Adventures in Africa: Reunion

Air Austral took me from Mayotte to Reunion on Wednesday and it was about 22:00 when we landed. My hotel is a relatively short walk from the airport, so that made my evening last night easy. 

My visit to Reunion is just a layover for my Mayotte-Mauritius itinerary, and I have about 19 hours on the island. The landscape of Reunion is what interests me most, but much of it is quite inaccessible, and with just a few hours to spend, the only realistic way to experience the unique Reunion topography was to do it from the air! So, I booked a flight in what the French call a ULM. I took a bus over to the hangar and you can see that the day is beautiful!

A relief map of Reunion on the wall gives a sense for its topography. 

The tourist website describes it like this: 

With the combined forces of the ocean, the air and the movements of the earth’s crust, an island of astonishing scenery has risen from the sea. We are left with the three enormous ‘cirques’ (natural amphitheatres) of Cilaos, Salazie and Mafate, the deep valleys hewn into the volcanic slopes by the island’s main rivers, and the upper plains dotted with peaks….

I chose a tour that involved us flying over the three cirques. I was excited to see Reunion, but probably I was just as excited to fly in the micro-light plane!

I have been in some relatively small airplanes, but never anything this tiny. It is a very intimate way to fly!

Here are some photos and a video of the roughly 40 minutes we were over the cirques.

It was an epic little tour, but definitely went too fast! In no time we were heading back towards the coast and the airport.

My tour was not cheap (€150) but it was worth every penny. After our flight, my pilot invited me to sit for an espresso and to try some local honey. 

I caught the bus back to my hotel and checked out, but left my bag in storage while I went to a local shopping mall to buy a few things and get some lunch. On my way back to the hotel the bus did not stop where I expected for some reason and I decided I may as well ride it all the way into St Denis and see the town. When the bus terminated I was intending to just get on one heading back towards the airport, but I realized I was at a téléphérique station. I actually had had no idea that there was a téléphérique system in Reunion, but here it was and my bus ticket worked to get in, so I figured I would continue my tour and ride the téléphérique.

As I ascended and then descended the hill I got some good views of the Indian Ocean, St Denis, and parts of Reunion beyond the city. 

Once back down I rode the bus back to the hotel and picked up my bag, then headed to the airport to wait for my flight to Mauritius. I was pretty taken with this view from the gate. That is my Austral Air Airbus 220 and the Indian Ocean just behind it. 

Adventures in Africa: Mayotte

This morning I was feeling a little better, and although I did not eat a lot, I did have a bit of an appetite for breakfast. I found all the ants in the honey amusing. I may be in France, but it is also the tropics.

I fly to Reunion late this afternoon, so I planned to explore more of Mayotte this morning. I wanted to visit Grand-Terre and Mayotte's capital of Mamoudzou. This time, however, I made sure I was confident about the shared taxi and indeed I walked over to the airport and easily found one. For €2 the taxi took me to the port, where the frequent ferry is only €0.75 for pedestrians. 

The ferry itself is a nice way to enjoy Mayotte, since for the duration of the about 20 minute ride you can sit out on the upper deck and take in the views as you travel between Petite-Terre and Grand-Terre. 

There is an unimpressive tourist office near the dock, as well as a more interesting market and a variety of other shops and transportation infrastructure. 

Also, Mayotte has its version of the sign I had seen two days ago in Comoros--asserting that Mayotte is French. 

I visited the market and bought a couple bananas, which seemed like a smart thing to be eating given the state of my stomach. 

I spent a little while around the water here in Mamoudzou, but not that long. There was not anything in particular I wanted to see and I am still low on energy, so I was not overly ambitious. 

Shortly after noon I caught the ferry back to Petite-Terre and then again the shared taxi was easy enough to locate and ride back to the airport. I ate lunch at my hotel and sat in the restaurant basically until it was time to go to the airport for my flight. Even though I sat for a couple of hours, I could not finish the meal I ordered, which is extremely unusual for me. I did, however, eat more than I had since Monday and anyway it was probably smart to sit there and take it easy. Especially since I was sick, I was happy enough with what I had been able to see and do in Mayotte and hopefully preserving energy will allow me to enjoy Reunion. 

Adventures in Africa: Mayotte

It is a quick flight from Grand Comore over to Mayotte, but the contrast between the Moroni airport and the Dzaoudzi–Pamandzi airport makes it feel like you have traveled a long way. Mayotte is France, after all, and Comoros is very much not. 

My stomach was still very upset from food poisoning, and I was grateful that I had booked a hotel just across the street from the airport. 

I went straight to check in at the Ibis Styles hotel and I lay down and fell asleep. When I woke up around 16:30 I was still feeling unwell, but I did not want to lose more of the few daylight hours (I fly on to Reunion tomorrow afternoon) I have in Mayotte, so I mustered my energy and left my room. As I left the hotel I took a few photos--it is a nice hotel, very airy and contemporary . . . 

. . .  and right on the coast.

My hope was to find one of Mayotte's shared taxis that would take me to Lac Dziani, a crater lake on the north of Petite-Terre, which is Mayotte's second largest island. My hotel and the airport are on the south tip of Petite-Terre.

The island is not big, but it is about five kilometres from the Ibis Styles hotel to Lac Dziani and I had read that I would be able to take a shared taxi that more or less ran this route. I decided I would walk and try to figure out the taxi as I went, so I set out northward. Eventually after twenty to thirty minutes I gave up on the taxi because there did not appear to be any, or at least if there were, I was sure not figuring them out. Five kilometres is not a short walk in any state, but I was really weak and the walk was tiring, but I was determined. Most of the way I passed through residential streets . . .

. . . until I reached the trailhead at 17:45.

The trail around the crater is about four kilometres, and with sunset at 18:30 I estimated I had just enough time to complete the hike. 

Since the shared taxi had not worked out, I intended to use the Mayotte Taxi'CO app to get back to my hotel from the trailhead. So, although I was tired already, I at least was not worried about the walk back.

The crater was definitely worth visiting. From the west side, where I began, I could look back over most of Petite-Terre and across to Grand-Terre, Mayotte's main island.

As I circled around the north edge of the crater (and the north edge of Petite-Terre) the view out into the Indian Ocean was quite dramatic. 

Along the trail I encountered enormous snails, like this distinguished fellow. . . 

. . . and various birdlife, including a bright red bird who somewhat led me down the trail for a dozen metres or so. 

The crater itself is quite something. I believe these volcanic crater lakes are quite common, especially on islands, but I have only ever seen one in person before on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), and on Rapa Nui you cannot walk around its entirety like you can here.

Sun had set by the time I finished the hike, and I ordered my taxi to meet me at the trail head. The Mayotte Taxi'CO app is new and certainly not up to the standards of other rideshare apps like Uber, Bolt, and Yandex. Anyway, I thought I had successfully requested my ride, and the price, although high at €20, felt entirely worth it since I was sick and had walked 9 kilometres already. But, I waited and waited, and eventually I realized no taxi was coming. I get the impression the app may not be quite ready to go, or, who knows, perhaps I was not using it properly. I gave up and started the walk back.

About halfway back to the hotel I passed a grocery store and decided to stop to get some water and juice and food. I still did not trust my stomach, but I after all this walking I thought I better try. So, with my backpack full of a few things, I carried on, drinking mango juice as I walked. 

Finally I was getting close to the hotel, only to encounter this imposing gate!! 

The hotel is apparently within the airport compound that closes at 20:00, and this is a serious gate. There was definitely no way I was going to be able to climb it. I was especially frustrated because the sign says 20:00 but it was only 19:50! I attempted to contact my hotel without immediate success, but realized on the map that if I went around the block there might be another access point. I thought I could reach it before 20:00 if I hurried, so I hustled back and around the corner (about 500 metres) and indeed the gate was still open. So, that was a relief! I got back to my hotel about five minutes later absolutely wiped. I was sure glad I had made myself visit the crater, but I definitely wish I had put more effort into figuring out how Mayotte taxis work before undertaking the expedition!