Tag Archives: Reunionisland

27th March, Reunion Island

You must be wondering where on earth I’ve been, (forgive the pun)  🙂 .  Our CEO, Orlando Ashford and CEO of Carnival Corporation, Arnold Donald, joined us in La Possession, Reunion Island.  The following days have been filled with social events; what with these and my day-to-day responsibilities there weren’t enough hours in the day.  I write as make our way down the South African coast, on our way towards Cape Town and I’ve taken some time to download some photos, (in between phone calls)  😯 and apply myself to some posts. 

Reunion, nestles in the Indian Ocean; it is a French region and a volcanic island, in fact it still has an active ‘shield’ volcano, which ‘fumes’ away now.  The main port, La Possession, lies on the north-west corner of the coast; a 30-minute drive away from the capital, Saint. Denis. It is here that the ship’s shuttle buses took guests (and moi aussi), for a wander around the town.  Frankly, I was slightly disappointed as I was expecting more opportunity to see some of the islands history, however, while some of the older buildings still stand, they are intermingled with modern architecture.

Approaching the island at sunrise

The pilot boat on its way out to meet us

Entering the harbour

A chart of the harbour and our docking track, a swing in the basin and astern to the berth

The hill overlooking the harbour

The obvious sign of the island’s history is on the seafront of Saint Denis, old battlements and cannon pointing out to sea.

 We wandered around the town, I trying desperately to find subjects for photography, but coming up short.  The Cathedral and a small market were my sum total.

Our jaunt ashore took only 3 hours and an hour of that was spent enjoying a lunch and a glass of wine in a typically French restaurant, nestled away in a small cobble-stone street.  Yesterday, (31st), we called at Maputo, Mozambique and this was far more colourful, both navigationally and for photography; I will endeavour to complete that post, very soon.