Reunion Off The Beaten Path

  The church's nave and altar
by mikelisaanna
 
  • The church's nave and altar
      The church's nave and altar
    by mikelisaanna
  • trekking
      trekking
    by MrBill
  • trekking
      trekking
    by MrBill
  • trekking
      trekking
    by MrBill
  • group think
      group think
    by MrBill
 
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trekking & wandering - 4 -

by MrBill

Four. Sometimes we hiked from town to town, or hut to hut, and other days we stayed put in one hotel and made day trips. Making day trips is preferable, as you can leave all your stuff and then just hike with a daypack. On the days when we went hut to hut, we had to carry everything. However, ASI organized our larger suitcases to be transported by bus to our next major hotel. Therefore, we were like 2-3 days under way with the same clothes and then had a chance to get cleaned up and changed. It was not too bad. Most of the group were experienced hikers so they knew what to bring and what to leave at home, and so long as everyone is grubby, there is no problem.

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trekking & wandering - 3 -

by MrBill

Three. But, as well the guides are worth it in terms of their own expertise. They don’t earn much money, so they do the job because they want to. That usually means that they have lots of friends and know the best places to go. Our guide, Alexa, also took us to some of her favorite hangouts in the evening in the larger towns and showed us a side of La Reunion, which we would not have seen on our own. She did not have to do that for sure. However, it was greatly appreciated.

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trekking & wandering - 2 -

by MrBill

Two. Essentially you are paying Alpine Schule Innsbruck for their expertise, for organizing the ground transport, and for the experienced guide. There is no reason with enough planning and preparation on your part that you could not plan such a trip yourself. But, it is a daunting task to land in a new place and to know instinctively where to go and what to see. Plus the learning curve is very steep, so you’re always wiser after the fact. If you have lots of time, then this might be preferable. For us, we were on a tight schedule with work, with holidays, with flights, etc., that we prefer to travel this way. Also, there is a ready-made group of between 10-15 people with whom you can go hiking with.

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trekking & wandering in the mountains

by MrBill

One.We flew to La Reunion for two weeks in October-November 2004 with Alpine Schule Innsbruck (ASI). We had been hiking with them the year previously in Mallorca and liked their style. Generally, you have a chance to hike with a group of similar minded people and enjoy seeing somewhere new. We usually go for an advanced group which typically means hiking 4-6 hours a day. This gives you plenty of time to get up, eat breakfast and get ready to go. A few good hours on the hills. A break for lunch. And, then another few hours to wherever you are headed to that day as a destination.

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AlpinSchule Innsbruck trekking & wandering tours

by MrBill

Introduction. I am going to write the next ten tips in the form of one long summary of our experiences in La Reunion hiking. I don’t think that hiking in La Reunion is necessarily any different than anywhere else and the basics still apply. However, perhaps due to the climate differences over relatively short distances one has to be prepared for changes in weather and conditions. Also, I don’t pretend to be an expert on the island. At different times during the year, the conditions may be other than those I have described. However, the next ten tips are meant to be read together and not in isolation, so I hope you can follow them and that they are useful.

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Spa Ruins

by canuckmike

An old thermal bath spa that has been abandoned because apparantly the springs dried up. Theres not too much left anymore but it is a nice place to explore for a bit. Watch out for the insanely big palm spider spider webs. The ruins are located just southwest of the town of Hell-Bourg.

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Pirate's Grave

by canuckmike

In the town of St. Paul (once the capital of Reunion) is Cimetiere Martin. In this cementery lies Oliver 'La Buse' Levasseur. La Buse means The Buzzard. La Buse pirated the Indian Ocean from around 1720 to 1730. He was finally caught in St. Paul and was hung there. His grave is often covered with coins, cigarettes and booze as part of black magic rituals by the superstitious Reunionnais. People are still searching for his treasures in the nearby islands.

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Chambre d'hote

by Alpha_Ghana

If you go to La Reunion, be ready to pay huge amounts of money for hotels.If you don't want, be prepared for adventure.La Reunion is more for adventure trips than farniente.A lot of people built one or two or more rooms in their garden for tourists.Amost all over the island, you can find guestrooms, sometimes inside the house sometimes just a small local house or even a garage.It is cheaper, even if you can pay up to 30 USD for bed and breakfast. As La Reunion does not have enough accomodations for all tourists, when you intend to go somwhere, you better call the guesthouse you want to reach one or two days before to make reservation. It is very frustrating to reach a place where the 10 available rooms are occupied and you have to sleep outside or look for a place during hours.

There is a disco/nightclub in...

by Dedigrandine

There is a disco/nightclub in the middle of a sugarcane field in St. Denis. That is also where the Cascades are.St. Leiu is home to a church that remained standing after the volcano erupted devasting everything in its path. The lava flow split encircling the structure!

Circus of Mafate

by Alpha_Ghana

Circus of MafateReunion has three circus. Mafate is the wildest one. You can reach it only by air (helicopter) or better by crossing the mountain and reaching it by walking.You can see a wall of 1000 m down the Grand Bénard, the top of the country.Some villages far from civilization.In the old time, the 'marrons', the slaves who escaped come to refugee in this far place and lived there. Most people living there are the grand grand sons of thoses slaves.There are also some 'petits blancs' white people who had to live there because they were very poor.

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Q:  My best friend and I are planning a holiday from 1 to 9 of December, to escape somewhere warm, and one option we are weighing is... 

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A: Yes, from what I've read in books and cites heavy rains and cyclones are to be exppected from february onwards. December is the start of summer, hot. I and my girl are... 

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