Published in "Business in Africa"

Island of Fire

Reunion was born in anger. But today the volcanic island boasts dramatic scenery and is a hotspot for adventure sports lovers. It is also home to one of the world's most active volcanoes - and the highest peak in the Indian Ocean.

Story : Keri Harvey

Piton de la Fournaise has a very short temper. Dominating the eastern side of Reunion island, this volcano erupts nearly every year - in a display of fire and fury. So we thought it a fitting welcome from Fournaise to erupt on the very day we arrived on Reunion.

Front page tabloids were emblazoned with shots of Fournaise venting its fiery temper, raining down red-hot rocks and molten lava that ran as rivers all the way to the sea - incinerating everything and everybody in its path. Everyone was talking about the eruption and everyone wanted to see Fournaise in action. But the area around the volcano was out of bounds to visitors and a pall of smoke and haze shrouded her peak.

Piton de la Fournaise, or Peak of the Furnace, intrigues most visitors to Reunion and many even consider the bad-tempered volcano to be the island's most striking attraction. At 2 631m, it is hailed as one of the world's largest and most impressive shield volcanoes and attracts thousands of visitors to marvel at her size and trek up her steep slopes to gaze into her smouldering crater. Of course, vulcanologists particularly love the 400 000 year old Fournaise, as the old dame just refuses to grow old gracefully - preferring to throw temper tantrums at regular intervals.

Driving to the volcano is also an adventure, and there is a distinct air of other-worldliness. As you wind your way up the narrow mountain road from Plaine des Cafres, you have a strong sense of being in Switzerland. Dappled cows graze on the lush grassy slopes, tinkling their cowbells as they go, and striking mountain peaks rise up as a background to this Swiss cheese poster image. Piton des Neiges, Reunion's oldest and highest volcano, looms in the background, as if watching protectively over the peaceful farm scene. This volcano has been dormant for half a million years, so farmers have no fear of their livestock being swallowed by her fire.

Then the serene Swiss setting becomes gradually stranger, bleaker and harsher, until you descend to the completely barren La Plaine des Sables. This Plain of Sand is as close as you'll ever get to walking on the moon. Coarsely weathered volcanic sand stretches in sheets before you, in a marbled effect of black and brown. Nothing grows in this unwelcoming soil and a surreal yellow light lends an eeriness to this strange moonscape, which is often shrouded in an icy cold mist. 'Beware of the volcano' signs add a touch of colour to an otherwise desolate landscape. But today they carry a valid warning, as Fournaise is in the middle of a tantrum. And visitors are not allowed anywhere near her fiery wrath.

Reunion is really a huge volcanic rock with three holes in it. The "rock" is the huge Piton des Neiges at over 3000m high and positioned at the centre of the island, with Piton de la Fournaise rising up on its south-east side. The "three holes" are the cirques of Mafate, Cilaos and Salazie, which appear as an enormous sunken cloverleaf in Neiges. The result of this topography is that the interior of Reunion is mostly uninhabitable, with dramatically steep and often treacherous landscapes. Of course a few people do live there, but the interior is really the stomping ground of adventure sports enthusiasts and adrenaline junkies. Hiking, trekking, kloofing, climbing, abseiling and many other such activities are practiced in the rugged interior of the island.

For those with enough adrenaline in their veins, it's still worth a trip "into the interior". The scenery is dramatic and constantly changing, and the trip there "even by car at a moderate speed" is quite exhilarating. Possibly even hair-raising to the driver. The three cirques, though all in the same volcano, are all completely different and individually enchanting.

To get to Cilaos takes nerves of steel. Driving on the wrong side of the road, you ascend from the coast for 34 km along a very steep and narrow mountain road, negotiating 200 hairpin bends along the way. The trip takes over two hours and is definitely not for sissies. But once there, the views are splendid and the tiny mountain hamlets lend a quirky air to the place. About 10 000 people live in the main town in the dry cirque, also called Cilaos. The area is well known for its intricate embroidery, and is also touted as having the healthiest climate in all of Reunion. For thrill seekers there's canyoning, river hiking and quite serious mountain biking.

The Cirque if Salazie is the greenest and largest of the three cirques and is a popular holiday destination for locals. Here you wind gently through lush vegetation along the edges of the cirque, and before long are surrounded by 100 waterfalls. It's so wet here that water appears to ooze from the mountainsides, and ferns and fleshy plants cover the rocks in a carpet of velvety green. Wherever you look are waterfalls, big and small, spouting from the mountain as if it was punctured. Quite unnerving is the waterfall that splashes down directly onto the road, and the cars passing underneath. Local drivers appear unperturbed at driving through a waterfall, and few even brake in caution.

Mafate is the third natural amphitheatre on Reunion, formed as the others when a volcanic cone collapsed. This tropical cirque is by far the most inaccessible of the three and can only be reached on foot or by helicopter. There are no roads into Mafate, and when you arrive here you could well believe you have stepped back into the Middle Ages. Only 650 people live in the cirque, all in small remote hamlets and all subsisting off the land. The inhabitants of Mafate are completely cut off from the outside world and most have never even seen a car. Medical supplies are flown in by helicopter.

Because of the rugged terrain on Reunion, road building is a trying task. The result is that the main road on the island is a ring road hugging the coast. Smaller roads lead off the ring road into the interior wherever the terrain permits. Even the cemeteries all hug the coastline, as it's the only area where the ground is flat and where there is sand. The rest of Reunion is all volcanic rock, which is reminiscent of Aero chocolate in appearance.

Still, the shoreline varies dramatically depending on where you are in Reunion. The Wild South has black volcanic sand beaches and inhospitable lava rocks that give it a stark and surreal appearance. Lying in the shadow of Piton de la Fournaise, this rugged coastline gives dramatic displays of force and foam as waves crash directly into its volcanic cliffs in some places. Quaint Creole villages dot the coastline and provide a riot of colour to an otherwise drab-looking coast. This stretch of coast is also popular with sailors, scuba divers and paragliders.

The west coast is where all the tourist activity is concentrated, made easy by the white sand beaches, warm ocean and many protected lagoons. The weather is also perfect year round, which makes this an all-year playground for beach lovers and snorkellers - with colourful coral reefs not far from shore. A little further out there's deep sea fishing and even surfing.

Reunion offers more choice than an ordinary mind can comprehend. It has all the best of France, with excellent roads, accommodation and food. Yet is also has all the aspects of an adventure travel destination, with areas so remote it's difficult to imagine that such places still exist in the 21st century. There are black or white sand beaches to choose from, all the water sport and adventure sports imaginable, the remote interior, modern cities and quaint Creole villages with old men watching the traffic pass from their verandahs.

Of course, the year round perfect weather should not be forgotten. And neither should the volcano with the very short temper. The one that spits fire at the sky and constantly remodels the coastline with molten lava. Reunion truly is an island of extremes. A place of drama and perfect calm, adventure and relaxation. A place that has to be explored to be believed.