Reunion Island, France in the Indian Ocean
https://en.reunion.fr/organize/accommodation/ (to book your gites - hikers' hostels)
A gem of a place with emerald woodlands, sapphire seas and jade mountains, Reunion Island is situated in the Indian Ocean next to Madagascar. The island is actually part of France and has all the mod cons of any European destination, combined with natural features of a tropical paradise including an active shield volcano, three large craters known as cirques that are fab for hiking in, and beautiful beaches and diving.
Check out our amazing video, and find out more below.
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Things to see
Hellbourg
Although it sounds like the scene of a satanic drama, this beautiful alpine village contains lovely French colonial houses with colourful gardens, boutique hotels and restaurants serving French wine and Creole curries, and lots of walks to mountain viewpoints where you can watch mist sweep up from verdant valleys and swirl round rugged cliffs.
Just outside town is the spectacular Bridal Veil Falls.
Longer walks
From Hellbourg there are heaps of longer walks you can do, from long day walks to multi-day walks. The larger town of Salazie, a few kilometres away, has a good tourist office with lots of maps and advice on walks you can do.
One walk goes from Hellbourg to Gite de Belouve (a hikers' hut with a car park) and from there to Trou de Fer, a lovely bird-filled walk through woodlands to a waterfall. Apparently this can be done as a very long day walk (12 hours return) but we were short of time and drove to Gite de Belouve, from where we walked to Trou de Fer. It took us about 4 hours to do the 8-kilometre return walk as we were so entranced by the bird life. I daresay it would take even longer to do the first leg if you are a wildlife enthusiast, so if you want to hike the whole way, stay overnight in Gite de Belouve and take your time. It's a beautiful part of the planet and worth it. Remember, though, to book the gite in advance and check it's open. This can be done in the Salazie visitors' office.
Our video shows you the birdlife and the walk to Trou de Fer, plus the amazing panther chameleon we saw on the way.
Col de Boeufs
This viewpoint about 30 kilometres from Hellbourg is the start of several walks into the Cirque de Salazie and Cirque de Mafate as it is situated on a pass between the two. It is possible to leave your car here for two or three days (for a fee) in the guarded car park and do one of the many spectacular walks into the two cirques, staying at gites (hostels) in the tiny villages. Remember you are in France and few people in the villages speak English, so brush up on la francaise avant departir.
We did a day walk to La Nouvelle, a gorgeous walk down 500 metres into a valley with many birds including the endemic Reunion stonechat. In La Nouvelle, there is a little outdoor café from where you can have a coffee and a snack as you stare up the mountain you have descended and the tamarind woodlands though which you have wound before making the return trip. It's about a 14-kilometre return walk.
There are many other walks you can do including a 4-day return walk with the walk to La Nouvelle as day 1 (there are gites in La Nouvelle) and through the valley to another remote village, Roche-Plate, where you stay the night of day 2. You the go back to La Nouvelle via an altermative route on day 3 and get back to Col de Boeufs on day 4.
Be aware that although Reunion is little known outside France, it is the favourite French tourist destination and due to Reunion's lovely climate and its reputation as a hiking destination, it is busy at any time of year. Book gites before leaving your home country at https://en.reunion.fr/organize/accommodation/
If you are more a driver than a walker, you can just drive up to Col de Boeufs via the Bridal Veil Falls, gawk at the fab scenery, then drive back to Hellbourg for wine and dinner.
Piton de la Fournaise (the volcano)
Reunion's active shield volcano, Piton de la Fournaise, is very accessible. You can stay in Bourg Marat, the nearby town, which has a very good museum with interactive displays including videos and photos of eruptions (the last one was in 2007) and many comfortable accommodation possibilities. There are hiking and horse riding options to and around the volcano from here, or simply drive on the all-weather route to the Pas de Bellecombe and watch the volcano from there.
If you want a walk, do what we do and stay the night at the Gite de Fournaise situated near the start of the 14-kilometre return hike to the volcano. Remember to book in advance.
This gite offers accommodation in four-bunk dorms, and excellent meals though only cold water for washing. There is a hot-water shower you need to pay for.
Some thought goes into who you are bunked with. Matt and I shared a dorm with a lovely German couple who spoke perfect English. The other visitors were French, and everyone was very friendly.
Walk to the volcano
From the gite, we did the 14-kilometre walk to the volcano. I have to be honest and say it was disappointing. The interesting larval scenery was littered with used toilet paper (there are no toilet facilities on the walk) and faecal matter, and the volcano itself was inactive - just a crater with nothing to show for itself. It is a very popular, crowded and noisy walk.
Having said that, I would advise everyone to follow the latest advice and judge for themselves what to do. Circumstances continually change. I also think our expectations were high: we thought, given the volcano was described as active, there would be smoke and bubbling mood at least if not molten lava. If you have no expectations, you will probably enjoy the walk and get a kick out of the cool lava formations.
Our amazing video will show you what we saw on our walk
Grand Bassin
Near the volcano is the valley of Grand Bassin, a beautiful valley with a rushing river, a gorgeous waterfall with a natural swimming pool and a village with gites and boutique hotels. Some people stay in the village for days just blissing out and doing gorgeous walks around and about. We only had a day so did a day walk into the valley, descending and ascending 600 metres. It was gorgeous. Our amazing video will show you what we saw on our walk
There are plenty of places to stay around the entrance to Grand Bassin. We stayed in a lovely farmhouse with comfortable motel-style rooms and a central home serving out-of-this-world breakfasts and dinners round a communal table. If you speak French, you can have a great time getting to know French locals and tourists who will be very tolerant of your less than perfect language skills.
Cilaos
Cilaos is a dramatic windy drive from St Denis, Reunion's capital, to a pleasant resort town with mind-blowing scenery - Piton des Neiges (mountain of the snows) towers above it at 3070 metres. Cilaos is obviously therefore the gateway to climbing the mountain and there are heaps of tourist places in the town to help you do that.
Gateway into the Cirque de Cilaos, this town also offers lots of shorter walks like the 3-hour return walk to the top of Le Bras Rouges waterfall which we did: recommended.
The town is purely a hikers', canyoners' and adventure travellers' place: there are no banks so ensure you have funds before you go. There are heaps of hiking, rock climbing and canyoning opportunities.
For the more cultured, Cilaos brews its own wine. There is also the studio of Philippe Turpin and the Maison de la Broderie to explore.
Grande Broulee and the coast
South from Cilaos, there is La Grande Broulee, the overflow from the volcano when it erupts. When we were there, it was just a field of black lava but at other times it can be quite dramatic. It's still worth seeing to the extent in which the lava dwarves the natural vegetation and engulfs the landscape.
South of La Grande Broulee, the wild coastline predominates. Sea mudskippers with purple eyes and striped bodies climb algae-covered rocks while village weaver birds fly among cultured parklands and tourists picnic and dine. We had a very nice seafood lunch at a café here.
Beaches, resorts, snorkelling and diving
In and around St Denis, Reunion's capital, there are many snorkelling and diving spots, and beach resorts. Reunion has a good reputation for big pelagics, so if that's your focus, go for it. Or if you want a nice snorkel, check out the many travel agencies in St Denis.
Wildlife we saw
Here is information about some of the amazing wildlife we saw in Reunion.
Reunion stonechat Saxicola tectes
Endemic to Reunion, Reunion stonechats are insect eaters. The pretty males and females are similar, though males are more brightly coloured than females. The male is featured on our amazing video.
Panther chameleon Furcifer pardalis
Introduced from Madagascar, this brightly-coloured chameleon has protruding eyes that can swivel 360 degrees and can exhibit a massive array of colours. When we saw him/her, they were green, yellow and red. See our amazing video.
Southern grey-headed sparrow Passer diffuses
This gorgeous sparrow's habitat is very wide, being distributed throughout Southern Africa. It's a resilient and attractive bird.
Some sort of coastal mudskipper
This creature blew our minds when we were admiring the wild coastal scenery and they crawled up an algae-smeared rock. Purple-eyed with striped bodies and side fins, these creatures look like cute creatures from another planet. See the photo opposite.
Village weaver Ploceus cucullatus
This resilient bird is the sparrow or mynah bird of Africa. It is found throughout Africa and the Indian Ocean islands.
Common waxbill Estrilda astrild
This African bird is found throughout Africa and the Indian Ocean, especially around lakes and in open areas.
African stone chat Saxicola torquatus
This African bird is found throughout Africa and the Indian Ocean.
Getting there
Air Austral (Reunion Airline) and Air France between them enable visitors from practically anywhere in the world to visit Reunion. For information on Air Austral gateways, see our page on Madagascar, Part 1.
Do you have questions or comments about this article? Email maddestinations@gmail.com or leave a comment under the video.
