When I found out I was going to Reunion a colleague said, ‘But why would you want to go there? Isn’t it the ugly sister of Mauritius?’
Reunion has never been a popular destination for South Africans, or for Anglophone countries for that matter. It’s really only French tourists and a smattering of Germans who visit the tropical island. As a consequence, many South Africans don’t seem to know much about Reunion, including me, before I went on my trip. I found out a lot about the island on the flight there by reading the Lonely Planet guide on the flight over, but it was only when I arrived when I realised that I had had no proper idea of what Reunion was like. In short, it’s awesome and you should go there on holiday if you can afford it.
If, like me, you don’t know much about the island, what I learned should hopefully enlighten you a bit. And make you want to go.
1. Spewing volcano
The volcano in Reunion (Piton de la Fournaise, or Le Volcan to locals), the island’ biggest attraction, is really active. It stopped erupting on the day I arrived, actually. There was a huge eruption in April 2007 when lava created an extra two kilometres on the island. It’s one of the world’s most active accessible volcanoes, which means that you can hike to where it’s erupting and see lava and other cool volcanic stuff.
2. Cheesy music is big
People in Reunion like cheesy music. I know this because radio stations, particularly Radio Cherie, plays incredibly cheesy music, both English and French. There was a lot of super cheesy French stuf, Ace of Base, Phil Collins and Elton John circa 1984. The cheesy English songs were great though – I hardly spoke to anyone in the three days I was in Reunion, so singing along to them made up for not ever conversing in my own language on the trip.
3. Insane driving
While the general vibe of the island is pretty chilled out, its drivers are absolutely mental. I think this is because there are traffic jams at all times of the day all over the island (but mostly in St-Denis). I was taking the driving pretty slowly, being in a rental car and driving on the wrong side of the road and all, especially when going up steep mountain passes to Cilaos and Hell-Bourg. Crazy Reunionais drivers would drive right up my ass and stay there until they got a chance to pass on a road just wide enough for a rollerblader. Scary stuff.
4. How many people there are on the island
There are traffic jams on the island because there are nearly 1 million people living on this tiny volcanic blimp in the middle of the ocean. I pictured Reunion to be kind of under developed and under populated, but it’s not like other tropical islands I’ve visited. There’s a big capital city, and developed towns all along the coastline and inland, towards the mountains. At times you do get the feeling that there are too many people in this tiny piece of volcanic rock, but then there are lots of places to escape them (the mountains, the volcano…).
5. How much like France it is
This leads me onto the fifth thing I learned about Reunion, and that’s how much like France it is. Arriving on the island at night was kind of a strange experience, because I couldn’t see the tropical foliage or mountains – instead all I saw were things identical to France – ambulance sirens, signs, roundabouts, and French cars. While it could almost be part of France (bar the coconut palms and tropical humidity) Reunion also has a strong Creole identity. Somehow the two marry well together and the result is a French island with Reunionais flair.
6. Amazing food
Because Reunion is French, it has to have amazing food. It’s got incredible French food (buttery croissants, crusty baguettes and delicious bistro dishes) and more”¦ Creole food, which seems to be all about curry, spiciness and tropical fruit. It’s a great combo.
7. How strong the Incredibly Strong Rum is
My colleague and wise and well-travelled mentor, Alison Westwood, warned me about Reunion’s Incredibly Strong Rum. “˜How strong can it be?’ I wondered, as I walked down to the hotel bar. The answer is: very very strong. After one small rum punch at the bar I was practically comatose in my chair. Yes, I do have a low alcohol tolerance but I dare a 100-kg dude to drink a bottle of that stuff and still be standing. That makes the rum sound bad. It’s not. It’s actually rather delicious, especially rum arrange, which is infused rum. I brought some ginger and lemon infused rum back for my colleagues and we’ve been drinking neat or in our coffee on particularly trying days in the office.
8. Reunion is extremely beautiful
A lot of what you seem to hear about Reunion’s beaches is that they are pretty crap, especially compared to Mauritius and the Seychelles. They are actually great beaches with lovely warm clear sea. However, the most beautiful parts of Reunion are the jungly mountainous interior. Picture soaring jagged mountains swirled in clouds, gushing mountain waterfalls, dense tropical forests clinging to steep cliffs, and amphitheatres of peaks, and you have an idea. There’s also the vast, windswept volcanic crater, the eerie Plaine des Sables, and gorgeous alpine towns (Hell-Bourg and Cilaos).
9. How many awesome things there are to do
There’s paragliding over the sea, hiking in the mountains and in the volcanic crater, canyoning (kloofing), mountain biking, horse riding, surfing, diving, snorkelling for the adventurous; eating, lying on the beach, tours of villages, churches, the capital city, visiting museums and beautiful old plantation mansions for the sedate.
10. Beautiful cemeteries filled with interesting dead people
Reunion’s cemeteries are definitely worth a visit – they’re some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. Shaded by tropical trees like frangipane, graves are covered with a bright rainbow of colourful flowers and plants. There are celebrity graves to visit too. An African sorcerer, La Sitane, was laid to rest in the cemetery in St Pierre. There are always offerings at his grave left by practisers of gris gris (black magic). Check out a real pirate’s grave (marked with skull and crossbones nogal) at Cimetière Marin in St Paul. Here are the earthly remains of Olivier “˜La Buse’ Levasseur, a notorious pirate on the Indian Ocean, who was captured and hanged in St Paul in 1730.
Summary of my trip:
Number of times I drove on the wrong side of the road: 3
Number of times angry drivers hooted at me when I made a mistake: About 10
Number of Phil Collins songs I sang along to on the radio: 4
Number of curries eaten: 3 (prawn, octopus, tuna)
Number of pains au chocolat guzzled at breakfast: At least 5
Number of times waiters asked if I was “˜tout seul’ (all alone) when sitting down at restaurants, emphasising the “˜tout’ part to make me feel even more alone: 4
Number of dents/scratches on rental car: 0 (this has to be some kind of record for me: I am not very good at parking)
Number of photos taken: 1187
Number of memory cards dropped down waterfalls: 1
Number of lens caps dropped into volcanic craters: Almost 1 (close save)
Number of pineapples eaten: Lost count
Number of Creole words learned: 2 – tilempe (slow pace) and la di la fe (gossip)
For my 10 reasons to go to Reunion, check out the March issue of Getaway.
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