In Search of Pirate Treasure, Sorcery and Fresh Volcanic Mountain Air Nov. 1, 2008 Ile de La Reunion, Southern Indian Ocean Every morning, the thick cottony clouds begin to build up outside the three bowl-shaped volcanic cirques in the center of Ile de La Reunion in the southwestern Indian Ocean. Villages, in the valleys and perched high up on the hillsides within the cirques, are protected by the 8,000-foot peaks and are baked all morning in the tropical heat. As if on cue, usually about noon, the pressure builds and the clouds have nowhere else to go but up and over mountains and down into the cirques far below. The clouds, like water, pour down the steep hillsides and into the lush, tropical valleys. The temperatures in the valley then quickly drop as the sun disappears.
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