Reunion is a fascinating
place.
And if you don't believe me, then perhaps you should read William
Dalrymple's book, the Age of Kali. It's just as he describes it in the
brief chapter he devotes to it. On the coast, it's like the French
Riviera. Chic shops full of the un-necessary tat that people buy when they
are on holiday, friendly restaruants serving (because Reunion is not just
French, but a part of France itself) good food and drinkable wine at
reasonable prices, beaches with windsurfers and bikini-clad girls topping up
their nearly all-over tans, and everyone driving like mad on the wrong (right)
side of the road.
Get away from all of this (and it's not difficult) and
there is another wonderful and more fascinating part of it. Three huge
extinct volcanos dominate the interior, rising to over 3000 metres (about 10,000
feet). Inside the vast craters of these three are surprisingly large areas
of steep, rugged wilderness country. Only two of the three are accessible
by road, to get to the mountain villages dotted around the third requires a
stout pair of boots and strong calves for the walk. All goods are carried
in by mule, or these days maybe by quad bikes or, for the wealthy, by
helicopter. And the roads that wind their way up and down and eventually
into the other two are dangerously spectacular. Apparently there are over
400 hairpin bends leading to the village of Cilaos where we stayed in a
very pretty hotel for a night; a figure that is easily beliveable.
20
kilometers took us a good hour of skillful and demanding driving, with our
already knackered minibus grinding upwards in low gear. But once there, it
was a wonderful place to be. Surrounded on all sides by very steep rocky
mountains, the air was fresh (at least during the morning; every day at around
lunch time, the cloud formed around the peaks, and by mid afternoon a rain
shower or two was normal). There were small vinyards, every kind of flower
you could imagine grew in abundance, from Birds of Paradise to thick clusters of
roses, and the evocative tang of wood-smoke took me straight back to 1978 and
the foot-hills of Nepal. To remind us that this is geologially still a
young land, in the South West corner of the island there is another volcano,
smaller than its older brothers but still active - spoiled by our volcano visit
in Tana (Vanuatu) we did not bother to go there, but there are many postcards
available to prove the claims!
Up in the hills the villages people either live the simple life of previous
generations, or they are well-to-do with second homes or they are providing for
the, hopefully expanding, tourist trade. Bicycles, quad bikes, microlite
flights and coach trips are readily available, and all are good value and
provide the spectacular views promised in the brochures. Politically,
the country is a department of France. It's not a Dependency like the
Marquesas or French Polynesia, with its own arcane rules and prohibitive
prices, it's a full-blown part of the EU. European faces are
commonplace, but they don't have the usual French hang-up about talking
English, and they are quite happy to assume that visitors may not be fluent in
French, to forgive them for it, and to exercise their own English on the
visitor. The Mayor of Le Port (an original name for the town around the
main port, don't you think?) told us that La Reunion hopes to be self-sufficient
in energy in 25 years time or so (how, one wonders. The present generation
of diesel generators will presumably be replaced mainly by hydro-electric plants
- there is no tide to speak of, and wind turbines cannot provide guaranteed
power). The island might well be nearly self-sufficient in food already -
it's wonderfully fertile and can produce every plant variety from tropical to
temporate. The policy is to attract more visitors to bring in currency,
but for some reason even the French find that Mauritius is cheaper to get
to and provides better value. But they are working very hard to
change this, and we enjoyed two great parties, with speeches from the local
mayor and other dignatories, and a royal welcome from the Harbour
Authorities, Customs and the Yacht Club.
If you sampled the World ARC crews you would be in no doubt of their
views. La Reunion wins hands down over Mauritius. It is much more
beautiful, much more interesting and a much better place for an extended
visit. It ranks up there with the best (Marquesas, Tuamotus and Vaunatu
for my money), and you'd better put it on your own list of must visit places
straight away!
Now en-route to Richards Bay, our first stop in South Africa. More to
follow on this, but we are all well and best wishes to everyone.
James, Chris and Alex
Yacht Cleone
As from
Le Port
La Reunion