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Thursday, October 16th, 2008
Last Monday morning we made the half hour flight from Mauritius to Reunion and picked up our hire car, a cacky green Renault at the airport.
Reunion is similar in size to Mauritius with a smaller population, i.e. ~800,000 people living on an island 2,500 sq kms in area. The scenery is spectacular and the vegetation extremely diverse, yet in 2008, only 800 Australians visited. However there is a steady stream of European tourists mostly French - hiking is a big attraction.
We were a bit surprised to find the supermarket did not open until 12.30 p.m. While we waited for it to open we went for a drive up into the sugarcane fields. The road also passed a big wind farm.
After stocking up at the supermarket we drove to St Gillies a resort town with some similarities to the old Mandurah (sandy and scruffy). We had an afternoon nap and then set off on an exploratory drive. After Madagascar, the roads are excellent, although winding and narrow with incredibly deep gutters.
On Tuesday morning we left St Gilles at 7 heading for Le Maido, but due to difficulty in finding the correct road it was after 9 before we reached the view point looking over the Cirque de Mafate and the clouds were starting to come down.. It is certainly spectacular and I can understand why the runaway slaves chose to live on these isolated plateaux, but I am puzzled as to why today people still choose to live in areas which are only accessible by foot or on horseback.
After a picnic we set off on another white knuckle drive to Cilaos. Meeting a bus or a lorry on a hairpin bend, I find unnerving.
Cilaos is a pretty town in the shadow of Piton des Neiges, an extinct volcano more than 3000m in height. Our hotel, Le Vieux Cep has lovely gardens, an unusual mixture of English cottage garden and subtropical exuberance.
Cilaos was celebrating the Festival of the Lentils so there were Marching girls and bands and the usual range of market stalls, selling lentils of course and strawberries and good local wine. Incidentally nearly all the wine is drunk in Cilaos. It does not even make it to the coast.
Last Monday morning we made the half hour flight from Mauritius to Reunion and picked up our hire car, a cacky green Renault at the airport.
Reunion is similar in size to Mauritius with a smaller population, i.e. ~800,000 people living on an island 2,500 sq kms in area. The scenery is spectacular and the vegetation extremely diverse, yet in 2008, only 800 Australians visited. However there is a steady stream of European tourists mostly French - hiking is a big attraction.
We were a bit surprised to find the supermarket did not open until 12.30 p.m. While we waited for it to open we went for a drive up into the sugarcane fields. The road also passed a big wind farm.
After stocking up at the supermarket we drove to St Gillies a resort town with some similarities to the old Mandurah (sandy and scruffy). We had an afternoon nap and then set off on an exploratory drive. After Madagascar, the roads are excellent, although winding and narrow with incredibly deep gutters.
On Tuesday morning we left St Gilles at 7 heading for Le Maido, but due to difficulty in finding the correct road it was after 9 before we reached the view point looking over the Cirque de Mafate and the clouds were starting to come down.. It is certainly spectacular and I can understand why the runaway slaves chose to live on these isolated plateaux, but I am puzzled as to why today people still choose to live in areas which are only accessible by foot or on horseback.
After a picnic we set off on another white knuckle drive to Cilaos. Meeting a bus or a lorry on a hairpin bend, I find unnerving.
Cilaos is a pretty town in the shadow of Piton des Neiges, an extinct volcano more than 3000m in height. Our hotel, Le Vieux Cep has lovely gardens, an unusual mixture of English cottage garden and subtropical exuberance.
Cilaos was celebrating the Festival of the Lentils so there were Marching girls and bands and the usual range of market stalls, selling lentils of course and strawberries and good local wine. Incidentally nearly all the wine is drunk in Cilaos. It does not even make it to the coast.
View over the Cirque de Mafate
Another view of Cirque de Mafate. Even though runaway slaves found such inaccessible places to live, they were hunted and shot in the 1860s.
Looking down on a coastal settlement.
These bushes were growing around Le Maido lookout.
Pretty flowers.
Le Vieux Cep, our hotel in Cilaos.
Piton des Neiges broods over Cilaos.
Typical brightly painted wooden house with fretwork decoration. Note also the Bourbon rose on the right. They are reputed to have originated here in the early 19th century.
Fancy a haircut.
Catholic church in Cilaos.
Looking over Cilaos.
Bananas, coconuts and roses in the gardens at Le vieux Cep.
Marching girls at the Festival of Lentils in Cilaos.
New bridge under construction on the freeway, maybe it will relieve the incredible traffic snarls.
Those mountains are amazing!
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