Day on the Volcano

The next day we made a very early start to head off to the Volcano. We had decided that a trip to Reunion Island would not be complete with out a walk up volcano to the craters. An early start was needed because there is no shade & the sun could get very strong. So, having made it to the carpark soon after 7am we got our walking boots on & got ourselves ready to head off after taking a few photos of the view we had missed the last time we were there.



The walk starts with a long descent from the carpark to the lava fields, zigzagging down the side of the cliff (505 steps in all - I counted on the way back up). We then headed off across a level area before starting the ascent up to the craters. The route was marked out with white blobs of paint which you were to follow, & apparently can guide you back down if you get lost in a cloud. Not sure I'd like to be the person sent out with a tin of paint to climb the volcano....

The good point about no shade is that at every point up to the top, we had brilliant views, and could gauge how high we were.

Finally we got to the top - Time for some chocolate and a good drink of water! After a bit of a rest, we went for a bit of a walk around, looking into the craters from time to time, and making the most of our high vantage point to take in the views of Piton des Neiges and the clouds bubbling up below us. Some people were cheating by coming in by helicopter but we knew we deserved our view!

Due to the fact that the Volcano was in eruption pre-alert we weren't allowed to walk the whole way around the two craters. There were lots of warning signs about because some areas had become unstable. They knew something was going to happen - & they were right! We did see a few people who were crazy enough to climb down into Crater Bory (the smaller one) even though there was a massive crack visible! If you don't already know, the day after we left the volcano started to erupt & as a result there was a massive collapse of the big crater (Dolomieu) so the view has changed a bit from what our pictures show - rather than a fairly full flat crater there is a massive 300m hole! I think we'll have to go again to see the difference for ourselves!!!

Before on the left & after on the right.

We had our lunch while still up at the summit & after a while (when the walking boots started to hurt) we headed back to the car knowing that there were those 500 or so steps to climb before we could take the boots off. Counting them helped. 505 to the top of the zigzag & then another 60 or so to the car.

As there were still no clouds Tim took the opportunity to take more pictures with rather different lighting to the glare & deep shadow of early morning.

Back at our gite after some dinner we enjoyed a well deserved soak in the jacuzzi.