Arriving in Darse Titan in La Réunion staff from the marina office were awaiting us on our berth and gave us all the necessary papers and called customs to come to do immigration. It couldn’t have been easier! Le Port marina is conveniently situated only a couple of minutes walk from the town and public transport. The next day we went to the large outdoor market and marvelled at the choice of vegetables and fruit, especially all the pineapples! We were able to stock up on our favourite French food in the supermarkets also replenishing our stock of tins.
Keen to explore the next day we took a bus down the coast to St-Leu. Apart from the attractive Town Hall building and a few pretty buildings there is not much to see. This seaside resort is well known for its sandy beaches, some white, some black, and its coral. Swimming is safe in the zones cordoned off with netting due to sharks.
We rented a car to visit La Réunion’s interior which is volcanic with rainforests and calderas. The drive inland to the volcanic caldera Cirque de Salazie was spectacular through forests and in valleys by rivers and numerous waterfalls surrounded by impressive mountain peaks. Piton des Neiges, a massive extinct volcano, is the tallest peak in the Indian Ocean. Salazie has a lovely church and we bought food from a stand and ate our picnic gazing at the spectacular scenery. The next day we drove south up a very winding road to Pas de Bellecombe. This is an observation point with sweeping volcanic views and an active crater. The Piton de la Fournaise, a 2,600m active volcano is reached by walking across the caldera. The people climbing around Formica Leo looked tiny! It was steep going down and difficult and tiring walking across the lava but it felt surreal. Reaching the top of the Piton we were above the clouds. It all took longer than anticipated so we walked back up out of the caldera in near darkness!
A couple of buses took us to Filaos St Gilles on the south coast with its stunning beach, Plage de l’Hermitage. We made the most of swimming and snorkelling in the clear warm water knowing that it would be the last time for many month; South Africa being our next destination.
Whilst in Le Port marina we were able to see sailing friends also moored there: Marion and Samuel on Alado as well as Linda and Tony on Paroo. We were all heading for Richard’s Bay in South Africa.
