Storm Warning

When you are in La Reunion, you must to have a backup plan for your week-end activities. The weather is changing quickly and your week-end hike may be cancelled on Friday just because the weather became stormy during the night.



The plan was to go for a two-day hike with some friends in Mafate starting from «Le Cirque de Cilaos”. When it is raining a lot on the island, the clouds tend to stick to the mountain tops and stay there a while; it is not a good idea to go for a hike under the rain. We met for lunch on Saturday instead of sweating in the mountains, we ate outside away from the sun because it was too hot. It should have rained non stop on Saturday in the highest part of the island but it was not the case. I wanted to change the hike in Mafate with a hike to the volcano but I quickly forgot the idea. There are three webcams that show the volcano and give people the possibility to know the exact weather without having to drive for hours to find out. When I checked the webcams on Friday you could only see what looked like pea soup but when I checked again on Saturday afternoon the sky was clear. We could have spent 2 days at the volcano if I had thought of checking earlier. We went to the beach to relax, the sun was covered by clouds but the temperature was just what we needed.



We had to do a little exercise after the calm and relaxing day that was Saturday, so we went to see “Le Piton de La Fournaise”. The trip up to the point of view on the volcano is not the most pleasant especially for the car but you get rewarded by a wonderful landscape once you get there. I would go up there each week just to have the pleasure of breathing fresh air and walking in this particular scenery. We stopped at “La Plaine des Sables” on the way back to throw boomerangs. We only had one of the simplest user manual ever to help us learn how to throw them properly. We first had to feel the wind because you need to be in the right position compared to the wind if you want your boomerang to come back. We then had to master to throwing movement to avoid the boomerang from going too high or too low. It was my first time throwing a boomerang and I loved it. The two boomerangs we had suffered when they were landing on the gravel and the stones but they suffered less than my poor fingers each time I would attempt to catch the boomerang coming back. In the end I managed to grab one once without hurting myself and I am pretty happy with it. I will have to find a place in Paris where I can train.



We stopped at the “Belvedere de Bois Court” located in “La Plaine des Cafres” on the way back; not only will you get a great view of the small village of “Grand Bassin” but you will also get to see the hydraulic clock that definitely deserves a look. We concluded our trip with a last stop at “Le Gouffre” in “L’Etang Salé”, it is a small corridor dug by the sea in the cold lava. The sight of the sea coming in is quite impressive.
In La Reunion when you can’t get someplace there is always some other place you can go.