Today held an extra special element for us on this trip -- actually, among all our travels, we have never done what we did today: a helicopter tour. And there have been two main reasons why we haven't, until today: (a) they don't come cheaply, and (b) when I was 12, my dad's cousin lost her three kids and her brother in a horrible helicopter crash in Newfoundland. That has always made me wary of 'choppers'.
Anyway, this island and its volcanoes presented a perfect opportunity to throw caution to the wind and to take a ride.
We were up at 5 AM and met the Helilagon folks at the entrance to our resort at 6:20. Each chopper seats six people, and today was a busy day for Helilagon's four aircraft. A young French family of four did the tour with Pam and I. Their two young kids were less anxious than we were! I guess naïveté is bliss, as they say!
Our Helilagon aircraft
We were briefed and secured in our seats for a prompt 7 AM take-off. Our female pilot was extremely kind and competent, and we had total confidence in her experience.
Buckled in and ready to fly!
We left the heliport in Saint-Gilles, which is located in "Les Hauts" (the heights), and started our 45-minute tour with a quick view of the west coast. As I mentioned yesterday, the island has three "cirques" -- essentially three massive volcanic craters, named Mafate, Salazie and Cilaos. And then there is "Le Piton de la Fournaise", which is the active volcano, last erupting in 2010,but still spewing steam.
Our pilot told us we had picked the perfect day weather-wise. Unlike the day before, when we drove up to see the Mafate crater and found it socked in with fog, today there wasn't a cloud to be found. Flying over the first razor-back mountain edge and into the canyon below was an other-worldly experience. We flew into crevices containing waterfalls, saw tiny villages in the craters accessible only by foot, and on and on it went. "Breath-taking" is an understatement. And photos don't show the magnitude or grandeur of what we saw. But a feeble attempt to describe a few scenes follows.
Lava fields resembling Mars, from the Plaine des Sables, near Le Piton de la Fournaise
The steaming "Piton de la Fournaise"
We landed at 7:50, said farewell to our pilot, and headed back to the Lux to enjoy a breakfast buffet and to spend our last couple of hours on the beach and snorkel. By 11, we were back in our room, getting cleaned up and ready to leave.
At noon on the mark, we said farewell to the Lux and headed out to explore the capital, Saint-Denis, before heading to the airport. Saint-Denis has a very walkable city centre which allows one to see many examples of restored Creole architecture.
By 3:30, we headed to the airport to return our tiny Pugeot rental car and check in for our Air Mauritius flight back to Mauritius. We had originally planned to fly direct from Reunion to Paris, but had to rebook via Mauritius due to a scheduling change by Air France that would have seen us miss our connection to Canada.
We departed Reunion at 5:30, landed early in Mauritius, got dinner and a shower at the lounge there, and our Air France flight departed for Charles de Gaulle right on time at 9 PM.
It has been an amazing week filled with wonderful experiences, sights, beaches and food in these two Indian Ocean island gems. I'll check in once more to conclude the journey home, as anyone who knows me knows that the fun is as much about the flights as it is about the destination.
Bonsoir from 35,000 feet!
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