We finished the first of our back-to-back cruises in Mauritius. The second cruise would make stops at Reunion Island, 2 ports in Madagascar, and 3 ports in South Africa.

Since we were doing the same port, Pointe Des Galets on Reunion Island. We had originally planned on hiring a taxi for a tour, however, on the first stop we learned that they only accept Euros and there is no money exchange on the island. So we worked with the ship’s excursion desk to book a tour to La Volcan. It is considered the world’s most active volcano. It is constantly steaming and has eruptions of lava every 8-9 months. Most visitors hike the volcano at night so they can see the lava spurts.

Our guide was Loci and our driver was Damian. Loci told us that the best time to visit the island is July and August, as the humpback whales winter in the harbors and you can watch them from the shore.

We drove to the southern part of the island where we could see the hills surrounding the volcano

We drove through St. Pierre which is the largest city at 200,000 citizens and is Europe’s most southern capital. The island has no crime except graffiti, which they consider an expression of art.

As our bus climbed toward the flank of the volcano, we drove through the area known as Le Tampon, which is ironically famous for it’s perfumes, due to the abundance of flowers.

We made a short stop at a convenience store, where they sold Mano juice. Being a French territory, Jim couldn’t resist buying a baguette which cost $1 euro, using our credit card. Back on the bus, the 4 year old in front of us, gave us a forlorn look and after asking her mother, we shared our bread…lol. Jim was intrigued by the Pepsi Zero bottles we bought as they have a hook that keeps the screw-on lid attached to the bottle, to prevent litter.

The convenience store had a balcony with a “view” of the surrounding area

The road to the top of the volcano was built in 1970. Before the road, the top was only accessible by hiking of small carriages. It is extremely steep, with lots of roundabouts, hairpin turns and curves. We were in a full-size bus, so Damian did an amazing job.

As we got closer, we were just hoping the clouds would clear…

Unfortunately as we continued the drive, we encountered clouds and rain. The road is an in and out. You drive up to a viewpoint, down to the volcano crater and visitor center and then back the way you came.

There are numerous dairy farms along the drive.

When we stopped at Plaines des Sables. We were told that it rarely rains, and only mists on the volcano but as luck would have it….that was not the case. We were given the rare experience of being rained on at La Volcan.

The area near the top viewpoint is covered in scrub brush. The volcanic soil is very porous and does not hold water, so the bushes have adapted and obtain their water through their branches., mostly with mist and fog.

We did not stop at the viewpoint because it was raining, so we only have pictures as the bus drove slowly by…dang

As we drove to the visitor center and the active crater, we could see the desolate landscape.

The volcano road was so rough that our bus lost a hub cap. Damian retrieved and put it back on.

There is a small visitor center at the crater that is the starting point for hikers. The visitor center had a few “rain-free photos”, so we could at least see what we were missing.

We could not see any of the crater, but could feel the heat from the volcano steam as we leaned over the guard rail.

Back on the bus, Loci showed us an aerial picture of what the crater looks like, when it is not raining

Coming back down from the summit, the weather cleared up enough to stop and see the lava flows. Our guide asked if anyone wanted to get out and we were the only passengers to raise our hands, but then everyone followed and then said how cool it was.

The weather had cleared up so that we could see the top “viewpoint” on the way back

We stopped back at the Plaines des Sables overlook and the clouds had cleared so that we could see the large valley created by erosion. What a difference 2 hours can make.

We had much better views of the surrounding area on the way down

At lunch, we learned that a typical Reunion Island lunch consists of rice, beans, chicken or pork, and tuna.

After lunch, we drove back through the St. Pierre area

We stopped on the southern coast at the island’s only black sand beaches. We could see remnants of Reunion Island’s very volcanic past as well as it’s ever changing present landscape. A conquer the World pose, in honor of our son, Jade.

There is even a modified blow hole.

Even with the rain, we had enjoyed the day at LaVolcan, but time to head towards Madagascar

We enjoyed a day at sea to relax. We did discover that the dining room had amazing Cream of Wheat as well as pretzel bread breakfast sandwiches.

We watched a vegetable and fruit carving demonstration.

Jim’s wild days of his youth, came in handy when he won the Pong competition. Cindy was laughing so hard, the pictures are blurry

One of our favorite cruise foods is the grilled pineapple at Moderno, the ship’s Brazilian Restaurant. The soup and salad bar is pretty good too. We finished the night in the lounge listening to one hit wonder songs.