The island no one knows about – Day 1

Ask anyone what islands exist off the coast of Africa and the responses are always the same, Madagascar, Mauritius, Prince Edward Island etc... But, there is one island no one seems to know about, Reunion Island, right between Madagascar and Mauritius and roughly about the same size as the latter.

This tiny volcanic island is the closet you will get to a first world country in Africa and that’s because it’s a French Island and boy do they look after their islands. I first discovered this island when Google earth came out and still browsing on a 56k modem... which was painful... really painful... I had to choose do I wait for the naked lady’s nipple to load - The internet was a tough and unforgiving mistress back then giving plenty of people the blue balls - or just point Google maps somewhere and come back in half an hour?

Well we all know which option I chose and then afterwards I did the Google maps thing, I must have discovered countless places, mostly because after 12 I lose count but Reunion Island was one of them, I was absolutely amazed by poorly rendered 3D terrain, “I must go there one day I said”.

But my adventures to the island would have to wait a few years. So let us fast forward a few years since they were mostly boring anyway, I wasn’t even a big adventurer or traveller back then I would always think about how amazing backpacking would be but would never do it, always just dream about it. Things changed a lot for the better when I joined the MCSA (Mountain Club of South-Africa) it all started with rock climbing at the University sport centre and soon enough I realised a lot of foreigners rock climb and now half my friends are American, German, Italian, French and so on. And man these guys were adventurous and overtime is started to rub off on me, now I’m travelling to places no one knows about on a whim and I do mean whim sometimes we plan and go the same day whilst I’m still at the office slaving away(slave is BTW my official title)

One day after a climbing session we head back to our go to planning place, like any typical good sitcom ours was a hippy pizzeria that had couches instead of chairs and pallets for tables. Has I start eating my pizza I over hear my friends talking about their trip to Reunion Island I was stunned... someone else that has physically been to the island I’ve been dreaming about I. Must. Know everything about their trip, so I bled them dry of all the information they have like a large parasitic tick, accommodation, crime, transport, bucket list, hiking and visas, our passports suck! Luckily I know the loopholes and I use it to help my foreign friends stay in the country longer. So If you ever want to know how to stay indefinitely in the country just ask.

Soon after the pizza meeting I put out a bulletin on the club looking for people who want to go to Reunion and got a reply from a choir girl, let’s called her Elize since that’s her real name, we met for coffee and started planning the whole trip she did most if not all the planning, which I’m cool with just means more surprises for me, she invited a few friends to join our trip and I asked my brother and a few of my friends, in the end we would end up being a total of six.

With our plane tickets (air austral €300) and accommodation booked we set off to the airport were we had our final meal before our 3.5Hour flight to the island. I was so excited to get on that airplane like a little kid who just discovered hormones and girl.

Day 1 – St.Denis

We arrived on the island’s capital St.Denis at 5:30pm, the moment we stepped out of the airport two things hit me, One this is nothing like Africa it’s clean and public transport works and two not a single person understands English this would later become troublesome (adventurous) – I mean adventures are the type of thing that whilst they’re happening you really wish that they weren’t.

We got a bus that would take us to the main bus station in the capital which turns out to be a short walk from our first accommodation, well in reunion everything is kind of in walking distance. We placed down our gear and went for a lovely stroll through the city riddles with single lane one way roads with cafes and restaurants popping out around every corner. The beaches of the capital consisted of large round rocks and rolled over each other with each wave created a rather unique beach sounds that had me mesmerised much like a small puppy in a new environment.

Realising(yes it with a 's' here don't be this guy https://www.reddit.com/r/iamverysmart/comments/69z2vw/genius_with_an_astronomically_high_iq_teaches/?st=j3iqchnc&sh=aa2bd00c ) that things are only getting started we headed back to our lodging to get in some sleep before early start next morning.

If you guys didn't like this first part then well... damn... I'm going to post more anyway, to everyone else thanks for reading and feel free to ask any questions and don't be afraid to give constructive criticism, trust me I'm from Africa I can take a beating or a stabbing or a stolen car or a house break-in. The next post will also feature way more pictures!