Thursday 26th October 2017
I have never known much about Reunion. It is an island in the Indian Ocean 175km south-west of Mauritius. The main town is in the north and is called St. Denis. However, when you arrive by ship, the port is at La Possession and is in the north-western area of the island. Nearby is a town Le Port and about 10km away another town St. Paul. As we had spent a lot on the Israel and Jordan ship excursions, we elected to not take the excursions offered for Seychelles, Mauritius or Reunion, but just to get off the ship and do our own thing.
As we woke up, the sun was rising and we were approaching the island….
Docking went off well and we had a fabulous view of the working dock from our cabin…
We had a leisurely breakfast and then once most people had gone, we strolled off the ship and got on the shuttle bus that would take us out the port area. Once there, we got on another bus that took us to St. Paul. This is on the beach, but beaches in Reunion are not like Cape Town’s. The sand is black due to its basalt content.
We walked around the town, which is French-speaking, but fortunately we found a couple of people who did speak English. We rested in a park with a waterfall…
In the afternoon we went to Le Port which I have to admit was entirely underwhelming. There was nothing there except a shopping complex. I did find what I was looking for though. Altogether, my impression of Reunion was not fantastic. I am sure there are wonderful places to visit on the island, but we didn’t get to see them this time. It sort of was like being taken to Cape Town and instead of seeing the Waterfront, you got to see Salt River.
#458 of my 1000 thanks was for perfect timing. We arrived at the bus stop to wait for the bus that would take us back to the ship. As we got there, the bus drove up. I asked the other passengers how long they had been waiting? 50 minutes!
On our return to the ship, we sat on our balcony and watched the cranes unload endless containers from a container vessel. It was so entertaining and something we will never forget…
By 5-30pm, we had taken off again and enjoyed a majestic sunset…
Psalm 96:6
Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and glory are in His sanctuary
Now we are heading towards Madagascar but don’t stop there. Our next stop is Durban where we disembark on Monday. 4 nights, 3 days. Exciting!
These are the days!
Keep the smile going!
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂