Blogs from Reunion, Africa

Leaving Fremantle we set off on a seven day sail to the island of Mauritius. Seven days with our fellow travellers on board what Ian has started to call The Sunshine Home for the chronically miserable. Passengers have a range of activities to engage in or not as the whim takes them, lectures, sports, arts, crafts, exercise, games, quizzes, music…the list just goes on and on. Then there is the freely available food, numerous different styles and venues. Yet still some people complain. Ian loves the lectures on a huge range of subjects and usually goes to a couple each day. One of the people on our dining table (Ann, a retired nurse from Canada) tells us of an incident she came across. Ann was eating some food when a lady sat down near her sobbing ... read more

July 15, 2017 - I was up by 7am today and went out for a chocolate bready thing for breakfast. I had planned to bring it home to eat it, but found it has disappeared by the time I got back. Delphine got home at 8am - exactly 24 hours after leaving. She went to visit a friend yesterday and decided to stay over night. We chatted a bit and she when she got online she told me that the volcano I visited the other day erupted yesterday. I wish I could have see that! Then somehow it was already 9:15 and time to go, as I had decided to take the 9:30am bus to get to St. Louis, and from there the 11:56 to St. Denis, the capital of the island (Paris is still the ... read more

July 13, 2017 - I decided today to try to get to the third and final cirque, Mafate. From Cilaos, it's a 20 minute bus ride to the start of the hike, and then a six hour round trip walk. I got to the bus station at 7:25am, for the 7:30am #62 bus. It was already waiting, as were a couple other buses. There were many people waiting, so I thought they were waiting to get on, but then I realized the bus was nearly full. It is a small bus, almost a large van. I got on, paid and thought I had to stand, but there was one seat left. A lot of people on the bus were climbers, and had all their gear with them. I thought they might be going to the same ... read more

July 11, 2017 - I woke up a lot last night, knowing I would have to get up early today. At 4am I set my alarm for 6am, just in case I was actually asleep. I was not. I got up at 5:45am and began the final packing process. Everything fits in my bag just so, and I can only pack it once I have put everything away - pjs, toothbrush, etc. I did a little adjusting and then had some breakfast. Honestly, I ate too much yesterday and am also probably eating too many baguettes. For breakfast I had half a baguette and a yogurt. I finished getting ready and was out in front of the guesthouse at 6:55. There was another car waiting there, right in front of the guesthouse, and it made it ... read more

July 9, 2017 - Today was quite the day. Most of the time when I travel, I've done a lot of planning and know what I will do most days. There is some flexibility, but not as much as you might think. Yesterday, when I arrived in Reunion, I thought today I would do a long hike and tomorrow I would do another long hike, to Cirque de Mafate. This is another collapsed volcano, and you can only get there by walking. There are villages there, and there are 100km of walking trails, but no roads and no cars. Supplies are brought in by helicopter, but there are people who live there who have never seen a car. From Hell Bourg, I could walk there and back in about five hours. But after talking to the ... read more