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British Mensa Travel Special Interest Group |
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of Réunion Réunion is the most amazing island. Situated in the Indian Ocean, just 100 miles to the south west of Mauritius, it really isn't that difficult to reach and yet the chances of meeting anyone from the UK are very small. It seems the British all go to Mauritius whereas Réunion is visited almost exclusively by the French. This is probably not all that surprising. To all intents and purposes, Réunion is an extension of France - there can't be too many places in the Southern Hemisphere where the local currency is the Euro! Curiously, I occasionally heard English spoken as I travelled around the island, but it was a rather strange dialect. Inevitably it turned out to be Germans, who seem to have discovered Réunion rather sooner than the British. Those Germans who spoke no French discovered that the Réunion islanders generally speak no German, so communication was in their own versions of pidgin English. However, even pidgin English is far from being widely spoken and a knowledge of French is really useful to make the most of a visit. My wife and I arrived on Réunion via Mauritius, although it is usually cheaper to travel from the UK via Paris. The first surprise was at Passport Control where only the front cover of an EC passport is normally examined - just like on a visit to France. In fact the feeling of being in France never really goes away at all, but then neither does the feeling of being in the tropics. Officially, Réunion is an overseas département of France and there are constant references throughout the island to 'La Métropole', actually meaning mainland France. Our first night on Réunion had to be spent in the capital city, Saint-Denis. Only the die-hard sun worshippers who interest themselves solely in the beach would miss Saint-Denis. It is not a particularly beautiful city but needs to be visited if only to appreciate fully the contrast between this busy centre, teeming with people, and the incredibly beautiful and often solitary interior of the island. A walk around the city streets was a pleasurable experience, the diversity of the shops matched only by the diversity of the population, being drawn from the African and Asian continents as well as Europe. On the waterfront of Saint-Denis lies Le Barachois, where ancient cannons still look out to sea in search of invaders. Very much the place to see and be seen, the whole area comes to life in the early evening when the crowds gather to eat, drink or simply watch the sun set. A hire car is absolutely essential on Réunion in order to get around. Although the public transport system is very good, many of the sights are in quite out of the way places and can take a while to reach without your own means of travel. Luckily the local inhabitants on the whole drive quite sensibly - certainly they have nothing in common with the Parisians as far as that particular Gallic trait is concerned. I have to say, it took quite some time to find our way out of Saint-Denis. The instructions from the receptionist at our hotel sounded quite straightforward - head down to the sea as the main road around the island is always close to the sea. Unfortunately our hotel was in a one way street, which meant that we had to start off in completely the wrong direction. After that it seemed that every time we turned towards the sea we came upon a dead end or a diversion around road works which always blocked our route and sent us off the wrong way once more. However, as promised, once we actually reached the sea front all went without further hitch. The interior of Réunion consists of three main 'cirques', the literal translation of which is not terribly helpful but they are probably best described as mountainous or areas of high elevation. Once out of Saint-Denis we headed for the cirque of Salazie, the rainiest and therefore the greenest of the cirques. One of the greatest things about Réunion is the number of delightful spots that you come accross almost accidentally. Places which you would expect to be heralded by vast publicity and numerous signposts seem to remain almost unnoticed. One such example we found just off the main coast road before turning inland to Salazie. A spectacularly colourful Hindu Temple stands beside the road, not usually even open to the public. There is a small shop nearby but nothing really to exploit the tourism potential. I am sure that no tourist ever drives past without stopping and wishing they could go inside. Réunion has an abundance of beautiful waterfalls. Nothing to match Niagara or the Victoria Falls of course but all of them special in their own way. Although found throughout the island, the mountainous area of Salazie has the highest concentration. Sometimes you can come across one quite unexpectedly. An official road sign warning of 'Pisse en l'air' may be easily understood by anyone with the most rudimentary knowledge of French, but it cannot begin to prepare you for the deluge of water which will fall suddenly upon the roof of your car as you drive under an overhanging rock. It is certainly no time to be caught with the sun roof open! The most celebrated waterfall of Salazie is the 'Voile de la Mariée' (Bridal Veil), which is to be found just a short drive on from Salazie village. Amazingly, it is not signposted at all and even though it is very high and easily visible from the road, it can be surprisingly easy to drive straight past without seeing it, as I can testify from experience. Our next port of call could not have been a greater contrast to the lush greenery of Salazie. In the South East corner of Réunion can be found probably the most easily accessible active volcano in the world. Most people would not put an active volcano at the top of their list for places to visit at ground level, but this must be the exception. Even though there have been several eruptions over the last couple of years, it is quite rare for these eruptions to be any cause for concern, the lava simply flowing harmlessly away. Known locally as Piton de la Fournaise, the volcano has many reasons for being memorable to all visitors, none of these reasons having anything to do with danger. From the village of Bourg-Murat, where a fascinating volcano museum is located, the 45 minute drive to the volcano's very own car park is an experience in itself. After gaining height and negotiating some tight hairpin bends, we suddenly reached a breathtaking viewpoint. Stretched out beneath us, seemingly for miles ahead, lay the Plaine des Sables - what can only be described as a lunar landscape - and the road to the volcano crosses right through the middle of it. Momentarily it is quite difficult to imagine that this is the same island, so far removed is the landscape from anything previously encountered. At the end of the road we reached the car park and walked over to the best vantage point for the volcano. We were fortunate - we just managed to see the volcano before the clouds came down and it disappeared behind a wall of mist. This is a problem which can often be encountered on Réunion. The views in the higher parts of the island sometimes disappear altogether. The only way to be sure to see them at their best is to rise early every morning and arrive before the clouds descend for the day. Although the volcano can usually be seen clearly from the car park - at least early in the morning - it is quite possible to reach the actual rim of the crater and every day there are many people who do exactly that. It has to be said though that this is only for those with plenty of time and energy. The walk from the car park to the volcano rim and back takes in the region of 6 hours and should only be undertaken before there is any chance of the clouds descending. Needless to say, it is also essential to check that there is no eruption expected during the visit. No volcano is that safe. Tempting as it was to undertake the walk, we had arrived too late in the morning, did not have sufficient time and there are those who would say that we definitely did not have sufficient energy either. The second of the three cirques is Cilaos and in order to reach there we had to descend once more to the coast and climb back into the mountains by a different route - and what a route it is. For the whole drive from the coast to Cilaos, the scenery is quite stunning. Spare a thought for the poor driver though - it is such an arduous drive that there is little opportunity to admire the scenery. It is said that the road to Cilaos has over 400 bends, many of them hairpins which are both steep and narrow, often with a sheer drop to one side. Never have I spent so much of a journey driving in first gear. But to add to the frustration, the locals are so used to it that they whizz along at a fair old rate trying to intimidate the tourists, usually successfully, into pulling over and letting them pass. However, I can confirm the feeling of exhilaration when the climb is finally completed - and somehow it seems much easier on the way back down. It is hard to imagine how such an isolated spot ever became inhabited in the first place, but Cilaos is a thriving small town, certainly much more than a village. Originally this was a spa town and visitors came from far and wide to take the waters. Nowadays it is much more famous for its intricate hand made embroidery. There is even an embroidery museum to show off many examples of the local handiwork. The third cirque is called Mafate and, yes, sure enough, to reach it necessitates another descent to the coast and yet another climb by another road. At least this drive is not quite so onerous. The best viewpoint of Mafate is a mile above sea level just 30 minutes drive away from the main beach resort of Saint-Gilles-les-Bains. The area is renowned for its walking trails. In fact the interior of Réunion has many such trails and guided treks through the mountains are on offer for any hardy souls who cannot bear to relax by the beach. Happily we do not suffer from this affliction, so the only place to round off our trip was the aforementioned beach resort. Well, if you are an island in the Indian Ocean and you count tourism as one of your main income earners, you have to have a beach resort. On Réunion it is based around the town of Saint-Gilles-les-Bains. And a very pleasant beach resort it is too! Miles of white sandy beach, cheap hotels, expensive hotels, although strangely 4 star is the top level of luxury at present. The town itself has a beach and plenty of shops and eateries. All the hotels are outside the town however and only some are actually alongside a beach. All in all though, the perfect place to relax after exploring the island. It seems quite strange to experience European standards on an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Certainly Réunion deserves its reputation as a little bit of France in the tropics. But the flavours and traditions of other continents have influenced the island greatly. For example, the official language may be French but you are more likely to hear the local inhabitants converse in Créole, a mixture of French, African and Asian languages. This is an
island of contrasts, a mixture of the familiar and the unusual. The French
have kept Réunion as a closely-guarded secret for far too long. |