Reunion - Introduction to the miracle of nature in the Indian Ocean

To be honest, after the landscape of Rio, the beaches of the Caribbean beaches, the eight-thousanders of the Himalayas or the snorkeling paradise of Phi-Phi Islands, I wasn't sure if a landscape can amaze me in a wow/ jaw-dropping way.

As we have spotted Reunion Island from the plane...

From INDIAN OCEAN - Reunion

...I realized I was SO WRONG...

The closest anything I've seen to such a landscape

From INDIAN OCEAN - Reunion

was probably the mountains of Planet Pandora, of course that was just Cameroon's fantasy movie.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves with the story.

So where were we? Oh yes, so as we were approaching Reunion, looking down below...

From INDIAN OCEAN - Reunion

we were eager on driving these amazing roads following the coastline.

From INDIAN OCEAN - Reunion

Upon arrival to Reuinion, we immediately noticed this is not the usual Indian ocean island, we are after all in France. Which was good (even though we were forced to make use of Krisztina's french lessons) as the atmosphere was pleasantly relaxed - french. However, this is not France as we know it, but a special one, where cultures mix and co-exist peacefully, be it in the form of:

• a Christian church
  

  From INDIAN OCEAN - Reunion

• a Muslim mosque
  

  From INDIAN OCEAN - Reunion

• a Buddhist
  

  From INDIAN OCEAN - Reunion

• or a Tamil temple
  

  From INDIAN OCEAN - Reunion

We ended our visit of Saint Denis (Reunion's capital) with a nice lunch, after which we drove up on winding roads...

From INDIAN OCEAN - Reunion

...towards Hellbourg in the Cirque de Salazie, which was the starting point of our first hike on Reunion to the Piton d'Anchaing (to be continued)