruption of the name of the Corsican point.
The cache is situated in the parking area near this tower. Satellite reception may be inaccurate under the trees so I have provided two spoiler photos. This could be a high muggle zone at times, so I have placed the cache where you can sit and pretend to be doing something else whilst retrieving the cache.
Bring your own pen
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
fvg ba gur pbeare bs gur ybj jnyy naq srry sbe gur pnpur va n tnc orgjrra gur fgbarf gung znxr hc gur jnyy