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North Of Reunion Tour: From Saint Leu To Saint Denis By The Plaine Des Cafres

Price on Request
Day 1: Saint-Leu and Surroundings Reception at the airport and visit of the surroundings of St Leu. The organization of the day, a chronology of visits, and meals depend on your arrival time. Visit Pointe au Sel . .
Country: Reunion
City: La Plaine Des Cafres
Duration: 5 Day(s) - 4 Night(s)
Tour Category: Classic Tours
Departure Date: Thu 01 Jan '99
Package Itinerary

Day 1: Saint-Leu and Surroundings

Reception at the airport and visit of the surroundings of St Leu. The organization of the day, a chronology of visits, and meals depend on your arrival time.

Visit Pointe au Sel and its Museum: Pointe au Sel is a basaltic cape. Called « Pointe de Bretagne » by the first settlers in the 18th century, this site has always been linked to salt. The inhabitants of Saint-Leu collected them in the crevices of the rocks.

The places invite you to relax with a small sandy cove and a natural basin, the "cave basin" and its crystal clear waters. The salt museum offers to discover the history of salt and its exploitation on the site for several centuries. You can also see the salt ponds.

The Salt Museum, formerly a salt storage building, was rehabilitated in 2002 to make the history of salt on this site public. It offers a permanent exhibition around the discovery of salt from its production to its consumption. It also hosts temporary exhibitions around the theme of salt.

Visit the Stella Matutina Museum: this museum, housed in a former sugar factory, opened in 1991. You will discover the industrial techniques of the manufacture of cane sugar and information about the history of Reunion and its people. The museum shows the crossed history of sugar and Bourbon Island and highlights the cultural and economic peculiarities of the island.

Overnight in a hotel in Saint-Leu

Day 2: From St Leu to the Plaine des Cafres

Morning: morning swim in the protected lagoon of St Leu before departure for Saint-Pierre and/or visit the fairground market of Saint-Pierre.

Lunch at the restaurant in Saint-Pierre

Afternoon visits according to your choice: Visit the Domaine du Café grillé which is a 4-hectare Creole garden. You explore the history of botany on the island of Reunion. More than 800 exotic species mingle, mixing colors and fragrances. You will discover the fruit trees as well as the different aromatic plants of the Reunion. You will also learn about the history of the great cultures of yesteryear. You can even taste the pointed Bourbon coffee!

Visit the Saga du Rhum: it is a must-visit to learn more about the famous rum of the island of Reunion. At the Isautier Distillery Museum, the oldest on the island, you will dive into the history of collecting sugar cane. You will see a sugar cane grinding mill, dating from the 1940s. Then you will take a little tour of the distillery to sharpen your senses. Naturally, a tasting is organized on-site!

Visit of the Tamil Narassingua Perournal Temple: Originally, this temple was a simple wooden chapel, built around 1860. It was not until 1972 that the present temple emerged from the earth. Hinduism is the second most practiced religion on the island. The architecture of the temple is splendid, with its thousands of sculpted statues. It is possible to visit the interior, but only on Wednesdays from 3 pm to 4 pm. Remember to cover your shoulders.

Visit the fishing district of Terre-Sainte: Many stairs and passages are interwoven in the middle of the small houses. A good-natured atmosphere reigns in this district, where it is not uncommon to cross domino players under the giant banians. After the fishing port, you will find a very nice small beach of white sand and fine, and little frequented.

End of the journey to La Plaine des Cafres where we will dine and sleep in a cottage.

Day 3: Excursion to Grand Bassin

Located slightly upstream of the Bras de la Plaine, Grand Bassin is an isolated islet in a mini-cirque surrounded by imposing ramparts. Sometimes nicknamed the "little Mafate", this classic hiking spot on Réunion Island is a jewel of the Hauts region's heritage, offering visitors the chance to step back in time.

This atypical islet can only be reached on foot, via a path of almost 4.5 km.

A refreshing dip at the foot of the waterfall is a much-appreciated reward. The Grand Bassin Valley is home to many endemic bird species, including the Papangue, pink-billed, tec-tec, and Oiseau la Vierge, and the Bourbon black petrel, which is classified as an endangered species.

We’ll have lunch there before the lift. We will dine and spend the night in our cottage at the Plaine des Cafres.

Day 4: Excursion to Volcano Piton de La Fournaise

We will leave early in the morning for the exceptional site of the volcano: the lunar landscapes of the Plaine des Sables, the magnificent panorama of the Pas de Bellecombe and the crater of Dolomieu culminating at 2632 meters await us! Several walks are possible depending on our physical condition: along the edges of the enclosure, up to the Formica Leo crater (1h30 walk), or up to the Dolomieu crater (5h walk). But you will have to save energy for the ascent of the stairs to the parking!

We will spend the afternoon visiting the City of the Volcano which will give you a general presentation of Volcanism and in particular that of the Piton de la Fournaise. Scientific monitoring, natural environment, and volcanic risks are also developed. The architecture of the museum resembles a volcano.

The 6000 m2 of the museum allows the visitor to be autonomous during the visit. Many interactive devices such as holographic projection, augmented reality, large format «multitouch» surfaces, and sound and visual atmospheres... tell the story of the volcano and the geology of Reunion Island.

Don’t miss the impressive 4-D animation!

We will eat and sleep at the Plaine des Cafres.

Depending on our schedule for the next day and the schedule of your return flight, we can also go directly to Saint-Denis to spend the night.

Day 5: Saint-Denis Visit

Depending on the time we have, we stroll through the Barachois district and visit the following museums:

Visit the Natural History Museum: the acclimatization garden created by the Compagnie des Indes houses the neoclassical building of the Legislative Palace, which became the Museum of Natural History in 1855. It houses a rich collection of past and present fauna of the islands of the Indian Ocean, rocks, and minerals.

This permanent fund is complemented by temporary exhibitions. This an address not to be missed to know all about the wildlife so particular of the islands of the region. The building, listed as a historic monument, is also worth a visit (Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm).

Visit La Maison Carrère: this is a building dating from the 19th century. It is protected as a historical monument and now houses the Saint-Denis Tourist Office. Guided tours of the house, as well as comprehensive information on various media, tell the story of the daily life of rich Reunion families and their staff.

Transfer to the airport.

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