BY Aurelia Mbokazi-Kashe
Lerato Monyatsi is a mother to a 14-year old, a Skills Development Manager in a bank and a nature lover who survived stage 3 colorectal cancer during Covid-19. An avid hiker, she earned the monicker, Skirtgirlhiker for her prowess and love for nature. She is testament that despite daily life’s challenges, when you pause and take time to venture out and listen to the sounds of nature, you find peace and a renewed sense of energy to tackle whatever life throws your way.
I recently visited Reunion Island, a small island between Madagascar and Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. The trip was planned and organised by my friend, Nthabiseng. She navigated French websites to find us the best places to visit. We travelled as three friends who share a deep love for nature.
Reunion Island is a French-speaking island, it was funny and adventurous trying to figure out what people were saying.
Any destination I visit must be green and have gorgeous mountainous landscapes. Reunion is a beautiful mountainous island, with the most majestic views. All corners of the island had something special to offer to tourists and those who call the island home.
The island is small but offers lots of experiences. It is a hiker and trail runner’s dream. We took 7 days and I wished we had taken more leave days to fully immerse ourselves in all the activities on offer.
We enjoyed a few tourist attractions. We hiked to La Nouvelle, in Cirque De Mafate – a small village that is only accessible by hiking in or via helicopter and is inhabited by the descendants of runaway slaves who hid in this isolated area.
We also hiked to Piton de la Fournaise, known locally as le volcan (the volcano), the climbable active volcano stands at 2 632m and is one of the world’s active volcanoes. It was scorching hot but we met lots of tourists from all over the world since our visit to the island was during peak tourist season. We went up Piton De Neiges in Cilaos, the highest Peak on the island on foot, it was intense and scary, but absolutely gorgeous.
We tried creole cuisine but it wasn’t to my taste. The dish I chose was quite oily.
Learning basic French would have been very helpful especially in finding our way around. However, getting lost was an adventure that allowed us to see places we would have ordinarily missed.
I wanted to bottle the warmth of the people of this beautiful island and bring it back home with me. Whenever we asked people for directions, they would immediately offer to drive ahead of our car and take us to our destination even if the place was 10-15km away.
I’m also blessed to call South Africa home. When traveling outside our borders, there’s something special in saying ‘I’m from South Africa’. It gets People to light up and share the places they’ve visited in South Africa or declare that they are coming soon to visit.
Lerato’s tips to people planning to visit Reunion Island
- Get a map and fully immerse yourself!
- Don’t visit during peak holiday season because it gets packed with tourists and traffic can become a nightmare.
- Try to arrive at tourist sights very early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
- Don’t forget to go to the beach side. We only explored it a little, only on our arrival.
- If you are planning to visit Reunion Island, be proudly South African and you’ll have them eating out of your hand.
- Their currency is the Euro, so be prepared to shed a tear with each purchase because your mind can’t help but convert to rands. But don’t forget to have lots of fun!
South Africans do not require a visa to visit Reunion Island. Follow Lerato on Instagram, @leera_1, to learn more about her travel adventures.
