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Published: April 6th 2011
Dear friends,
Reunion, April 5 2011
The Volcanos Adventure of Reunion. This morning we arrived at 06.30 at the Port of Reunion. Our volcano adventure starts early today: 7.45.
First a very beautiful trip by coach to the mountains of Reunion. This route is called the panoramic route of the Tamarins. We pass St-Pierre and Le Tampon before we arrive at the Plaine des Cafres, a region of the isle which is rich in culture and in pasture land. From there, we took the route of the volcano of Bourg Murrat (at a altitude of 1.600 metres) until we reach the Pas de Bellecombe, at a altitude of 2.300 metres. The most surprising point of view is offered by the Plaine des Sables, covering a wide area of black and red scoria. This area looks like a lunar landscape with a very special nature and vegetation.
After the traverse of Plaine des Sables we went up again, passing ancient calderas until we arrive at the last rampart, marking the central caldera of l'Enclos. Here is a kind of balcony of 300 metres where we could admire the Formicaleo and the Piton de la Fournaise. This trip
is a great experience. The lava is around 8 metres thick and beyond that is a great waterbasin with crystal clear water. The Volcanos here are still active and every few years there is an erruption.
This afternoon we are leaving for Madagascar, where we will arrive on April 7 - early in the morning.
Tomorrow is a day at sea, so a lazy day!!!!!!!
In the evening is it Galanight including the Captain's Carmine Maddaloni cocktail party.
A little bit of history of Reunion is included in this cruiseblog.
Enjoy the pictures. See you on our next cruiseblog.
From the Indian Ocean with love.
Jacqueline and Adriaan aka Monkey and Bear.
Lieve vrienden en vriendinnen,
Vanmorgen vroeg om 6.30 uur aangekomen op het eiland Reunion. Dit eiland is volledig Frans en de bewoners spreken vol trots over het feit dat Parijs hun hoofdstad is. Het is ook een aparte ervaring dat je hier op dit eiland, midden in de Indische Oceaan, met euros kan, maar ook moet betalen.
Ons avontuur vandaag speelt zich af in het vulkanisch gebied van Reunion. Dit gebied begint ongeveer op 1600 meter hoogte in
een fantastisch natuurgebied. Vanaf dat punt gaan wij door naar de 3000 meter. De vulkanen zijn hier nog steeds actief en barsten om de paar jaar uit. Het landschap doet denken aan een maanlandschap in het zwart en rood.
De weersomstandigheden verschillen hier per 5 minuten. Dan plenst het en een paar minuten later is het weer stralend en bloedheet weer.
Kortom een spannend en zeker een zeer interessant avontuur in een schitterend natuurgebied.
Lekker Creools gegeten en toen weer terug naar onze boot.
De boot vertrok om 17.30 uur richting Madegaskar waar wij op 7 april vroeg in de ochtend aankomen.
Morgen een lekker dagje op zee en dus lekker lui doen. De avond staat in het teken van de captain's cocktailparty en gala avond.
Vervelen zullen wij ons zeker niet.
Geniet van de foto's en reis een beetje met ons mee. Ieder commentaar is overigens welkom.
From the Indian Ocean with love.
Jacqueline and Adrian aka Monkey and Bear.
and Arab sailors formerly called the island Dina Morgabin (“The Western Island”). The Portuguese are thought to have been the first European visitors, finding
it uninhabited in 1635, and naming it after Saint Apollonia.
The island was then occupied by France and administered from Port Louis, Mauritius. Although the French flag was hoisted by François Cauche in 1638, Santa Apollonia was officially claimed by Jacques Pronis of France in 1642, when he deported a dozen French mutineers to the island from Madagascar. The convicts were returned to France several years later, and in 1649, the island was named Île Bourbon after the royal house. Colonization started in 1665, when the French East India Company sent the first 20 settlers.
“Réunion” was the name given to the island in 1793 by a decree of the Convention with the fall of the House of Bourbon in France, and the name commemorates the union of revolutionaries from Marseille with the National Guard in Paris, which took place on 10 August 1792. In 1801, the island was renamed "Île Bonaparte," after Napoleon Bonaparte. The island was invaded by a Royal Navy squadron led by Commodore Josias Rowley in 1810, who used the old name of “Bourbon”. When it was restored to France by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the island retained the name of "Bourbon" until the
fall of the restored Bourbons during the French Revolution of 1848, when the island was once again given the name “Réunion”.
From the 17th to the 19th centuries, French immigration supplemented by influxes of Africans, Chinese, Malays, and Indians gave the island its ethnic mix. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 reduced the importance of the island as a stopover on the East Indies trade route.
During the Second World War, Réunion was under the authority of the Vichy Regime until 30 November 1942, when the island was liberated by the destroyer Léopard.
Réunion became a département d'outre-mer (overseas départment) of France on 19 March 1946. Its département code is 974.
Between 15 and 16 March 1952, Cilaos at the centre of Réunion received 1,869.9 millimetres (73.62 in) of rainfall. This is the greatest 24-hour precipitation total ever recorded on earth. The island also holds the record for most rainfall in 72 hours, 3,929 millimetres (154.7 in) at Commerson's Crater in March 2007 from Cyclone Gamede.
In 2005 and 2006, Réunion was hit by a crippling epidemic of chikungunya, a disease spread by mosquitoes. According to the BBC News, 255,000 people on Réunion had contracted the disease as
of 26 April 2006. Madagascar had also been hit by this disease during the same year. A few cases also appeared in mainland France through airline travel. Then French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin sent an emergency aid package worth 36 million Euro ($57.6M U.S. dollars) and deployed approximately five hundred French troops in an effort to eradicate mosquitoes.
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willem
non-member comment
info@chateau-mavaleix.com
Gaaf jongens. Weer een mooi nieuw avontuur. Leuk dat jullie dat zo mooi verslaan. Vive la Reunion et Vive la France ! Willem