La Reunion – a hiker’s paradise

Celebrating a wedding in the Seychelles gave Roger and I the opportunity to explore other islands in the Indian Ocean. As we like to be independent and free to explore we did a fly-and-drive to La Reunion, a ‘departement’ of France just off the coasts of Madagascar and Mauritius.

The island is 5,500 miles from its capital city so we did not expect to get off the plane and feel like we were arriving in mainland France. After a week in the Seychelles, it was a strange experience to travel just a few hundred miles further south and see French car plates, recognise big supermarket names and pay for everything in Euros. Nevertheless, our disappointment at not being culturally ‘wowed’ was dissipated by the amazing variety of landscapes and climates over La Reunion’s 970 square miles. Our week-long trip took us anti-clockwise around the island which offers steep cliffs with crashing waves, fairy-tale hillside forests, deep canyons, fields of volcanic rock, abundant rain forests and cascading water falls. It’s a hiker’s, rock-climber’s and mountain-biker’s paradise.

No trip to La Reunion would be complete without a hike along one of its many beautiful trails, however the weather was unpredictable which meant when the cloud broke one morning and the mountains beckoned we spontaneously decided to stop the carand hike up the Cirque de Cilaos. In retrospect it was not the smartest decision as we had limited water and food and only a very rough hand-drawn sketch of the trails which we’d picked up at the hotel. It was an amazing hike, which tested all our emotions and physical strength.

The first 45 minutes was a steep 800m climb that put my calf-muscles to the test, but as we got into a rhythm it got a little easier. The trail took us higher and higher along the rock face, through enchanting forests and across a river. After several hours of walking we were well beyond any trail marked on our map. I felt weary and suddenly scared. We had not seen anyone since the first hour, we had no idea where we were heading, we were running out of water and we still seemed to be climbing. I remember sitting down on a rock close to tears wondering whether we’d ever make it back to civilisation.

Roger, trail was literally just around the corner and we were rewarded with the most amazing view of the canyon and the ocean beyond, we felt as though we had walked to the top of the world. All my fears were allayed by a feeling of awe and achievement. Some experiences in life test all our strengths, but depending on the way we treat and remember them they can enrich our lives and give us the power to achieve.

Author: Rebecca Giger