What a surprise today was. We arrived at Reunion early morning and had a ship excursion to see the volcano on this island. We didn’t think it would be a very good port or excursion, but as a French territory, it was very expensive to do anything on our own, so we signed up with the ship. All of it was fantastic.
We knew nothing about Reunion before coming, and on our tour learned a lot from our tour guide – Jean Paul. He spoke English pretty well, but with a very French accent. So, here is some of the background of this island.
It is part of the Mascarene Archipelago made up of 3 islands – Mauritius, Rodrigues, and Reunion – in the Indian Ocean off Madagascar. Reunion was formed by an ancient volcano. One of its two main volcanoes, Piton de la Fournaise, is still active. The other, Piton des Neiges, last erupted about 20,000 years ago, but it forms the main part of the island.
Reunion was first discovered by the Portuguese, but they didn’t stay because they found nothing on the island – no riches, etc. and it was too distant. 120 years later in 1649 the French took over the island, but still no one inhabited it. Several groups of settlers later came but not until 1715 when coffee trees were found on the island did people really settle this island. This also brought slavery to the island for the first time since the coffee plantations needed cheap labor. So, for the first time the island people experienced discrimination. During the 1800s, Reunion went through a bad period with the island becoming very poor with bad living conditions. In 1946 it was the poorest French colony (Madagascar was the richest.) People were illiterate, life expectancy was 47 years, and 1/5 of the children didn’t reach the age of 5. Around 1973 the French decided to invest money into this island and it experienced a rapid development.
Today, it is the richest of Indian Ocean islands (Madagascar one of the poorest!) One of their biggest imports (after food) is new cars. Ironically, one of their largest exports is also cars. But the people of Reunion will only buy new cars, so there is no market on the island for used cars. Thus, they are exported to Madagascar where they can sell their used products! Life expectancy is now 84 for women and 79 for men. They are a protectorate of France and have representatives in the parliament in Paris. About 800,000 people live on this island which is a little smaller than Rhode Island. Almost everyone speaks French (some Creole is still spoken, but it is dying out as more people become educated.)
The best part of this island is its natural beauty – mainly its dramatic mountain country. There are two major mountain zones – one covers 2/3 of the island’s western half.
The highest peak is Piton des Neiges at 10,066 feet.
Surrounding it are three immense amphitheartres: the cirques of Cilaos, Mafate, and Salazie. These long, wide, deep hollows are sheer-walled canyons filled with convoluted peaks and valleys, the eroded remnants of the ancient volcanic shield that surrounded Piton des Neiges. Piton de la Fournaise, the still active volcano, erupted 5 times in 2007, 3 times in 2008 and 2009, and in 2010 there has been one eruption in January.
We started our journey around this island at the port where our ship docked – Le Port (which is on the north west part of the island). We headed south down the western coast where they have their best beaches and best weather. We passed through the town of St. Paul, which was the first village founded on the island. We continued to St. Gilles-les-Bains, which is where their main resorts are located. Continuing through St.-Leu we made our first stop at Etang-Sale to see the rocky outcrop overlooking the bay. There was also a very small cemetery there.
On the way to St.-Louis we passed one of the only two remaining sugar factories on the island. They grow a lot of sugar cane on the island for export. St- Louis is made up of many religions and all seem to get along very well: Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists.
At the small town of St.-Pierre, we left the coastline and headed north into the interior of the island. The next town we passed through was Le Tampon – the 4th largest on the island. Because it was high up in the mountains, it seemed to be on many levels.
From there we drove on a very curvy road until we came to a different landscape. The area is known as La Plaine des Cafres and it was here that many black people lived – mainly slaves who had escaped. (Cafre means black person) It was like a big plain, only high up on the mountain.
Now 6,000 people live here as well as about 7,000 cows!
We stopped here for a much needed bathroom break. The air was much cooler than where we had been previously.
At the very small town of Bourg-Murat, we turned west toward the volcano. It rains a lot in this area, se we went through the most lovely green forest. Japanese pines were imported and thrive in this area. It’s a favorite picnic spot for the locals and lots of little wooden tables are under the trees.
Our next stop was Le Nez de Boeuf (the nose of the ox) and I have no idea how it got its name. There is a very deep, lush, green valley here that was beautiful.
The green is VERY green and looks almost like velvet.
In contrast to this lovely green, we then proceeded to the Plaine des Sables (sands.) This area is over is over 7,000 years old and is the result of the Piton de la Fournaise’s 2nd eruption. This new caldera was made.
Because of the intense sun and winds, no vegetation can grow here.
To get to the volcano, we had to drive some of the most windy roads yet. I don’t see how the buses can make those turns!
Some basic info about Piton de la Fournaise:
1) piton means volcano
2) it is over 480,000 years old
3)it has had 3 stages of activity and is now in its 4th.
4)originally 6,900 ft high; now 7,908 ft high
5)the caldera we will see today was formed 5,000 years ago and is in the shape of a horseshoe.
Looking at highest peak of volcano and lava floor from viewing area.
To the left of the main peak is the edge of the caldero and floor.
This is a close up of what was on the floor in front of the volcano’s peak.
After leaving the volcano area, we had to drive down the same windy roads to get back to the little town of Bourg-Murat for lunch at a restaurant for tourists. It was supposed to be a creole meal, but it was not very good and not what we thought creole would be. We had a rum/fruit juice drink followed by wine and a cheese/veggie/ham dish. Then we were served rice with lentils, fish pieces, and the worst part of cut up chicken pieces. Dessert was a dry piece of pound cake with a little sauce on the side.
After lunch we continued north through La Plaine des Palmistes with lots of palm trees and plants.
Then we arrived back at the coast by the town of St.-Benoit and continued up the coastline past the little towns of Bras-Panon, St.–Andre, Ste. Suzanne, and Ste.-Marie on the northern coast.
St.-Denis is the capital of this island. It is hard to believe driving through this large and built up city that just 60 years ago there were only straw huts and everyone spoke creole.
With its modern, but not very beautiful buildings, and with French making the creole language almost extinct on this island, it is the most important French town overseas.
It was a fun, long day and we saw so much of this beautiful island. Our guide made it even more delightful with his French accent and humor. We were almost the last bus to make it back to the ship before it left port!
After dinner in the dining room, and sharing stories about each of our day’s trips, I went to hear the guitarist, Chris Nicholson. He is from London and studied in Spain. He was very good and his Spanish music was the best. It was worth staying up for.
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