It was a short hop by plane to go from Mauritius to La Reunion. We spent two weeks in Reunion island. During this time, we had a chance to climb the Piton des Neiges with my sister and husband. We explored the west coast, climbed the Piton de la Fournaise which is a very active volcano that had erupted a few weeks before our arrival. We also reached the east coast and explored some lava tunnels. These were truly impressive.
La Reunion is quite different from Mauritius. Mauritius has white coral sand beaches surrounding almost the entire island, while Reunion has only a few. We really enjoyed the interior of Reunion as it is absolutely amazing with the "cirque de Cilaos, cirque de Mafatte and cirque de Salazie". Hiking here is difficult but truly rewarding.
La Reunion seems to attract mostly french tourists. The food is a mixture of french, creole with indian influence. The "cari/curry" is THE local dish that comes with different meats and flavors.
We were there in March, the hottest month of the year. Humidity level was at its max as well. This made it a little hard for us to travel and visit the island during the day. Oh my, did we sweat! We kept diving into the swimming pool at "home" as often as we possibly could :))
St Denis, the largest city with its old creole houses
St Paul
Oh, delicious papayas!
Hot, hot, hot
Driving to the small town of Cilaos to climb the Piton des Neiges
Guesthouse where we stayed
The famous "lentilles de Cilaos"...in our plate!
High up with a view on Cilaos
We made it to the refuge!
Next morning, we started in the dark (therefore no pictures of the start) and had a chance to see the sun rise
Very cold and windy up here early in the morning
Back to civilization
Boat trip around St Gilles
Remember, Reunion is a french island.....croissants and pains au chocolat have been served!
Beautiful clear water
Dolphins swimming around the boat
"We don't stop hiking because we grow old -
we grow old because we stop hiking"
Finis Mitchell
(American mountaineer)
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