My longest passage so far has been 18 days and my shortest is 14; it was strange to arrive in a new country after a quick 24 hours. The town seen here, set so beautifully between two canyons, is St. Joseph.
Although the swells large, the wind strong, and the entrance to St. Pierre harbor tricky, thankfully we arrived safely, unlike this poor vessel.
This is Rue Des Bons Enfants (Good Children Road) the main shopping district in St. Pierre.
After spending many hours prepping the boat for this next passage, we were able to be tourists. Here I'm sitting in front of Piton De La Fournaise, one of the most active volcanos in the world.
Of course we aren't just going to sit by the volcano, we have to hike down into it! Unfortunately, the trail to the crater rim was closed due to dangerous conditions resulting from the last major eruption in April. In this picture Hugh is top left, then from clockwise Stephane, Pascale, and Lauren. Stephane lives in Réunion but we met him through a mutual friend in Mauritius while he was there on holiday.
Lauren, Pascale, and I having sundowners on the boat. We were only able to spend a few days with them as they were leaving for Madagascar for a three-week holiday...and you thought we wanted to go there to escape nasty weather ;)
John, Patricia, Hugh and I rented a car and laced our way through over 200 hairpin curves to get to Cilaos, a beautiful town set in the crater of Cirque de Cilaos. I was nominated to drive our tiny Fiat Panda, I forgot just how stressful driving is! It's not natural!
This is the village of Grand Bassin; the only way in or out is by foot or helicopter. The parallel lines that disappear into the woods are support cables for their supply cart that travels up and down twice per day.
This is the backyard view of St. Joseph. Rivière des Ramparts has cut the canyons on which the town is nestled between.
Voile de la Mariée Falls, the equivalent of our Bridal Veil Falls in the Columbia River Gorge.
Stephane told us stories about a mystical place established by a runaway slave and sorcerer, where there are no roads, is populated by 650 people who live off the land, where many of the residents have never seen a car, and tourists have gone missing or have been found murdered. Please Stephane! We want to go there! So we did; Hugh, Stephane and I spent two days hiking into and around Cirque de Mafate.
This is just one of the many fairy tale views we found on our hike.
After two hours and 1500 vertical feet we finally arrived in La Nouvelle, the largest village in Cirque de Mafate. What the land can't provide is delivered by helicopter. The post man hikes in and out everyday and wears through a pair of shoes every year.
This is the gîte where we stayed the night. Gîtes are special places where the owners prepare amazing meals for their guests from their own gardens and animal stocks.
After a great nights sleep we woke the next morning to hike to Les Trois Roches, a waterfall that buries itself so deep in the rocks it's impossible to see the bottom without falling in.
Overall La Réunion Island is full of friendly people and beautiful mountain sights. If you come to visit you need at least two weeks exploring the interior and don't waste your time at the beaches, just volunteer to crew on a boat leaving for Mauritius if you want the best of both beach and mountain. Better yet, just wait for me to get my own boat and we'll sail together to these places.
