Category: Reunion Island

As expected, our transfer arrived on time. Now for that dreaded traffic. There aren’t direct flights on a daily basis so we were anxious to get to the airport on time. While driving we noticed the most advanced construction happening in the ocean. We were both so amazed that neither of us thought of taking… Continue reading Reunion – Going home

We awoke at 7am to find our roommate had already left. This was good. It allowed us to rummage through our luggage and sort out the oily mess without worrying about disturbing him. And what a mess it was! We could not believe that neither of us noticed that the bottle had a stopper and… Continue reading Day 6: Gîte Volcan, Pas de Bellecombe to Alamanda Hotel, L’Ermitage

Piton des Neiges, meaning snow peak, is the highest point on Reunion Island and at 3,069m (10,069ft) is considered to be the highest point in the Indian Ocean. Reaching this peak was the first, and for some the main, objective of this day. I had a rather restless night, tossing and turning with just two… Continue reading Day 5: Piton des Neiges to Gîte Volcano via Bébour Forest

Breakfast was at 7:30am rather than the usual 7am that we had gotten used to. It was Saturday morning and it was Cilaos, I suppose. The spread was no different to any of the other Gîtes though. After a leisurely, chatty breakfast hour we were on the road by 8:45am. It was interesting to see… Continue reading Day 4: Cilaos to Gîte Caverne Dufour

During breakfast, which was at 7am, as usual, I suddenly bit into something that felt like an olive stone. But I was eating white bread with butter; no olives. Discreet inspection left me with a gold crown on the tongue. Fortunately, no other teeth seemed damaged and I managed to remove said crown and slip… Continue reading Day 3: Marla to Cilaos

We felt somewhat rested after a good night’s sleep and sat down to breakfast at 7am. The light breakfast, Petit Déjeuner, which was part of our package, was ‘interesting’. It consisted of bread, butter and jam; no plates. Coffee was served in cereal bowls rather than mugs. We were not sure if the intention was… Continue reading Day 2: Cirque de Mafate – Roche Plate to Marla

The day had arrived that we were to embark on our long-awaited trek. I have often imagined it during the past 20-odd years. Knowing that the day was going to a long one we made sure we had a substantial breakfast. At least 9 hours of walking over challenging terrain, according to the itinerary. But… Continue reading Day 1: Cirque de Mafate – Sans-Souci to Roche-Plate

We awoke to a beautiful, clear day and regretted not being able to spend more time in this charming village. We had to get going early as there was a long day’s driving ahead, many sites to visit along the way, and our car had to be returned by 4pm. In April 1977, Piton Sainte-Rose… Continue reading Clockwise around the Island – Hell-Bourg to L’Ermitage

We don’t normally like air conditioning but the night was hot and humid. It was noisy with the aircon on, and with it off there was a lot of ambient noise, so we were up and down until Roger eventually resorted to ear plugs. I was silly not to have done the same. After a… Continue reading Clockwise around the Island – St Denis to Hell-Bourg

Reunion Island is located in the Indian Ocean, 800km from Madagascar and 210km west of Mauritius. It is a very small volcanic island; an overseas ‘department’ of France and the official language is French. 42% of its territory has been claimed as a UNESCO World Heritage site and they are very focused on adventure travel.… Continue reading Reunion – How it all started