Reunion Island, Africa

Hello, and welcome back. 

Today’s adventures took us to Reunion Island, Mauritius, Africa. While the island is a French territory, its citizens are made up of many nationalities. So many in fact, that it is sometimes said that it is one island instead of six countries. Or so they say. (Curiously, French law forbids its citizens from “counting people by race, religion, or color”.) Its 900 thousand residence primarily speak Creole, but its currency is Euros. It is a land of many volcanoes, and rich in history. 

Now I have not told you this, but in learning that our travels were going to unexpectedly take us back to Africa, Ms. Karen and I decided that we would focus much of our travels on gaining an insight into the local culture of our various destinations on this continent. 

That said, today’s excursion took us to the island’s Pointe des Galets. While this location is now a working farm and botanical garden, and home to a small Creole village, in the early 19th century, this location was the processing center for runaway slaves. Slaves were widely utilized to process the sugar cane for hundred of years on this island. In later years, the plantation was operated by a witch doctor, and the local population pretty much kept away from it. However, for the last several generations, it has been ran by its current owner, and is a haven for the local creole workers, producing produce for the local community.

The creole people were very welcoming, and their culture and food were quite remarkable. Also, the farm and botanical gardens were very nice. While today’s visit was a learning experience, it was very humbling. I was fascinated by the plantation’s history.

Perhaps my photographs are better suited to share this story better than my words. So without further adieu…    

“Que Dieu bénisse les doux.”

Thank you for visiting.
– Mike
“Easy to stay on the path when the road is straight and the steps are numbered.” – V.E. Schwab, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue