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 restless night we were happy to get going quite early.
Breakfast was at 7am and it was great. The bread was just amazing; solid and very tasty. None of the mass-produced, light-as-air-and-full-of-preservatives fare we get in SA. Best of all, there was no margarine (I hate that stuff); the choice was between salted and unsalted butter.
We decided to explore St Denis before starting out on our route to Hell-Bourg in the Salazie Cirque. Much to our disappointment we found that very few public places are open on Mondays, Reunion being a department of France after all. So we never got to visit the Museum of Natural History or the Museum of Modern Art and other sites we had in mind.
We were on the N.2 Highway earlier than planned and our first stop was at the Niagara Waterfall in the Sainte-Suzanne district, which we reached via a very narrow, winding road through sugar plantations.
Next we stopped at the La Vanilleraie, a vanilla plantation and processing facility. On arrival we were told that they do not offer English tours on Mondays but we were welcome to watch the short video which had English subtitles. It is a most interesting and very long process from pollination through to market.
Vanilla orchids were introduced to the island and because of the lack of natural pollinators human intervention was necessary. In 1841 a simple and efficient hand-pollination method was developed by a 12-year-old slave named Edmond Albius, a method still used today. Using a beveled sliver of bamboo, an agricultural worker lifts the membrane separating the anther and the stigma. Then, using the thumb, transfers the pollen from the anther to the stigma. The flower will then produce a fruit. The vanilla flower lasts about one day, sometimes less, so during the spring flowering season growers have to inspect their plantations every day for open flowers, a labour-intensive task. Each flower needs to be hand-pollinated within 12 hours of opening, else it wilts and dies. Because it is such a labour intensive and long process, vanilla is the second most expensive spice after saffron.
Besides the pollination process, each plant has to have a host for support (it is an orchid, remember) so the plantations exist of a chosen tree species, each with a vanilla vine planted at its base.
We continued our drive and at the village of Mare à Poule D’eau we were fascinated by the way the water just poured out of the mountain-side where-ever you looked.
We arrived at hotel Relais des Cimes in Hell-Bourg, a charming village worthy of being listed as one of France’s coveted ‘most beautiful French villages’. It was just before lunch-time so after off-loading our bags we went to explore the town, had lunch and then went back to the hotel for a short rest.
A really tasty traditional Creole dish called Cari is unique to the Indian Ocean islands, made with meat, poultry, fish or seafood and contains garlic, onion, lots of tomatoes, turmeric, cloves and ginger. A side of chilly goes without saying.
In the late afternoon we walked down to the ancient thermal baths. I found it intriguing and could not help wondering what stories this place could tell about times gone by…
If you are interested in reading more about these baths, follow this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell-Bourg
We ended the day with a superb meal at our hotel and were in bed rather early. The mist had moved in and the night was cool and quiet, with promises of a good night’s sleep. We have some catching up to do…
