I wish I could tell that my first trip after a year and a half break from traveling – thanks COVID – went all smoothly and was great, but that would be a lie. Of course, there were beautiful moments, nice days and there were lonely and eventless days, filled with anxiety and pannick attacks. I actually needed to cut short my holiday and adress my health and forget holidaying for a bit.
That being said, I’ll start with the positives.
I boarded my plane in Paris with lots of excitement and wanderlust, flew eleven hours in a nearly empty plane, where everybody had their own row and still was a lot of space. Landed in Saint Denis, the capital city of the island and the warm weather felt amazing. The beach was calling me, hence I booked an Airbnb close to Boucan Canot beach.
Boucan Canot is that part of the island where mainly the French expats live and it pretty much feels like south of France but just with a bit of island vibe to it, which is very attractive by the way.
As soon as I took a shower and settled a bit, I was headed straight to the beach. That place became my second home while around there, being the place for sunbathing and meditating.
Boucan Canot beach is calm, but the waves are huge, I just went in shortly and went for a swim to the rock pool instead. Those waves are truly intimidating for me, who I’m a weak swimmer.
Boucan Canot has a few nice eating places with beautiful views and absolutely delicious samosas and caris , local food that I loved.
Also, it’s a great spot for sunsets while enjoying a local drink.
As I don’t drive, I was relying on public transport, traveling around by the local buses. Surprisingly they were reliable and quite comfortable.
Just a few bus stops from Boucan Canot, there’s Trou d’Eau, which I always mispronounced as Troudeu, the Canadian prime ministers name. So wrong! Anyway, that place is perfect for stand up paddle boarding, I spotted numerous colorful fishes while paddling around. The water is crystal clear, the beach clean and quiet.
Just nearby is also L’Hermitage beach, perfect for snorkeling and another good spot to sunbath and with lots of good restaurants.
After a few days I changed locations and I was headed to Saint Pierre, which seemed chaotic and was slightly difficult to find my way around there, but that’s probably just because I’m not familiar with the island structures. However, I found my way to the port, which was quite a nice place to hang out at, especially in the morning. I chilled at the beach, ate a massive Americaine and strolled over to a Hindu temple.
Probably the highlight of my entire trip was a day trip to the southeastern part of the island, where I had the chance to step on the youngest beach of the world, which was formed in 2007 , when the volcano erupted and the lava reached the ocean, creating the gorgeous black sand beach called Plage du Tremblet.
Reunion is well known for its beautiful waterfalls and mountains, sadly I can’t comment about the mountains cause I didn’t have the chance to hike, but the two waterfalls I visited were truly stunning.
During this awesome daytrip I visited also the route of the lava, where also the hikes to Piton de la Fornaise start. One day maybe I’ll be able to also hike there, by then I keep as memory two little lava stones on my bedside table.
With the hope of one day revisiting, hopefully more prepared and less stressed out, for now I keep the memories and pictures of the beautiful sunrises and sunsets and not only. Definitely a place to return to.
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