When I was younger, I have no memories of my parents taking my sister and me to the beach. However, in the photo albums, I found a picture of myself at the age of two sitting on the bonnet of the car with my bottle, as if I wasn’t allowed to touch the sand… My parents don’t like the sea and, like most people of their generation in Réunion, they consider it dangerous and prefer to stay away from it. On the other hand, I have lots of memories of my parents taking us hiking in the mountains! That probably explains why, even today, I prefer hiking to roasting in the sun on a beach. Gwen and the children, on the other hand, love going to the beach.
Since we moved to Reunion Island, I have been taking them hiking so they can discover all these wonderful places that are only accessible on foot. Last year, we climbed the highest peak on the island, which rises to 3,070 metres. It took us three hours to climb up to the mountain lodge where we spent the night, and then another hour and a half at 4 a.m., wearing headlamps and braving the cold, to reach the summit in time for sunrise. It was extremely cold up there because it was windy. But the view was clear and magnificent, with a stunning sea of clouds. The long descent (nearly 5 hours) back to Cilaos, the starting point of our journey, was endless and very trying on Gwen’s and my old joints. The boys ran like goats… Ah, the beauty of youth! I don’t think I shared the photos from this hike with you last year. Here is a small selection below.
This year, we returned to the Cirque de Mafate. It’s a magnificent place that can only be reached on foot. I had planned to spend two nights there, but the children protested. Walking, yes, but not too much! I even suggested a different route, but they didn’t want to. They insisted on revisiting the same places. I must say that it wasn’t really a problem because it’s truly beautiful and, having done this hike more than a dozen times, I never tire of it. The hike was fairly easy, with a descent into the Cirque de Mafate towards the village of La Nouvelle from the Col des Boeufs (a 2-hour walk). We spent the night there and returned the next day via the same trail, with one small difference… while we had a descent on the way there, the return trip was all uphill!
We were accompanied on this trip to Mafate by my sister, my nephew, my cousin Tom and his children, and my friend Alex. It was quite a large group with varying levels of fitness. The young ones were way ahead of everyone else! We settled into the lodge we had booked and, in the early afternoon, Alex, Tom and I set off for a spot called 3 Roches. It’s a magnificent place with a river flowing into a large gorge. I slightly overestimated my strength and set off full of enthusiasm with less than half a litre of water. Pfff, too easy. 1 hour 20 minutes there and 1 hour 40 minutes back. Piece of cake. That was without taking into account the long lunch break, which had already cooled my muscles down considerably. Getting to 3 Roches is like going down to La Nouvelle. It’s almost all downhill. Which means that the return trip would be uphill! Not having hydrated enough at lunchtime (one beer is not enough), I started to get cramps in my adductors on the way there. I gritted my teeth and waited for them to pass. I tried not to drink too much water. I know this is a mistake and that you should drink even more, but I didn’t have much and I didn’t want to use up everyone else’s water.
The final descent into the riverbed was very steep, and I thought to myself that it was going to be tough to climb back up on the way back. And I was right! From the very first switchbacks, I was seized by violent cramps in the adductors of both legs! I couldn’t lift my legs. I had to stop for a good 10 minutes to stretch my muscles and get rid of the cramps… What awaited me was 35 minutes of a gruelling climb. The trail was very difficult. I had to lift my legs very high to climb, and I did the whole climb with the cramps still present, but I was able to manage them by climbing very slowly, delaying my companions a little. I went at my own pace, managing my efforts so as not to get cramps again. After an hour and a half of suffering, we were back in La Nouvelle where I drank more than a litre of water to eliminate all the lactic acid that was causing my cramps. It’s clear that I took this 3-hour trip a little too lightly. Some stretching when I got back, followed by a good night’s sleep, and I was ready to head back up to the Col des Bœufs.
We had a wonderful time in the Mafate cirque. It felt like we were far away from everything, surrounded by magnificent landscapes. Waking up in the early morning surrounded by mountains over 2,500 metres high is truly impressive. I’m already thinking about where we could go on our next holiday in two months’ time. To the mountains, that’s for sure! Réunion Island is full of beautiful places that I haven’t seen yet. I’ve already done the most famous hikes, but there’s still a lot left to do.
All the photos were taken with the Ricoh GR3
Fabulous Jeff. Though half expecting to see a helicopter arrive to airlift you out. Spectacular scenery and I’d say worth the pain and every step, in fairness that’d be your pain because I just need to look at the photos!
Frankly when I started to feel the cramps knowing that a steep climb was awaiting me, I didn’t know if I could make it. Another element was that it was late afternoon and we needed to arrive before the night at La Nouvelle …
I know that confidence could lead to bad decisions. and clearly here I somehow underestimate this trail to the river. What was I thinking ? 3 hours of trail in the mountains with so little water ?
Wonderful stuff, Jeff! Mountains are my favourite holiday spot too … although the climbs DO seem to get tougher every year! Proof once again of what a beast the Ricoh GR camera really is … it’s all I ever take with me for landscapes. Love the atmosphere and narrative unfolding in your shots here.
The GR is all I need for everything. It doesn’t have the sharpest lens. My Fuji XE2 mounted with the 35 mm f0.95 can produce terrific photos I could make with the Ricoh, but I would need to carry a lot of gear. Lightness and compacity is all I need. I mean it’s the perfect camera for what I need. Street, Family, Landscape. I think that I could dust my Fuji XE2 off only for portraiture. f2.8 is good but f2.0 or 1.4 for portraiture is really terrific.