Réunion Map

 

 

 

         Map of the Indian Ocean

latest picture: January 8, 2012

• click a picture to see details

001  Saturday, December 10th, 2011:

Coming from Tamatave in Madagascar

we are looking from Air Austral down to

the compact sea of houses of Saint-Denis,

the capital of Réunion, a French overseas

department in the Indian Ocean

002  The former City Hall (Marie)

with its columns and clock tower is

one of the most eye-catching French

colonial buildings in the city center

of Saint-Denis

003  With its little fountain, pigeons

and surrounded by stately trees the

Cathedral of Saint-Denis conjures

up the feeling of peace

004  The “Grande Mosque“, also

called the “Noor-E-Islam Mosque“,

sits on the chic street Maréchal Leclerc,

squeezed between trendy shops

005  The exotic look of this mother and

her daughter lighten up the European

ambiance of Saint-Denis. They come

from the island of Mayotte, another

overseas department of France

006  On the streets in the city

centre of Saint-Denis each parking

space is taken. Most of them are

designed for small cars, not for

„monsters“ like our LandCruiser

007  The church of Saint Jacques sits

on a city hill. During daytime, the stroke

of the clock is repeated every half an

hour – only at night there is silence

008  It is hard to get a real Christmas

feeling in the tropics. At least the lovely

Christmas tree in the public park

„Jardin de l’État“ of Saint-Denis

shows a festive ambiance

009  The lovely “Notre-Dame

de la Délivrance“ church, flanked by

blooming flamboyant, sits at the

Western periphery of Saint-Denis

010  Liliana is pointing to the pomegranate

fruit at the “Petit Marché“ in Saint-Denis

where the display of fresh fruit and

vegetable – though not cheap – is plentiful

011  A trio is relaxing on a park bench

after shopping. Benches and picnic tables

for the public are found everywhere on the

island and are especially used on weekends

012  A stall at the “Petit Marché “

in Saint-Denis is selling

basketry in every size

013  The Prefecture of Saint-Denis

is situated at the coastal road – there,

where the main road N1 towards the

West (Littoral) and the N2 towards

the East start

014  Liliana enjoys the refreshing sea

breeze at the cannons of the seafront

park „Le Barachois“ in Saint-Denis

015  We crawl the steep mountain road

with many narrow switchbacks from

Saint-Denis to “Le Brulé“. From 2’600 ft.

height we enjoy an impressive

panoramic view over the capital

016  Blooming Flamboyant Trees

(Delonix regia) add to the scenic drive

through “La Montagne“ from Saint-

Denis in the North to La Possession

on the West coast

017  Cannons facing out to the sea

protect the capital Saint-Denis on

route D41 leading to “La Montagne“

018  The higher we climb on the road

towards “La Montagne“, the more

impressive gets the panoramic view

over the capital

019  The twisting road over 2’000 ft.

altitude from Saint-Denis and La

Montagne to La Possession leads partly

through untouched forest – part of the

huge National Park “Parque National

de La Réunion“

020  Two Yucca plants stick out with

their immaculate white flowers from

the monotonous bush vegetation

021  From the heights of “La Montagne“

a lovely mountain scenery opens up

towards mountain peaks

and the Indian Ocean

022  Different species of bottlebrush

flowers are growing on the island.

This one we find especially attraktive:

Sicklebush (Dichrostachys cinerea)

023  The long stalk of a white

Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus

africanus) tops leaves and ferns

024  Beautiful: Entire slopes are dotted

with the intensive red of the flowering

Flamboyant trees (Delonix regia)

025  A roundabout of particular nature

in Le Port, the harbor city at the

West coast: A huge banyan tree

(Ficus benghalensis) at the

“Rond-Point de la Glacière“

026  View from La Possession

towards Saint-Denis, where at the

foot of the high rising cliffs the Littoral

freeway is running along the sea shore

027  This rocky coast on Cap la Houssaye

Southwest of Saint-Paul attracts many

people. Either for having a picnic on the

rocks, hoping to catch a fish or just, as

ourselves, to enjoy spotting a giant

turtle coming to the surface

028  Boucan Canot on the West coast

is also compared with “Saint Tropez“ on

the Côte d'Azur in France. The popular

beach resort made lately inglorious

headlines with fatal shark attacks

029  A wild coastal stretch in the

Southwest at Cap du Portail,

where the strong waves break

against the black rocks

030  Protected by a coral reef, the safe

lagoon at “l’Ermitage les Bains” attracts

more sun-seekers than the beach at

Boucan Canot. On weekends the

white sandy beach is fully packed

031  At the start of our climb to the

“Cirque de Salazie” in the North of

the island, we follow the river

“Rivière du Mât”. This Cirque is one

of three imposing mountain valleys

of volcanic origin on the island

032  Climbers give this white painted

house on our way to the “Cirque

de Salazie” a quaint appearance

033  On our way to Salazie, our Land

Cruiser is surrounded by steep mountain

cliffs, a “traveler’s tree” (Ravenala

madagascariensis), palms and bamboo

034  Salazie: A 7’500 souls counting

mountain village, ‘lost’ in

dense forest green

035  Around a bend to the “Cirque de

Salazie”, plants grow exuberantly,

covering the whole surface and climbing

up the trees. This Northeastern region

is considered the wettest on the island

036  The highlight of the “Cirque de

Salazie”: The little hamlet of Hell Bourg,

5 miles South of Salazie, is enclosed by

majestic mountain walls up to 10’000 ft.

037  Right of way sign on the Salazie

route “pisse en l’air”, what means

literally that it pees from the air.

Driving on the side of the cliff, the

car gets showered from above

038  The difference of flowers

in the mountains is enormous

039  Above Hell Bourg –

Bémaho – we enjoy some fresh air

040  „Site de Mare Poule d’eau” is a

lovely lake in the Salazie region …..

041  ….. that attracts fishermen

as well as picnickers

042  A delicate yellow flower

Dozens of shining waterfalls dot the steep mountain slopes near Salazie.

Some fall in one single drop straight from towering cliffs, some in several stages

043

044

045

046  “Bassin La Paix”, 2 miles West

of Bras-Panon: The river “Riviere des

Roches” has carved its watercourse

deep into the rocks …..

047  ….. and drops at La Paix

into a small pool …..

048  ….. surrounded by a

forest with fern and moss

049  Sugar cane and bamboo dominate

big parts of the lower regions

050  A family is wading through a river,

lined by impressive bush of bamboo

051  Peculiar flowers in the bush,

unknown to us

052  A lonely spot: “Pointe du Bourbier”

a bit North of Saint-Benoit on the

Northeast coast

053  The pebble stone beach between

“Pointe du Bourbier” and Saint-Benoit

on the Northeast coast is deserted. The

crowded white sandy beaches are on

the Southwest coast of the island

054  In Sainte-Anne at the Northeast

coast we find an idyllic picnic spot.

Vacoa (Pandanus utilis) line the coast.

After the deforestation they were

planted as a windbreak

055  The lilac flower grows in big bushes.

If the sun shines its intense bright color

sticks out everywhere

056  We drive through a big sugar cane

field along the coast near the river

“Rivière de l’Est”. Sugar is the major

export of Réunion, imported by France

057  Incredibly many Angel's Trumpets

(Brugmansia) adorn the landscape.

Liliana almost disappears in all

the flowerage

058  On our way to the Takamaka view-

point North of Saint-Benoit on the North-

east coast, another of the impressing

waterfalls is emerging from high up a wall

059  Again and again bushes full of

hanging wild fuchsia (Fuchsia boliviana)

grow along the street

060  A waterfall is ‘dropping’ off a

vertical mountain wall at Takamaka.

We can only imagine how impressive

it must be during the rainy season

061  A rugged mountain scenery,

precipitous and forested with waterfalls

greet us at the Takamaka viewpoint.

This region is said to be one of

the wettest on the island

062  We are on our descent from the

height of Takamaka towards Saint-

Benoit on the Northeast coast. The

view in front of us brings Emil to

stop and grab for his camera …..

063  ….. sugar cane, sprawling

bamboo and the blue Indian

Ocean lie to our feet

064  From “Dos d’Âne”, accessible

through route D1 from “La Rivière

des Galets”, the view reaches to

the harbor town of “Le Port” …..

065  ….. down in the valley the river

bed of the “Rivière des Galets” is

meandering through a deep gorge …..

066  ….. up on the viewpoint “Cap

Noir” above “Dos d’Âne“ we are

blessed by the wide view into the

“Cirque de Mafate”

067  While Liliana is resting a bit on

a ladder on a long loop at “Cap Noir”

above “Dos d’Âne” …..

068  ….. Emil left the more

difficult sections already behind him

069  ….. and enjoys the superb panorama

into the “Cirque de Mafate”, one

of the three corries of Réunion

070  Beard Lichen (Usnea barbata)

and white ambiguous bran lichen

(Parmeliopsis ambigua) testify

the unpolluted air on “Dos d’Âne”

Despite the harsh soil delicate flowers are blooming in the height of “Dos d’Âne”

071

072

073  Greenhouses dominate the picture

of the village of “Dos d’Âne”, situated

6 miles East of the harbor city of “Le Port”

074  Imposing view from the

“Kiosque du Cap Noir” above

“Dos d’Âne” to the wild mountain

scenery of the “Cirque de Mafate”

075  We smile into the camera

for a rememberence picture at the

“Kiosque du Cap Noir

• Réunion part 2: Les Makes-La Fenêtre-Saint Louis-East Coast-Grande Anse
• Réunion part 3: Cilaos-Grande Anse-Le Maïdo-Saint Pierre

 

Articles in newspapers about us in Réunion:

Article:  "Vingt-sept ans autour du monde", Daily Newspaper "Le Quotidien" - February 19, 2012