Mountains

La Reunion doesn’t just have seaside towns, it’s actually more known for its steep green mountain ranges, including an active volcano (which is unfortunately hard to reach). So I was looking for options this morning in Saint-Pierre. The plan was to go scuba diving but I decided to see the mountains instead, and the most recommended base is Hell-Bourgh. (It got its name from the name of an island governor.)

Trouble was, I had to connect buses twice and ended up in Salazie. From there it’s only 8.5km and 800m altitude gain to Hell-Bourgh, and the next bus was scheduled in two hours. So I thought, I came here to hike, so hike I did. This was harder than expected – average inclination is ~10% but some stretches were much steeper and I was carrying my luggage including lots of water. It was also hot and the sun was burning down. La Reunion is so close to the equator that shadows are vertical below the trees, not on the road. I was also obstinate enough to finish what I start, I could have taken a bus about halfway up.

But I got rewarded by the scenery. The mountains have bizarre shapes with often almost vertical walls. Everything is densely forested, there are little villages on the slopes, and deeply cut ravines where small creeks rush down. There is also a very tall waterfall – everything is tall here. I made it after two and a half hard hours and had a long cool shower. Not taking any questions, I must sleep..