Reunion Island: France in the tropics

God created the world and rested on the seventh day. In this scintillating jewel called Reunion Island in East Africa, He must have decided to stay.

Here, one communes with the Creator and nature in a magical — even mystical — polarity, as though this ethereal place has its heart and soul set as a magnet for enchantment.

My dear friend Glenn Pineda of Supersonic Services, GSA of Air Mauritius in Manila suggested a trip to Reunion Island and at that point, I had vaguely heard of such a place. Glenn described it as an island paradise, a region of France located in the tropics where the euro currency first became legal tender due to the time zone. A place where one hears wind concerts in the bamboo groves and the sweet scent of vanilla wafts in the air. This is a preserved sanctuary where a plethora of cultures converge in an exhilarating volcanic isle where waterfalls, mountains peaks kiss the sky and 40-ton humpback whales gravitate during the winter to give birth. Without batting an eyelash, we found ourselves at the posh Cebu Pacific Airport in NAIA 3 to board our plane to Singapore. From Singapore, it’s just a comfortable seven-hour haul on Air Mauritius to the island of Mauritius on board its new Airbus 330. Then, still via Air Mauritius, a brief 45-minute flight to Reunion Island. We finally experienced what Glenn was raving about.

I must admit, what started as a hobby for me a decade ago has now become a passionate pursuit for the most beautiful, most exotic, unique destinations the world over. I travel the world like a maverick in search of that perfect “Eden” and try to make known how accessible, enriching and even life-changing these destinations can be.

The winsome explorers that we are, our rambunctious group composed of my best friend and two-time CMMA awardee Bum Tenorio, Romelda Martinez, Cindy Velez and Babylet Javier anticipated our reunion on this island with great enthusiasm. Reunion is an island of contrasts and intensity forged over a dramatic past. It is a kaleidoscope of eclectic colors, aromas and flavors, a unique sensory experience. We learned that it has only two seasons — winter is from April to September while summer is from October to March. Though winter does not bring snow, it creates an impeccable climate where the sun shines gloriously but the wind is crisp and chilly.

The nippy weather accompanied us as we discovered Reunion Island. As a volcanic region, a trip to witness the grandeur of Piton de la Fournaise, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, can be done while riding an ultra-light plane, a helicopter or an all-terrain vehicle. Other daredevils do parachute gliding for an aerial view of the island that houses the intriguingly beguiling Piton de la Fournaise. Even today, its eruptions have led to an increase in the surface area of the island. In 1986, the region of Saint-Philippe gained an additional 25 hectares with lava flowing into the watery caverns while at Bois Blanc, 10 hectares were recovered from the sea in January 2002.

When not on land or suspended in mid-air, other adventurous tourists discover the paradisiacal pull of the island in its waters. The vast Indian Ocean in Reunion Island has been declared by many divers as their point of rendezvous with dazzling and diverse denizens of the deep. 

Even if one does not dive, the waters of Reunion Island still provide great excitement for those who want to experience humpback whale watching. That’s exactly what we did as gracious Alexandra, executive of our hotel, the elegant Grand Hotel du Lagon, booked us for a flipping experience of a lifetime. Aboard a boat, we bopped up and down atop the Indian Ocean waiting to spot humpback whales. The late afternoon sun provided the warmth that accompanied the cold air that tugged inside our skin. Before the sun set, more than 24 humpback whales began parading in front of us, around the boat. The deep blue sea became an open-air amphitheater for their delightful performance. They gracefully leaped out of the waters only to submerge again, leaving their colossal fins above the water surface. They left us breathless as they seemed to pirouette between the full moon and the crimson sun that hovered above. They playfully jumped out of the water and suddenly fell on their backs. They made haunting and humming sounds as they played before us. Their humongous presence dwarfed us as they enjoyed showing off to guests who gazed at them with awe and wonder. They “somersaulted” in mid-air by twos, by threes, by fours. They did a “show” for more than an hour. It was truly magical! God’s creations certainly take center stage here.

Some three million years ago, between the exotic islands of Madagascar and Mauritius in West Africa rose from the bottom of the Indian Ocean the Piton des Neiges volcano that incited the creation of Reunion Island. The island has an impressive intermixed population with various origins: the Z’Oreils (Europeans from the continent) the Malbars from India, Chinese, Z’ Arabs from the Gujrat region, Caffers (descending from African slaves), the Yabs (whites from the highlands) and natives from Madagascar and Comoros. Reunion prides itself on its diversity, tolerance and harmony.

Once called Mascarin, due to its location in the Mascarenhas Archipelago, the island was named Bourbon, after the king of France, following the arrival of the French in 1638. In 1848, the year of the abolition of slavery, Reunion was given its name back. It is now officially a part of France where the people are very warm, gracious and hospitable.

The adventurous threesome of the group composed of Bum, Mel and myself were told by the charming resident manager Christophe Pagni of the luxurious Grand Hotel du Lagon hotel that it was a pirate named La Buse who led the swashbuckling buccaneers to converge every year in Reunion Island to show off their loot. La Buse was buried at the nearby Saint-Paul cemetery so we boarded a public bus to find his grave. We found his grave of black stone in a rocky promontory over the sea that he worshipped. We hitched a ride with a young French couple to the nearby town of Saint-Gilles for a quick snack of delicious cari camaron, a spicy shrimp curry dish bursting with aromatic Creole flavor. It was gratifying for explorers to find what we had sought. .

My travels have taken me far and wide but this trip to Reunion Island satisfied the insatiable. My account here is truly honest as I present sights and sounds as seen from the eyes of someone who finds poetry in unpredictable places. I’ve seen most of it — never-ending roads, solitary columns, dispatches of wisdom, forgotten lives lived in by-lanes of mighty metropolitan cities.

On a pedestal of its own, Reunion Island radiates a universal appeal, an innocent freshness that speaks of a timeless sensibility boasting of Mother Nature whose omniscient power and prevalence is astonishing.

Such is life on the island where religion sweetens their plight, as does poetry. An altar found by a verdant path near a dangerous precipice on the edge of a ravine, these blood shelters are testimonies to a culture of pagan rituals in the past, a colonial life where slaves once toiled the sugar and vanilla fields. Today, Reunion Island is a haven where its people are as free as its magnificent and powerful waterfalls and its active volcanoes with its molten lava, flowing furiously yet gracefully.

That last night on the island, as we walked into the estate of our colonial manor of Grand Hotel du Lagon, I told our group, “Look up at the moon. We believe it is there through we do not see it.” A few seconds later, suddenly the full moon emerged from the ominous black clouds, glowing in all its majesty leaving us spellbound.

This is Reunion Island, the paradise of all paradises, where your very breath is an answered prayer. Genesis at its finest, no less.

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For more information on Reunion Island, please call Glenn Pineda of Air Mauritius at (02)818-4870, 0917-8059509 or e-mail gapineda@supersonicservices.com.ph. Air Mauritius flies to Mauritius via Singapore every Wednesday and Saturday and also via Hong Kong every Tuesday and Friday.

Cebu Pacific flies to both Singapore and Hong Kong daily. For reservations call 702-0888.

E-mail the author at miladay.star@gmail.com.