Latest / Wander the World with Pippa Hudson / Wander the World: Hiking the island of Reunion

Transcript

Wander the World: Hiking the island of Reunion · Wander the World with Pippa Hudson

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now we're venturing a bit further afield in Wander the
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: World today because we are paying a visit to the
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: island of Reunion. And for those who don't know, this
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: is a French overseas department located in the Indian Ocean.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: It's less than two hundred kilometers southwest of Mauritius. And
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: in fact, if you've ever been on a Mauritius holiday,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: chances are pretty high you actually flew over Reunion, either
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: going there or coming home again. And if you had
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: a very nice pilot, he might have told you to
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: look out the window and spot the famous volcano, because
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: it is home to one of the most active volcanoes
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: in the world, which we'll talk about in a little while.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: The island known for its beautiful scenery. It's got rugged
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: volcanic ridges, it's got thick jungles, beautiful waterfalls, the coastline
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: a mix of black sand volcanic beaches as well as
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: the typical tropical white sandy beaches, beautiful sparkling water, although
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: we talk a little bit about the risks of swimming
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: in it later as well. And then of course it's
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: known for its wonderful melting pot of culture, as I mentioned,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: it's a French protectorate. It's got a long history though
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: of having been home to indentured labor from the Far
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: East as well, so it's a real melting pot of
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: European and Asian and Creole culture and if you would
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: like the opportunity to explore it on foot, please pay
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: attention to this interview because my guest who is with
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: me in studio today is actually going to be leading
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: a hiking expedition in Reunion in July of this year.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: And if you have already been there and would like
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: to share with us what you experienced, perhaps what the
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: highlight was for you, we would love to hear from
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: you on the WhatsApp line O seven to two five
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: six seven one five six seven. It's actually a welcome
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: back to the show to adventure guide Santiros, who has
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: for many years been leading wonderful guided hikes around the Cape.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: You might have heard her referred to as the fain
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: Boss Whisperer, but she is venturing into a very different
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: kind of terrain this time round. Sandy. Great to have
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: you with us today.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Welcome, hello, Papa. It's a really awesome being.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Nice to see you in person. This time. Obviously not
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: the first time you've led significant hiking expeditions, but is
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: it the first time you've led one in Reunion.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: This will be the first one that I'm leading in Reunion.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: In fact, there will be a Reunion Neese English speaking
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: Reunion Neese registered guide along on the trip we're doing
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: in July, as I'm registered to hike Elite hikes in
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: Cape Town, but not on Reunion Island.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Okay, So you were gathering together the group and helping,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: But I love that fact that you've got a local
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: guide who's obviously also going to be I would imagine
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: a great wellspring of information about what you are looking
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: at in the areas you're walking through. Absolutely having said that,
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: though you yourself have done a fair amount of hiking
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: there already, individually have have.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: Yes, I did two solo crossings of the island. The
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: first one was in December of twenty nineteen, and the
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: second one was now July twenty twenty five, essentially to
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: go and scout out a route for this commercial hike
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: coming up in July.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: And we'll talk some more about what that hike looks
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: like and how austrenious it's going to be. Et cetera.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: But let's just talk a little bit broadly about this island.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: I mean, you've obviously fallen in love with it that
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: you keep going back there. What is it about the
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: terrain you're hiking through, or the people you're meeting, or
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: anything else that has so captured your heart?
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: Oh, it is absolutely mind blowingly spectacular in terms of scenery.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: So it hosts the highest peak in the Indian Ocean,
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: the three kilometer high Pitun Dinesh on an island the
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: size of the area between Cape Town and Paul. So
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: imagine table Mountain rising out three times higher in that
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: small space. And it's got massive, gigantic craters. And then
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: also this volcano that is the most active volcano, one
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: of the most active volcanoes on the planet.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Titan de la Fez, which I think erupted just a
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: few weeks ago. I saw when I was reading up
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: this morning, And I mean it erupts quite regularly, but
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: they're not sort of life endangering eruptions for the most part,
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: from what I hear, How do you manage that risk
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: if you're walking through an a volcano areas.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: So they close off the area that is close to
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: the active volcano when it erupts, and obviously they have
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: measuring equipment and on that they can measure in advance
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: when it will erupt. It's also the volcano. Is this
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: similar type of volcano to the Hawaiian volcanoes where it's
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: lava outpaws rather than a massive gas. Yes, so it's
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: managed to really well buy the authorities there.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: And I mean, just to emphasize the point, this is
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: not like it's going to come out of the blue.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: The sophistication of the monitoring equipment these days really gives
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: you advance warning that something is happening. So that's not
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: something to be too worried about if you are thinking
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: of signing up. I mean, you've mentioned the wonderful scenery,
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: the natural amphitheaters, the circus they're called, the waterfalls, those
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: beautiful land masses where former lava flowers have drizzled over
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: into the ocean and hardened. I mean, it's just from
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: the photography I've seen of this island, it looks spectacularly beautiful.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: What about the culture. Have you had a chance to
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: spend any time in the capital, sandany or visit any
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: of the villages a.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: Little bit in Sandiny but mostly where I've experienced the
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: culture is in circ them A Fat which will also
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: be the first four days of the coming July's hike,
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: where it is a rural mountain culture where these small, tiny,
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: tiny little villages exists in the mountain where previously slave
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: ran away and established these for their So it's really
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: uninhabitable terrain in actual character. Only way to get these
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: to walk and now these have been turned into backpackers
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: or mountain jeets as the French call them, and you
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: get to experience the food and the people really a mountain,
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: rural mountain culture in the in that area.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: What I mean, what a special way to So will
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: you be staying overnight in people's homes. It's and these
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: jets in between the hiking, in the.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: Jeets, on the hiking, on the hiking nights, yes, fabulous.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, what a way to just immerse yourself in
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: a different culture. Now, nine days of hiking? How STRAINU
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: is a hiking? Is this aimed at a really really
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: fit hiker or is this the weekend warrior? Because I
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: know it's nominally slack packing, but it's pretty up and down.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: I know from having interviewed somebody who ran it a
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: couple of a year or two ago. It's very very
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: up and down, lots of ascent and decent. So let's
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: talk about who this hiking expedition is aimed at.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: So this is one of your bucket list kind of hikes.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: You know, if you're the kind of person that's already
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: don Kilimanjaro or Everett Base Camp, then Reunion should be
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: the next one on your list, or I would even
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: put it first. So it is a hike that you
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: would definitely need to prepare for. But it's only three
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: thousand meters above sea level at the highest point, so
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: there's no issue around altitude signos or anything like that.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: It's also tropical island, even though we're going in July.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: It's the coldest place is essentially on top of the
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: highest peak, and then over the night kits like minus
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: one degree or so, not like you in minus forty
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: degree kind of temperatures. And then it's nine days of hiking.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: The hike that I'm offering is essentially a cross hiking
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: totally across the island. Four days of hiking, one day
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: of rest in between, and then four more days of
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: hiking and overall, so you're totally right. It is a
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: lot of uphill and downhill, so once preparation is not
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: only going to be to hike upwards, you need to
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: be able to do both, which they are quite different.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: And overall elevation gain over the nine days of ninety
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: five kilometers of hiking is six and a half thousand
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: meters if you count it all together, all the uphills, okay,
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: So it is significant and a good set.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: Of knees required. Absolutely okay. And as you said that
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: the muscles that are called upon for the downhill are
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: very different from the ones going uphill, And absolutely say that,
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: having hiked down from Table Mountain on Friday morning and
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: gott not a bit on Saturday, went oh there are
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: muscles there I didn't know I had before this. So
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: a nine day adventure if somebody wanted to spend a
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: bit of time relaxing on either side of the hike,
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: maybe visiting the capital, maybe spending some time on the beach,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: is it possible to book it that way, So be
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: part of your hike, but tag on a few days
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: before or after.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: Absolutely so my hike, the product that I offer, the
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: package I offer excludes your flights, so you just need
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: to be arrive at the airport at a certain time
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: when you will be transferred to the start of the hike,
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: and the same at the end of the hike. So
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: it's easy to add on extra days or whatever. And
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: these interesting, very interesting things to go. And you can
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: go and walk in lava tunnels, and you can do
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: helicopter flights, two magnificent waterfalls. Yes, it's worth a visit,
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: spending time.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: And I just have to say if you are thinking, oh,
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: maybe a few days of swimming and surfing on either side,
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: just be aware of the water limitations. Now, it is
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: gorgeous tropical water, it's beautiful sparkling inside reefs, et cetera.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: But it's important to mention this that there has actually
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: been for many years now a restriction on surfing and
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: swimming and snorkeling in large parts of Reunion because of
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: the shark attack risk. And it's not to say that
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: you will not be able to swim. There are plenty
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: of designated areas with sort of protected swimming areas. But
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: between just to give you an idea, between twenty ten
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: and twenty seventeen, there were twenty three shark attacks and
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: nine of those were fatal. So it was as a
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: result of those numbers that they decided to put in
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: place a partial ban on swimming and surfing and body surfing,
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: et cetera. So just be mindful of that. It's not
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: to say that you cannot have the beach experience, but
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: you've just got to be mindful of where you can
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: have the beach experience, because it is only within designated
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: zones and for very very good reasons. You also, for
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: those who are interested in adding on some time, you
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: can go and visit the vanilla plantations. You can go
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: and visit something I've always wanted to see. A friend
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: of mine went on a French extend to reunion when
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: we were in high school, and I've never forgotten her
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: coming back with a photograph of the church of Notre
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: Dame de Love Our lady, have you been there, won't
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: you describe to It's.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Such yes, I don't know, a very different experience. So
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: the village that it is in is a coastal village
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: on the foot of the mountain right next to the ocean,
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: and this is where the lava flow essentially goes down
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: from the mountain right down into the ocean and regularly
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: it actually crosses the highway and they need to clear
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: And this I think happened in the nineteen seventy somewhere there,
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: that the lava actually came down right into this village
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: and flowed around the small chapel, but not in and
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: didn't ruin, it didn't destroy it. It's still there. They
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: literally cut chipped open a staircase in the lava to
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: regain access, to regain access into the church. So it's
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: something very special. And there's a beautiful sculpture Ma Ti
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: sculpture close by.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: Okay, so that's definitely want to add the list if
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: you are going to tag on a couple of days
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: on either side of the hiking. Okay. So a couple
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: of questions from listeners. Firstly, somebody asking is there an
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: age limit for the hike.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: It's not an age limit. Hiking is something one can do.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: I have a client at the moment that's late in
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: the seventies, really strong. It's more about preparation and making
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: sure that you will be able to complete the six
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: and a half thousand meters up and down over the
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: ninety five kilometers. So I've specifically curated the hike that
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: the distances every day is not too long. In general,
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: it's about ten to eleven kilometers per day on the
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: hiking days. There's one quite long day where we're hiking
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: down from Pitton din Age, but then the slope is
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: not so steep. And then also the terrain under foot.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: The terrain underfoot is a rugged mountain footpath downhill or uphill.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: There's hardly any canto a flat walking and there's nothing
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: on gravel roads. There's nothing on roads. It's very uneven, rocky,
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: mountainous footpath. So it's that is the is the challenge.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Okay, so you need to be honest with yourself about
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: your ability to manage that kind of condition. But it
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: sounds like there are a few people with their ears
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: pricking up here. Keith asking about language. Is French the
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: most spoken language.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: Yes, it is a French island, so it's a kind
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: of a French creole that they speak and it operates
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: in the euro But South Africans don't need to have
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: a visa for we don't need a visa. And yes,
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: so it is French. And in July is when the
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: summer holidays are in France, and there were a lot
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: of French families with children, sort of ten year old
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: kids liking I could through circum of fat. And the
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: sheets are ideal because you sleep in the jets. You
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: the kids don't even have to carry anything, Okay. So, yes,
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: it's French, and that's why having a French an English
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: speaking Reunion's guide is very important to have along on.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: This On this trip, it sounds absolutely magical, completely honest.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: I think it sounds beyond my current hiding abilities, Santi,
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: but I'm sure that there are Cape Talk listeners whose
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: ears are really precking up at the concept of possibly
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: It's only a four hour flight by the way from
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: Johannesburg to get to Reunion, so it's a very accessible
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: destination for South African visitors. If somebody would like to
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: reach out to you for more information, to get the costings,
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: to get the dates of the trip, et cetera, what's
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: the best way to do that.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: It's best to send me on what's up okay on
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: eight to two five, double six, one seven, double.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: Eight, eight to five double six, one seven, double eight.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: And if you are driving and couldn't jot that down,
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: I've made a note of it. I'm also in email
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: connection with Santy so I can connect you to take
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: the conversation further. How many spaces still left in the party.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: There's still six, potentially only four.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: So you already have people in the blink to you,
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: all right, maximum eight, maximum eight okay, so a manageable
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: small sized party as well, and it's in July of
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: this year. If you are interested, please do reach out
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: to adventure Guide Santiros on eight to five, double six,
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: one seven, double eight. We hope you have an absolutely
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: magical time, and thank you so much for coming into
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: studio to just paint the picture of the landscape and
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: this beautiful place you are taking South Africans too. We
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: hope you all have a wonderful experience.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: Thank you Papa, Thank you Santiros.