32. A piece of France in the Indian Ocean ?

3rd April, 2023

Rare native plants and exceptional flora abound in the Garden of Perfume & Spices. This is the Black Bat Flower: Stark black bat like petals with long whiskers like a cat. Listed as one of the seven rarest flowers on earth.

Docking at principal port Pointe des Galets, 30 minutes from Capital: St Denis, we chose a nine-hour excursion to optimise our one day in Reunion.

The three main Mascarene Islands, archipelago east of Madagascar in Indian Ocean, are Mauritius, Reunion, Rodrigues. Reunion, often termed “a piece of France in the Indian Ocean” is the largest. Volcanic, diverse population of close to 900 000, an overseas Department of France, distinctly different from Mauritius and Madagascar.

Don’t go to Reunion for its beaches: strong currents and become known as world’s shark attack capital. But if natural beauty, wild scenery and hiking are your thing, Reunion offers tropical forests, savannah, sugarcane fields, volcanic lunar landscapes, rocky coastal trails, peaks, ridges, valleys across magnificent mountain paths. We got a sense of the spectacular beauty as we circumnavigated the Island, driving on excellent roads.

The economic development level and average standard of living is substantially higher than recently visited Madagascar. Our guide spoke of France’s massive contribution to the Island’s wellbeing, how good colonialism is for Reunion (no mention of France’s hugely exploitative legacy there!) and how Madagascar should never have sought independence from France. Interesting point. What do you or I think about that?!

Exhilarating walking in rain through Garden of Perfumes and Spices with informative guide pointing out fragrant, aromatic and various other plants endemic and introduced: vanilla, pepper, geraniums, nutmeg, cloves, ylang ylang, ferns, orchids, palm trees…   Over 1500 species!

We walked a small piece of Grand Brule – barren solidified black lava “moonscape” from volcanic eruptions of Piton de la Fournaise, some young plant shoots starting to emerge. View of magnificent Grand Anse bay down below.

Then returned to ship via newly opened, still incomplete, 12.4 km long Coastal Road bridge along the sea, one of world’s largest, most complex road engineering projects: safer, faster, eco-friendly. “World’s most expensive road” (1): over 2 billion Euro! That France spends that amount on a relatively small population, that actually has an alternative route, perhaps lends some credence to our Guide’s assertion that France is good for Reunion (?)!

(1) “The history of the world’s most expensive road” El Pais, 10/05/2023

Inside the Garden of Perfume & Spices, with 1 500 species of fragrant & aromatic plants, with old remarkable trees
Walking through the barren “moonscape” at Grand Brule, a huge expanse of solidified pure black lava field formed during eruptions of one of the world’s most active volcanos: Piton de la Fournaise, meaning “Peak of the Furnace”. The last eruption occurred during December 2021 & January 2022!
Newly completed section of complex, huge project: Coastal highway bridge at Reunion costing more than Euro: 2 billion, funded by France, as seen from the back window of our vehicle.
View of a Volcanic Lava beach at Reunion – taken from our vehicle.