La Reunion Tourismo
04 October 2015
There is so much here and so much dependent on the weather. The island is dominated by two big things: one is the three Cirques (Cilaos, Mafate and Salazie) which are joined at the 3071 metres Piton des Neiges; and the other is La Fournaise, the active volcano. The latter started erupting again about six weeks ago, so having become lava junkies this was a must-see.
This is not to say that other parts of the island are not interesting but the 4 million years old original volcano that has become the three cirques almost defines the island. The weather then defines what you can see and where you go and when. Basically if you want to be in the mountains, start early as the clouds fill in by 0800-1000
The island is a hiker’s paradise and you can only visit Cirque du Mafate on foot or by helicopter. However, since the roads into the two other cirques are tortuous and steep (there are over 400 bends in the road to reach the village of Cilaos) we decided that a couple of overnight stays would be in order.
So, our first week of tourismo has been mostly reconnaissance for our overnights. First to Cilaos, then a drive to Dos d’Ane for a 2 hours walk along the precipitous edge of Cirque du Mafate followed by icecream cocktails at Igloo in St Denis (a must visit). Next up was an early morning trip to Piton Maido, arriving at 0800 just in time for the clouds to fill in, but then we checked out St Pierre which has a small marina but it is full, and a trip over La Plaine de Palmistes which was covered in cloud.