LA POSSESSION, REUNION
MARCH 24, 2014
Reunion is a small volcanic island
several hundred miles from our last port-of-call, Mauritius. It was discovered
in 1502 but the French did not colonize it until 1638. It is 40 kilometers long
and 50 kilometers wide and 830,000 live there. The island is an Overseas
Department of France and all the people are French citizens. Their money is
Euros.
Just fifteen minutes away from
La Possession, Saint-Denis is the island’s major city, with broad avenues and
French colonial homes still intact, as well as busy outdoor marketplaces and
chic French stores. But the island is also dotted with tiny villages, sugar
plantations, high-end sea side resorts and dramatic waterfalls. One of the
world’s most active volcanoes, Piton de Fournaise, is on the south part of the
island. It has irrupted 30 times since 1998 with the last time being in 2010.
In 1700 the people started
growing coffee and sugar cane by bringing African slaves to work the fields. In
1848 they stopped slavery and they brought in indentured servants from China
and India. They now raise and export to
Europe sugar, Victoria pineapple, coffee, and vanilla.
Their schooling is free to them
through high school. The average salary per person is 1,200 euro a month. There
is 35% unemployment on the island. France sends each unemployed person a small
subsist y a month. Tourism is their main
economic product.
The island cuisine is
memorable: Creole food blends French with Indian and Chinese sauces. The
sights, smells and sounds of this Indian Ocean Island are rare and
unforgettable.
Our next stop is Durban, South
Africa.
In St Denis - the State Garden
In St Denis - Hindu Temple-We were not supposed to go inside
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Right inside the Hindu Temple-Our group was chased out after this
St Denis-Colonial period Government House
St Denis-French House early 1800's
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