Dialog - Seite 56

Starting from the airport, we picked up our rental car, and started out (on the left side of the road!) towards the downtown area, where - after checking in to the hotel - we walked around exploring the area. We spent the second day mostly at the beach, walking along the high sand dunes, breathing in sea air and enjoying the sunshiny weather. On the morning of our third day, we started northbound, visiting old Aberdeen on the way.

Seen during a wild thunder storm that erupted over southwest Germany last evening.

After having handed back the apartment to the landlord, we walked down to beach in La Saline Les Bains once more, and headed back to the airport where our flight was scheduled for the evening. On our way we visited the reminder of the Chemin de fer de La Réunion and Saint-Denis' downtown area and waterfront walk.

We went to revisit the Cormorans waterfalls to experience them in nicer weather and with less people around earlier in the morning. We wanted to climb the Maïdo later that day but unfortunately weren't able to access it - a forest fire had devasted part of its surroundings two weeks earlier and the area was still closed down to the public.

The third cirque we visited was Cilaos - the trip there via N5, a road curving up the hilly region in as much as 426 serpentines, being as spectacular as the area itself.

In the first of the cirques (collapsed former calderas) we visited, Salazie, we hiked up a very steep path to some waterfalls which didn't turn out as spectacular as we thought, and then took route 52 west towards a mountain pass where one can look down into the cirque de Mafate

At the "Pointe des Trois-Bassins" beach, a surfing location, with some shady places underneath trees, relaxing from our exhausting six hours hike the day before.

One of the most exciting trips was our day's excursion to the Piton de la Fournaise (or just: "le Volcan":-)). Having gotten up early in the morning, we arrived at the parking space at the end of the "Rue de Volcan" at 10 o'clock and hiked through fog until we reached the "Cratère Dolomieu" and the sun started breaking through. If you look at satellite imagery, it all looks black and gray, but in real it's a bit more colorful.