Today was the day to transition from Mauritius to Reunion Island. We were up at 5 AM and in the lime green mini car at 6 AM for the drive to the airport in the South. For once, the traffic was a breeze and we made it to the airport by 7:30, returned the rental car, and checked in for our 9:45 Air Mauritius flight.
We enjoyed a nice breakfast in their business lounge, which gave me the opportunity to work out a new routing home with Air France's call center, as they cancelled our Saturday evening flight! It all worked out in the end - it means an earlier departure and an extra connecting flight, but we'll still make it home at the same time as planned.
Our Air Mauritius Airbus A340 from Mauritius to Reunion Island.
It's a 45-minute flight over to Reunion, which is located west of Mauritius, toward Madagascar. As we descended towards Reunion, we could tell the geography was different -- more mountainous, more dramatic cliffs along the coast.
The airport is located just east of the capital, Saint-Denis, on the north of the island. It was instantly obvious that this is indeed a "Department" of France, as it is called. The level of prosperity and infrastructure seemed identical to that of France. It almost feels like the Côte d'Azur in Europe.
With the cliffs and mountains, you can tell that French engineering has been put to work to make everything very accessible and orderly. Driving is on the right, unlike Mauritius, and there are no weaving motorcycles, stray dogs or pedestrians prancing all over to create chaos.
Fortress enroute to Saint Gilles-les-bains, where we are staying.
By 12:30 we were pulling into our hotel, the Lux Saint-Gilles. At first, it had a snooty air to it, but the staff have turned out to be extremely kind and helpful.
The wonderful thing about the hotel is that it is one of a few nice hotels on the beach. And not only is it on he beach, it is on the lagoon. Now let me explain why that is critical... A few years ago, Reunion created a large aquatic conservation area. It has rejuvenated fish stocks dramatically. And where there are lots of fish, there are lots of sharks. In this case, bull and tiger sharks - right up with the great white, in terms of their nasty, vindictive, man-chomping flare. It is so bad that the government closed all beaches to swimming a few years ago. The exception is the lagoon, which is only a couple meters deep at most and is protected from sharks by a coral reef about 250m off shore, which extends for several kilometres. And the lagoon is loaded with the most dazzling tropical fish and coral anywhere. Snorkelling here, which we did much of today, is phenomenal.
The lagoon offers incredible snorkelling.
We spent the afternoon enjoying the beach and resort facilities, and went into Saint-Gilles-les-bains for dinner at a Creole restaurant on the main street, which is appropriately named after General de Gaulle. No surprise there!
To reiterate, this place is as French as French can be. The tourists are almost all French. Little English is spoken. The Euro is used. France's telecommunications network is in place, and on it goes.
While in Mauritius, I spoke to a guy from Reunion Island who explained how the two islands are so different. Reunion's volcanoes and mountains, if joined with Mauritius' stunning beaches would, in his opinion, create the most beautiful place on Earth. I think I would agree.
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