La Possession, Réunion

Mar. 3, 2023

Réunion, officially Department of Réunion, is an island of the Mascarene Islands that is a French overseas department and overseas region. It is located in the western Indian Ocean about 420 miles east of Madagascar and 110 miles southwest of Mauritius. Réunion is almost elliptical in shape, about 40 miles long and 30 miles wide. The capital is Saint-Denis, on the northern coast.

Of volcanic origin, Réunion consists mostly of rugged mountains dissected by short torrential rivers. The west-central area contains a mountain massif with three summits exceeding 9,000 feet, including the Piton des Neiges (10,069 feet). The massif is encircled by several wide basins and a series of smaller plateaus. In the eastern part of the island is an area of more recent volcanism, and in the extreme east is the mountain Le Volcan, one of whose craters, Piton de la Fournaise, has been active several times since 1925. Réunion’s coast has no good natural harbors.

Moisture-laden southeast trade winds, which dominate the weather from April to October, bring abundant annual rainfall (160–315 inches) to the south and east of the island; the north and west sides, however, have as little as 25 inches of rain a year. Temperatures tend to be cool for the tropics, especially at higher elevations, but in summer the lowlands are uncomfortably humid and hot. Tropical cyclones occur frequently. When we were there, it was hot and muggy, and Cyclon Freddy was building up.

Réunion was first settled in the 17th century by colonists from France. Slave laborers were brought in from East Africa to work on plantations, and later Malays, Chinese, and Malabar Indians were imported as indentured laborers. Today the greatest proportion of the population is of mixed descent (African, European, and South Asian). The limited amount of land has caused substantial emigration, largely to France but also to Madagascar.

The island’s population density is high, even in areas that typically would be considered too mountainous to support a dense population. Saint-Denis, the capital and largest urban area on the island, contains about one-fifth of the total population. Nearly one-fourth of the population is under age 15; birth rates have declined steadily in recent decades, while the death rate has largely remained stagnant. The language in common use on the island is Réunion French Creole, and Tamil is also spoken by some people. French, however, is the official language. About four-fifths of the population is Roman Catholic.

The Rue de Paris is the most distinguished street, not just in the city of Saint-Denis, but all of Reunion. From La Possession town it’s 15-minutes at most and deserves to be seen for its palatial colonial mansions and government buildings. These mix European Neoclassicism with a Creole twist, featuring verandas and painted walls. The most impressive are on the west side, and include the former bishopric, the old town hall, the Maison Carrère.

Réunion’s economy has been based almost entirely on sugar for more than a century. Cane is grown on most of the cultivable land, though vanilla bean and some fruits and vegetables, tobacco, and geraniums (for perfume) are also produced. About a dozen big estates with milling facilities produce the bulk of the cane crop.

The steep, rocky landscapes and abundance of rivers gives rise to lots of waterfalls and cascades on Reunion. Normally you have to go the extra mile to hunt them down, but there’s one nearby in Saint-Paul that is easy to get to. The Bassin des Aigrettes is a waterfall with gossamer shafts of water plunging into a clear deep blue pool. Unfortunately, you can’t swim in the water because of the risk of rock-falls.

Reunion’s only cathedral is an adorable colonial-style building from the 1800s. Although the building was inaugurated in 1832, it didn’t take on its current appearance until the 1860s when the handsome portico and pediment were added. Also installed around this time was the cast iron fountain out front, which was bought and shipped here from the Ducel foundry in Touraine in mainland France.

In an isolated ravine between La Possession and Saint-Denis is an intriguing site that harks back to the 19th century. At this time Reunion was still a French colony (rather than a legitimate department), and while slavery was abolished in 1848, indentured servitude continued long after. La Grande Chaloupe was a lazaretto, a maritime quarantine, for indentured people arriving from the Indian subcontinent. The dormitories and infirmary are still standing, and have an exhibition about the site, with displays of artifacts discovered here and at a second lazaretto a kilometer upriver.

Reunion’s west coast is the best for beaches. Many of these have pristine white sand rather than the volcanic black sand of the south.

As for the water, this can be a touchy subject. Reunion has been prone to attacks by tiger sharks, but the Plage de Boucan-Canot is the first on the island to put up a net and there have been no reports since then.

There’s also a small, man-made lagoon for swimmers. Surfers love Boucan-Canot for its rolling waves, and if you prefer the comfort of the beach, it’s a piece of paradise. There are palms, volcanic cliffs and a chain of bars for cold drinks.

So, we leave La Reunion and sail west. Our next destination is Maputo, Mozambique.