All Around the Island of Reunion

March 3, 2023

Today our tour took us in a full circle around the island of Reunion. We saw amazing scenery on each side of the island, passing though cities, towns, and areas where no one lived because of the danger of volcanos.

The north and northeast side of the island had the largest city in Reunion, Saint-Denis. The shuttle bus took cruise passengers there who were not on a tour. We drove through other smaller towns there and admired the ocean views. We passed cemeteries filled with flowers overlooking the ocean.

We stopped briefly see the stunning St. Anne's Church in Saint-Benoit.

As we headed south, we reached the part of the island affected by the frequent eruptions of Piton de la Fournaise, one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Its most recent eruption was September 19, 2022.

Before reaching the lava fields, we stopped in the village of Sainte Rose to see the Notre Dame des Laves (Our Lady of the Lava). In 1977, Fournaise erupted and devastated the little valley swallowing up homes and fields, but miraculously sparing the church. Although legend says the lava parted around the church, it did enter the church itself and caused a lot of damage, but the church stayed standing. Luckily none of the villagers died in the eruption as all were able to evacuate in time.

The lava fields were spectacular. Many of our fellow tourists climbed up and walked around the rocky lava. Here and there you could see signs of life pushing its way up through the lava rocks.

We left the east side of the island and headed south where we encountered civilization again. We had lunch in Le Cap Mechant. After lunch we enjoyed the views outside the restaurant.

After lunch, we headed to The Jardin des Parfums et des Epices (The Garden of Perfumes and Spices). We explored for about an hour and a half, inhaling the aromatic scents and discovering many beautiful and unusual plants.

After the garden, we began the drive up the west coast back to the port at La Possession. There was a lot of traffic, so we and the other buses were late getting back to the ship. We were further delayed by needing to do a face to face with our passport with port security. The drive was beautiful though, especially as the sun shined down on the lagoon. We also passed by where they were busy building a new bridge.