Advertisement
Published: June 26th 2007
Edit Blog Post
No, we are not in Madagascar but when I tried to enter Reunion Island travelblog did not recognize it and therefore I had to go with the next closest place. The fact that a well used travelblog site doesn't know about Reunion says a lot about how far away we are from everything!
Imagine a small volcanic island in the middle of the Indian Ocean not far from the Tropic of Capricorn with a circumference of 200 km. On this island there are over 200 microclimates created by the various elevations that make up this tropical paradise. In only one hour you can go from the sandy beach up to La Fournaise which is an active volcano that erupted for the last time in April of this year. (This eruption actually cut the bottom of the island in half as it covered the southern route that leads to the east coast! When we visited, over two months after the fact, we could still see the heat radiating!) When things heat up in the summer months the locals head for the mountains and find temps at least 10 degrees cooler! We are here during the winter so are very lucky to
A typical Caz
Caz is creole for house experience the perfect weather. It actually gets a bit cool in the evenings.
As many of you know, Emmanuel's brother Renaud has lived on the island for 16 years. We have spent two wonderful weeks with him and Barbara, his wife and Vanille, Kenzo, and Melissa. After all these years we finally see how and where they live and the cousins have spent a lot of time together. We were also very fortunate to see two of Yohan and Tatiana's teachers from Seattle!! Both Vanessa and Sophie are from Reunion and both spent some time at the French American school in Seattle. For those of you who know these wonderful people, they are both doing great and Noemie, Sophie's daughter has grown like a weed. The kids were fortunate enough to go to school with Vanessa twice for the day! Vanessa is a 5th grade teacher in a town called Le Tampon which is located on the Southern end of the island. What a great experience the kids had, I'm sure they will talk about it in their thoughts later.
We are so impressed by this tiny paradise that is not only diverse in its climate and landscapes but also
Le Cirque de Cilaos
An incredible mountain chain in the middle of the country known for its lentils and beautiful hikes in its inhabitants. The first to come here were a hand full of criminals from Madagascar. They were more or less left here to die. Years later when the French passed this way they found these men thriving on an island with everything necessary to live a long life. The French stayed and later Africans and Indians came to the island. This was followed by the Chinese escaping Mao. All of these people living together have created a palate of colors unlike any we have seen on our voyage. All of these cultures have introduced their traditions, religons, cuisine and languages. The people here speak Creole and French. The white people on the island are called Z'oreilles which means ears. The reason for this is that when they arrive they tend to burn their delicate white ears! The mix of people and their relationships is what I hope we will experience one day in Europe and America. After thinking about the situation a lot, my analysis is that because of the size of the island the people live close together and have learned to accept the ways of others. In America the country permits us to separate into communities that
The Boys
Emmanuel, Renaud, Kenzo and Yohan don't always mix together therefore creating gaps and fears because we don't know and understand each other. We were fortunate to be here for the Carnival which was a 4 hour parade like the Summer Solstice parade in Seattle times 100!! Looking out at the sea of people and all that each brings to life here gave me the chills, really!!
Both our family and Renaud's will leave tomorrow for South Africa where we will spend 1 week in Cape Town and 1 week in Krueger Park where we hope to see lots of animals. Everyone is doing great and we continue to love what we are doing!
From Tatiana:
HI Everyone! I am at Réunion Island where my cousins live. My cousins are very nice. I went to a mountain called Cilaos. At Cilaos there are mountains around you. Our first day at Cilaos we walked for several hours on a trail to see a waterfall but we did not have enough time to see the waterfall because it was almost night time. I went to school with my old kindergarten teacher Vanessa. It was very fun!!
I miss you all!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.141s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 66; dbt: 0.0736s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
YVES ROUX
non-member comment
Once out of th South African zoo, you'll probably feel like at home, when reaching Egypt, as Europe inherited of the Egyptian culture. I think you'll be glad to reach TOULON, where all of you are anxiously expected. Might see you à Saint Maurice early August? Love and kisses Perrine et Yves