Fun things to do in Reunion

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The Maison de la Broderie is a small museum which showcases the beautiful needlework done by the women of Cilaos and the surrounding villages. Embroidery was originally introduced to the area by the French wife of a local doctor who was looking for something to do during Cilaos' many rainy days. Over the years, a beautiful style of needlework has developed in Reunion which features open lace-style patterns combined with colorful embroidery. The Maison de la Broderie showcases numerous examples of garments, table goods, and other fabric pieces made over the years by local women. Upstairs, it has a section that displays recent pieces that you can purchase.

While we were there, a women was working on a large tablecloth, which is going to be beautiful when it is finally done. Lisa, who does embroidery as a hobby, enjoyed speaking with her as she worked.

The best scenery on Reunion is in its wild interior, which features 3000-foot deep canyons and calderas, waterfalls, and a volcano. While there are some roads that can take you into much of the island's interior, other parts of it are only reachable by hiking. An alternative for those of us that don't have the time or ability to do long, multi-day hikes is to take a helicopter ride above the island.

We used Helilagon, a helicopter tour company based in the hills above the island's west coast. The ride is expensive (>$200 per person for a 1 hour ride), but the views are fantastic.

As an island, Reunion is ringed by beaches. However, many of them have rough surf and are not suitable for small children.

We found good beaches on the western coast along the stretch of hotels between St. Gilles-les-Bains and Hermitage-les-Bains. The beaches in this area are sand beaches which are protected from large waves by coral reefs just offshore. Anna, our 8-year old daughter had a lot of fun there wading in the water, looking at the pieces of coral that had washed up, and building sand castles. One thing to watch out for, however, is that there are a lot of pieces of coral sticking out of the sand both in the water and along the beach. Be careful where you step!

The Kelonia Marine Turtle Observatory is an institution dedicated to the study and preservation of Reunion's marine turtle species. Kelonia has a number of rooms full of exhibits about turtles that you can walk through at your leisure, as well as indoor and outdoor tanks in which you can watch the turtles swim around. One of the highlights is an albino turtle that they have in one of the outdoor tanks.

In addition to marine turtles, Kelonia also has an outdoor area which features two species of land tortoises.

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Reunion's active volcano, the Piton de la Fournaise, looms above the southern part of the island. It is one of the world's most active volcanoes. It was dormant when we were on Reunion, but erupted as recently as 2007.

There is a road that takes you right up to the edge of the caldera surrounding the volcano's active cone, which tops out at 8600 feet above sea level. The caldera is a few miles wide, and you can hike down into it and up to the volcano's summit. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time for the hike, so we just looked at the cone from the caldera's rim.

There is a small visitor center at the caldera's rim, which also sells snacks and drinks.

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The Riviere des Remparts (River of the Ramparts) is a small river the flows west to the sea from the volcanic plateaus in the south-central portion of the island. Along its path to sea, the river has cut a magnificent deep canyon, whose steep green walls rise up to 3000 feet from the river valley below. There is a great viewpoint, where you can look out over the canyon, along the road to the volcano. It is best to visit the viewpoint during the morning, since clouds often roll in later in the day.

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The drive to Cilaos is one of the most scenic drives on Reunion Island. The road follows a canyon and rises thousands of feet in about 40 kilometers before finally arriving at Cilaos in the Cirque de Cilaos valley. To accomplish this altitude change, the road twists and turns via a few hundred switchbacks many of which have completely blind turns. The road also narrows in many places to a single lane, so you have to always be paying attention.

The views along the way were great. We were constantly slowing down or pulling over to take photos where we could.

Because clouds often roll into the center of Reunion during the day, it is best to do the drive to Cilaos in the morning in order to get the best views. The, you can spend a few hours relaxing in Cilaos before reversing course and driving back down the same road, which is the only way into the Cirque de Cilaos.

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Le Maido is a scenic overlook at the top of a ridge overlooking the Circque de Mafate, one of the three amazing 3000-foot deep circular canyons on the northern half of Reunion Island. Of the three cirques, the Cirque de Mafete is the only one without any roads going into it, so the only way that you can see it is by helicopter, by doing a long hike in, or by driving up to the viewpoint at Le Maido. The drive itself is half the fun. You go up 6000 vertical feet in less than 15 miles, with dozens of switchbacks. The road is paved, but has ditches with steep dropoffs on the sides, so you have to pay attention the whole way while driving. When you reach the top, at Le Maido, there are two main viewpoints along the crest of the ridge that literally sit right on top of the cliff, which goes 1000s of feet straight down.

The views from Le Maido are amazing. You can see for miles into and across the Cirque de Mafate, which is full of rugged valleys that were formed by tens of thousands of years of erosion. To avoid staring into nothing but clouds, you need to get there by 9AM, when the clouds typically start rolling into the Cirque de Mafate. Also, bring sunglasses and sunscreen, because the sun is intense at Le Maido, even in the morning. Also, bring a sweater and/or coat and gloves, because the temperature is much lower than at the coast due to the increase in altitude.