Spectacular Reunion, by Katerina Roberts

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Réunion, in the Indian Ocean, is an overseas département of France.

Spectacular Reunion

.
by Katerina Roberts
· personal page ·
· website ·

Three million years ago Reunion was spawned from the seabed by seismic activity to form the tip of an underwater massif known as the Mascarene Ridge. For the first French settlers arriving in 1642 they would have seen the island hovering on the horizon like a huge bun loaf shrouded in mist. Today’s travellers will discover an incredible series of mountains encircled by a narrow coastal strip with countless ravines and peaks irregularly fashioned into three cirques, or craters, each dotted with villages, forests, rivers and waterfalls providing countless awesome vistas.

Reunion’s biggest attraction, by far, is its still active volcano, the Piton de la Fournaise. Half slumbering like a monstrous sea creature in the depths of the ocean, it stirs and splutters and occasionally wakens as if disturbed by a violent nightmare. Such are the ferocity of these eruptions that in 1986 lava flowed down the verdant east slopes to the coastal town of Ste Rose extending the island’s land mass by 30 hectares much to the islanders’ excitement. More recently in 2002, lava flows threatened to destroy the flower-bedecked Catholic shrine of the Virgin with the Umbrella near Bois Blanc on the east coast that townsfolk were forced to move it to a safer place.

One day we set off for a dawn drive to the volcano, stopping briefly at the Maison du Volcan, a treasure house packed with everything you need to know about volcanology. Thanks to scientists who regularly monitor its movements, islanders and tourists can observe most eruptions in complete safety from designated viewpoints. Passing magnificent deep gorges and desolate moonscapes on the way, our journey’s end was the Piton de la Fournaise, standing in all its grandeur beneath cloudless blue skies. The volcano begged exploration so we donned walking boots and trekked to the top along waymarked paths for a peek into its fiery depths. But for a fabulously surreal and hassle-free fix of volcano watching, a helicopter tour promises a dizzying experience as it hovers above peaks and dives into the deepest of ravines that you feel that you have penetrated the very soul of Nature.

Cirques and the City

If boots were made for walking then Reunion is made for walkers. Dozens of waymarked paths, graded depending on your level of fitness, festoon the island like a spider’s web and some link up with the three Malagasy-named cirques of Mafate, Salazie and Cilaos. Situated in a clover leaf-like pattern in the centre of the island, Mafate, with 500 inhabitants and only accessible by foot or helicopter, is a happy escape from the maelstrom of the modern world. Cilaos, renowned for wine making and lentil production, appears deceptively close on any tourist map, but needs a good two-hour drive to negotiate 262 hairpin bends from St Louis in the south. If you’re strapped for time then Salazie, an easy hour’s drive from St Andre in the east, rewards you with delightful Creole houses at nearby Hell-Bourg, including Villa Folio, a 19th century residence offering rare insights into Creole life.

A day in St Denis reveals a distinctly provincial French flavour in its busy, often traffic-choked streets. Here we found tiny shops, delightful covered markets and finely preserved colonial buildings, such as the Hotel de Ville and Natural History Museum. Chilling out at a pavement café, a magical melee of variously hued faces wandered by. Mostly descendants of early French settlers and their slaves who came from Africa and Madagascar to work in sugar plantations, indentured workers from India and Chinese traders, today’s Reunionnais are well-integrated and exude that special warmth so characteristic of island people.

Beach Life and Botany

Driving along Reunion’s smooth-as-silk roads needs concentration but it’s a pleasurable experience as long as you don’t dilly dally, particularly on the Corniche, a super fast two-lane highway, which hugs the coast for several miles from St Denis to the fashionable beach resort of St Gilles-les-Bains on the west coast. Dubbed the St Tropez of the Indian Ocean, we discovered a cast of real cool characters along its lovely sandy beaches, from sixties’ style hippies to trendy young locals, who like us, were attracted by the blend of Gallic chic and Creole insouciance that oozes from dozens of restaurants, bars and mobile food wagons.

Laid-back St Gilles-les-Bains offers a huge range of accommodation from comfortable 4-star hotels through to self-catering apartments and, with its coral fringed lagoon, appeals to beach babes and water lovers of all ages. Culture vultures can make a beeline for the fascinating Stella Matutina Museum, a former sugar factory, now devoted to the history of sugar production and containing exhibits of machinery and a history room with original maps and oil paintings of sugar barons. Green-fingered visitors meanwhile may enjoy exploring the magnificent landscaped grounds of the Conservatoire Botanique Jardin de Mascarin where themed gardens display Reunion’s remarkable flora and fauna, including an eye-popping enclosure of weirdly shaped cacti.

There are plenty of canyonning and paragliding operators at St Gilles-les-Bains to satisfy high-octane adrenalin fans seeking that jump of a lifetime down ravines, waterfalls and gorges. But if you’re after a bird’s eye view of the west coast and want to keep your hands free for the camera, the best way is to hire a microlight. If you feel that’s a bit over the top then opt for a sedate trip aboard ‘Visiobul’, to view the antics of marine life from its glass bottom hull. For kids into wildlife there’s The Aquarium, an Ostrich Park and a Turtle Farm to keep them entertained while grown-ups might like to try horse-riding in the hills.

For retail therapy keep either Friday afternoon or Saturday free for the superb seafront market at nearby St Paul where you’ll find crafts, spices, baskets, mountains of expertly displayed fruit and veg and exotic flowers. It’s a perfect venue too for sampling piping hot Creole snacks, such as samosas and boulettes (fried spiced meat or fish balls) or hakien (light pastry filled spring rolls). At the end of the day, musicians pour out a fusion of modern and Creole music to entertain foot-tapping locals and tourists in an undeniably tropical ambience.

Experiencing the great spectacle of Reunion takes a little effort but it is well worth it and whether you walk or drive there is something for everyone. From fine beaches on the west to inland Dante-esque panoramas of cloud clapped pinnacles and peaks, a trip to Reunion is a journey to a fantastic and unique lost world.

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