Point des Galets, Reunion Island – March 26
Réunion is an overseas department and region of France and
an island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar and 109 mi southwest of
Mauritius. Paris is the capital of
Reunion Island.
It was our first visit here and I booked a tour with
Heloise at Experience Reunion.
This port was the most difficult one that I set up. Hard to
find operators and then due to a typo by 1 day, the tour guide scheduled
someone else from our cruise ship on the correct day. (normally, they would
contact you to verify the date) She agreed to do the tour if we would include
the other couple. I contacted them, and they were fine with joining our group.
Then, there was miscommunication on vehicle size by the
tour operator. I had set up 2 vehicles and now needed a third which she didn’t
have. I started emailing other vendors and one was her under a different name
and she emailed me why I was doing that. I said that we did want our original
vehicles, but I needed one more. She put me in contact with another company
with Patrick at Escapade Reunion. He agreed to set up a 3rd vehicle
and not take a down payment since Heloise didn’t require one. All of the
vehicles held different amounts of people, and they wouldn’t adjust the cost
per person to be the same for all of us. So, I asked if we could split into 4
vehicles with equal amounts in each and Patrick was able to add a 4th
car and the group agreed they didn’t mind paying a bit more to have fewer
people in each car. I swear I had more back and forth emails on this port than
all the rest combined.
Then, right before leaving on the cruise, Patrick proposed
we do a picnic instead of a restaurant and he wanted payment for that in full
up front. Oh, and while we are paying that we should just pay for the tour and
the picnic at the same time. I said then we would go back to going to a
restaurant. Patrick agreed that we could pay for all of it on the day.
Today we were joined by Kris & Andrea, Bob &
Phyllis, Harriet & Charley, Sultan & Lou, Horst & Mark, Stacey
& Wally, John & Toni, Victoria & Greg, Tim & Liz, Cathy &
Tom, Tina & Ken.
The group gathered in the Casino Lounge and I got everyone
accounted for and explained that lunch was not “optional” since they had
pre-arranged and prepared the picnic. (everyone had agreed to the option up
front, but experience has told me that people will “not eat” or choose to share
to only pay for one) I explained we will do an ATM stop to get euros for those
that needed them. Also, checked to make sure everyone had their passports with
them since it was required to carry them here.
We went ashore and got right on the shuttle to take us to
the terminal to meet our guides. Since, it all went so smoothly we were early,
but Heloise and Patrice were there just a bit later. The other 2 cars &
guides came just a short time later. Heloise wanted to collect the money for
the picnic right away, so she could give it to Patrick. I gathered that and
then we were on our way.
We had a nice sunny day which was a pleasant surprise after
the weather we had the day before. We made a stop before going to the volcano
to use the ATM and the restrooms. What a beautiful island!
view through the windshield
ATM stop
House Sparrow
We stopped at various viewpoints on the way to Piton de la
Fournaise. The weather was perfect as we
were able to see the very top of the highest point which she says doesn’t
always happen. We stopped at "Nez de Boeuf", to see over
"Riviere des Ramparts", "Pas des Sables" to see over
"Plaine des Sables", and finally "Pas de Bellecombe" to see
Piton de la Fournaise.
windy road to the volcano at first viewpoint
drone over the gorge
female Stonechat
The was interesting to see the change in vegetation on the
drive to the volcano. There were lots of beautiful flowers in yellows, purples
and blues. There were forests of tree ferns. Then, right before it really
changed Heloise asked if we were up to playing a game. Uncertain, we agreed.
She said close your eyes, now look right. When I count down open your eyes. She
counted down 4, 3, 2, 1 and open! It was right at the moment when the terrain
turned to what looked like a lunar landscape with volcanic lava. We drove
through the area past the sage green & scrubby looking vegetation over a
bit of rough road.
3rd viewpoint
Heloise
There were restrooms and a snack bar called Relais de
Bellecombe at an altitude of 2354 meters. We checked out the view of the
volcanic cone. There was quite a long area to walk along to get different views.
Greg got us a soda and a chocolate croissant which was heavenly. We ran into a
Princess tour there and said hi to quite a few people that we knew. Dwain took
a photo of us in front of the snack bar.
Relais de Bellecombe altitude 2354 meters (Dwain took our photo)
Kris enjoying the volcano
We then drove to the site where we would have our picnic.
It was overlooking a large gorge with a waterfall towards the bottom. There
were tents set up and we were served home-made punch (alcoholic) and plain
punch and samosas. They had 3 different kinds including vegetarian, tuna and
pork.
snack bar
Tropicbird
Reunion Harrier
Then, they brought out woven plates covered with a banana
leaf. They served us their local dish of cari with a side of rice with beans.
The cari was a pork sausage. (they also make the dish with fish or chicken as
well) All of it was really good. (the vegetarian didn’t seem to be happy with
it)
picnic
The chef made the dessert right in front of us. He mashed
bananas, added eggs and flour and maybe some other stuff I might have missed.
Then, he dropped them by spoonfulls into hot oil and out came these delightful
banana fritters. I ate a ton of them. We all said that the only thing that
would have made the better would have been powdered sugar. They made tons of
them. They wanted us to take some back to the ship, so a couple of us took
them. (made them feel good) Patrick was there and introduced himself (he found
the other 2 guides & cars). He explained that he didn’t speak very much
English. I thanked him for everything and for planning the picnic.
making banana fritters
banana fritters
It was a great time and we hung out quite a while just
chatting. The view was gorgeous, and Greg saw a lot of Tropicbirds and a couple
of hawks flying over the gorge.
Finally, it was time to leave and we all went to visit the handicrafts
market in St Pierre. What a great market. Heloise explained that most of their
handicrafts were made in Madagascar, but a few local artists have set up their
items. Just the kind of shopping I like. I got my token magnet and a cute cloth
round box (to hold jewelry) and a cute little purse (made in Madagascar) but it
was colorful (oranges and teals) with a lizard and Ile de la Reunion
embroidered on it. (all totaled about 7 euro)
handicrafts market in St Pierre
me on the right
I was worried about the large group and the 4 cars
following each other, but it turned out really well. The cars stayed together
and we all seemed to arrive at the same time and the groups stayed together
nicely. I attribute most of it to Heloise for coordinating it all so well. I
would highly recommend her and her colleagues if you are visiting this lovely
island. Heloise truly loves what she does, and it shows. I thanked her
profusely for all the back and forth with the emails and for organizing such a
great day.
We drove back to the port and everyone was soaking up the
free WIFI. Greg went back an got my iPad so I could update a couple of my
games. We weren’t getting strong phone signals. so I wasn’t able to finish
uploading my photos as planned. I’m holding out hope for Cape Town since we’ll
be there 3 nights.
After a quick bite to eat upstairs, we went to the
folkloric show which was a Traditional Maloya Showcase. Not as “good” as the
one last night, but it was still fun to watch. They played a lot of different
types of drums, the triangle and whatever the one is that sounds like the ocean
as it is shaken back and forth. There was a young lady dressed in more
traditional dress than the older lady that seemed to be in charge. They only
spoke French so that was interesting. They also played for over an hour. There
was a young teen boy that danced really well.
Now, we have 3 sea days before we reach Durban, South
Africa where we leave the ship for a short safari and return the first evening
in Cape Town.
