Blogs from Reunion, Reunion, Africa - page 2

This afternoon I took the torturous road back up towards the Cirque de Cilaos. The weather was spectacular and I took full advantage of the opportunity to take more pictures. I returned to the same hotel that I stayed in a few days ago.... read more

Today, I awoke to the sound of the pitter patter of raindrops on my window. I decided to tough it out and head for the coast, hoping to find better weather. It was a 1 hour slog thru a misting rain back down to the coast, but fortunately, the weather began to improve. I headed south along the shore towards the island’s remaining active volcano, the Piton de la Fournaise. Unfortunately, team orson’s photographer decided to store his camera in the front pocket of his jacket during the rain, and the camera started to malfunction. I honestly don’t know why we keep the idiot around. So, there are no pictures of steam arising from the lava fields on the south coast of the island. Fortunately for team orson’s photographer, the sun began to work its charms ... read more

Recently, a co-worker of mine had talked about living on Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean. Intrigued, I decided to do some research on the subject. I googled a map of Mauritius, when I noticed another island nearby. I discovered that it was Reunion Island. Why hadn’t I noticed it before? I had read vague references to Reunion, but had never paid it close attention. Why was Mauritius relatively well-known and Reunion under a veil? The reason is that it is a French possession. It is a French overseas Department just like French Surinam in South America. Reunion is a volcanic island that has been compared to the big island of Hawaii. Apparently, the French don’t appear too keen on sharing their version of Hawaii with the English speaking world, thus they have thrown a ... read more

We didn't expect to be here when we left on our big trip but here we are on a little piece of France a couple of thousand miles away from Europe in the middle of the Indian Ocean. We have been eagerly awaiting this leg of the journey for about 3 months, and now we are here, to all intents and purposes in France. There are Super-U's, Carrefours, Credit Agricoles, Boulangeries, the road signs are in French, the cars' plates are the French ones (and of course the cars are all Peugeots / Citroens)... and the French are... well... French! It really is just a part of France. Unfortunately so are the prices. The currency unsurprisingly, is the Euro. In fact due to its easterly position to Europe, Reunion was the first place in the world ... read more