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After a nice Xmas eve at Johan & Petra's we left Mauritius on 25 December for Reunion. The flight is very short, basically you take of and then land! All it takes is 25 minutes!

Reunion is French territory, it is in fact France. The tiny island sends 5 MPs to Paris!

We stayed in the South of the island, the first 3 days in Le Tampon at a local B&B called 'Fleur de Vanille', then at a hotel in the village of 'Entre-Deux' dominated by the Dimitile mountain range.

The closest town is Saint Pierre, called the capital of the South (about 70,000 inhabitants).
One of the few beaches of Reunion is there, protected from the heavy waters of the Indian Ocean by a coral reef. St Pierre is very animated, especially at night with its many bars and restaurants. It is very popular with Réunionnais holiday makers who prefer it to glitzy St Gilles where the French like to go.
The first day we wandered around in St Pierre and relaxed at the B&B where we had dinner at the 'table d'hôtes'.

On the 27th we left early as we wanted to conquer the famous volcano 'Piton de la Fournaise', the most recent eruption of which was in November 2010. There was a major eruption in April 2007 when the lava flow reached the sea.
We decided to hike around the summit of the great crater to a point called 'Nez Coupe de Ste Rose'. Although demanding, it was a fantastic 3 hour hike.

The next day we took it easier and visited a Vanilla plantation where they also had botanical gardens with an extensive range of plants and herbs. The guided tour lasted 1 and a half hour. It was a great tour and today the pollination of the vanilla flower has no secret for us anymore.
On the way back we had lunch at a place called 'Le Baril', along the coast. We liked the place so much that we decided to come back and celebrated new years' eve there.

The next day (29th) we decided to climb the Dimitile mountain which was teasing us since our arrival at the hotel in Entre-deux. It was a strenuous hike, in fact a steep climb of about 2 hours. From the top we had a fantastic view on the Cirque the Cilaos. Close to the top there is a refuge where we asked if we could have a bite. We were welcomed by Valmir and Marie-Jo who proposed us to stay for lunch. Other people were joining in, we ended up being about 25 people. The lunch was fantastic, Valmir and Marie-Jo being experts in cooking and in welcoming people. When Valmir took his accordeon or guitar, we all joined in the singing. A totally unplanned but marvelous experience. It was about 11:30 AM when we arrived at the place and 3 PM when we left. Somehow the punch and wine helped us the way down we did it in about an hour!

On the 30th Dec we decided the take the road N3 which crosses the island in a SW-NE direction from St-Pierre to St-Benoit. This road crosses the hills and mountains of the centre and is a real nightmare with plenty of bends enough to make a whole regiment sick.
After St-Benoit we kept going north along the coast and a while before reaching St-Andre (I suppose that by now you understand the most places have names of saints), we went south-west to visit the famous 'Cirque de Salazie'. It is the greenest of the cirques and counts no less than 100 waterfalls. After Salazie we took the road to the picturesque town of Hell-Bourg. The road follows the 'riviére du Mât' along beautiful high gorges.
Hall-Bourg itself is a pleasant little town with small creole houses, tiled roofs and colourful flowers. Hell-Bourg is a paradise for hikers who can use it as their base.

We spent most of the 31 at the hotel, enjoying the swimming pool.
We then left at 7:30 for the 50Km ride to Le Baril where we had booked a table to new year's eve. We were with locals which is what we wanted . The creole cuisine was excellent and the ambiance fantastic. We had a fantastic time. It was about 2 in the morning when we where back at the hotel. We do recommend the restaurant. We did not stay in the hotel next door but we are sorry we did not discover it before we planned the trip.

On the 1st, we flew back to Mauritius where Johan ans Petra were waiting for us.
Reunion was a great experience. It is a hidden gem, worth visiting. Some knowledge of French is however recommended.

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