Over the past few weeks I’ve made a number of excursions into the interior of Reunion Island where its spectacular volcanic history is found. I’ve included a map of Reunion which shows the three calderas(cirques) near the island center – Cirque de Mafate, Cirque de Cilaos and Cirque de Salazie, all dormant. At the conjunction of these cirques is Piton des Neiges, at 3071 meters the highest point in the Indian Ocean. In the lower right hand (SE) corner of the map is Piton de la Fournaise, the only active volcano on Reunion which last erupted in April, 2021.
To access these places, I had to drive up incredibly winding, narrow mountain roads, some with one-way tunnels blasted from solid rock (look for on-coming headlights before entering). The French certainly excel at building roads like this – there all over this island and France as well.
Map of La Reunion Island.View of Cirque de Mafate from Maido viewpoint.The village of la Nouvelle on a small plateau in the Cirque de MafatePiton des Neiges from Maido viewpointCirque de Mafate from Maido viewpointPiton des Neiges in the backgroundCascade de Grande GaletFrom the road into Piton de la Fournaise calderaPiton de la FournaiseSmall cinder cones in the Fournaise calderaHardened lava flowTo access the Fournaise caldera and the trail to it’s summit you have to descend an very step trail down this caldera wall.From the small cinder cone the trail continues across the lava flows to the top of Piton de la FournaiseNear Piton de la FournaiseWaterfalls in Cirque de SalazieRoad/trail up to Col des BoeufsView of Cirque de Mafate from Col des BoeufsView looking west of the Cirque de Mafate wall. The Maido viewpoint is along the top of this wall.View of the village of la Nouvelle looking west from Col des BoeufsCirque des Salazie from Col des Boeufs trailCirque wall from the town of CilaosCilaosAlong the road to CilaosView to the west from CilaosCilaos church with Piton des Neiges in the backgroundLaundry day on Phywave. The marina has a washing machine but not a dryerServicing the winches. I have to take them all apart, clean off the old grease with a toothbrush and degreaser, add new gear grease and reassemble. Hopefully they’ll turn the right way.
