Tuesday 29th October 2024 saw the start of the shortest World ARC leg – Leg 12 was a mere 130nm with most boats completing the journey in less than 24 hours. Escapade finished 136nm in 15 minutes less than 24 hours.
La Reunion is an island in the Indian Ocean. It is an overseas department and region of France. The island was uninhabited until French immigrant and colonial subjects settled here in 17th century.
It has a tropical climate and this led to the development of a plantation economy focused primarily on sugar. Slaves from East Africa were imported as field workers, followed by Malays, Vietnamese, Chinese and Indians. French is the sole official language, but the predominant language spoken is Reunion creole. The mixed descent gives an interesting feel to the island – French, but Caribbean too!
Our base whilst in La Reunion was at the busy commercial area of Le Port. This was not a pretty area to be, but the island itself was stunning.
The ARC excursion was to Piton de la Fournaise. This 500,000 year old volcano is one of the most active in the world and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The volcano is a shield volcano with a caldera of 8km (5 miles) wide. High cliffs form a rim surrounding the caldera, the centre piece of which is a 400m (1300ft) lava shield and crater. The most recent eruption was in September 2022, seeing many spectators flocking to see the molten lava oozing through cracks in the caldera crust.
A drive inland took us through one of Reunion´s spectacular cirques to the charming village of Hell-Bourg. The village is nestled in the verdant cirque of Salazie and the streets are lined with pretty Creole houses with colourful facades and picture postcard tropical gardens. It is supposed to be one of the most beautiful villages in France.
Hell-Bourg was once a popular destination for people wanting to visit the thermal springs. Today little remains of the ancient baths, buried by landslide and then completely destroyed by the 1948 cyclone.
Exploring underwater was done by diving with Le Dodo Palme (the webbed Dodo). Our guide led us around rocky bommies, down narrow gullies and winding swimthroughs. Here we discovered shoals of damsel and surgeon fish. Large jacks swam alongside tiny dart fish and we even spotted a turtle and a porcupine fish.
Our best experience on La Reunion was without doubt canyoning with Cilaos Aventure. Making our way down the Langevin River in a series of jumps, slides, abseils and ziplines, including abseiling 85m down beside the magnificent Grand Galet waterfall.
An absolutely brilliant experience.
Hey Guys ! Great to see the images! I can see ‘FAXJAX’ in the marina too – Another Suffolk Yacht playing in the sun ☀️
Love reading about your adventures, so keep up the good work!