February 29, 2020 - Saturday

Azamara Quest Cape Town to Athens 

Cruise Day 10 - Reunion Island

Pictures to follow with better internet

At last we are arriving at a port. It is Point des Galets on Reunion Island. This is the major point for this island, which is a French Overseas Department. It is actually a part of France. While there is a local government, there is some financial support from France. This makes progress dependent on budgetary constraints of France.

Two years ago we stopped here as we cruised on Amsterdam for our second half of the World Cruise. At that time we toured to the north side of the island before turning inland to view the waterfalls as we climbed to the highest mountains. Today we are touring the southern part of the island. We are on the western side of the mountains. They afford protection from the wind and serve as barrier to the rains that prevail on the east side. As we drove south we could see the clouds start to roll down our side and stop very close to the peaks. We did not get rained on all day.

Our goal was the town of Entre Deux. We had a scenic drive along the southern coast before turning inland and heading to the foothills. On arrival our guide led us through the town to the Catholic church. Along the way we visited a market where he explained the fruits and vegetables for sale. After visiting the church we waked past gardens and parks. We learned that many of the houses we were looking at were over 100 years old. The were built using wood boards nailed horizontally like the wooden ships of that day. This made for a water tight structure. The roofs were all metal. This prevents water intrusion during the cyclones they experience here. The houses were well maintained, and the town was neat and clean. It was easy to mentally transport this as a small town in France.

Back on the coach we went to view an original plantation house. This mansion was the home of the owner of a large sugar cane plantation that dated back to the 1800’s. The fields were worked by slaves until abolition around 1850. When the slaves were freed, immigrants from India came looking for a better life. They provided the labor for the planting and harvesting. The owner built a community of small houses with shops to house them on the plantation. The housing was not elaborate and the quarters were cramped. The front of the house might be a blacksmith’s shop or a woodworker’s shop. There was a store where workers could buy on credit and settle accounts on pay day. We went around the complex as the practices were explained to us. Alice and I were impressed with what we saw. While nothing was elaborate it’s simplicity seemed very humane. We envisioned a community of hard working families with a reasonable standard of living.

We returned to Quest with a feeling of satisfaction. On this visit we had learned something of the history of the island. On our prior visit our focus was on the resources and natural beauty. We like Reunion very much.

Back at the ship we watched as a container ship on the pier across from us was in the final loading process. It was very large and the number of containers was incredible. I really want to Google how they load these ships. Transport vehicles were scurrying all over the large lot filled with containers waiting to be loaded onto ships. These containers were being brought from aisles all over the lot. How do they find them? How is the plan for placement on the ship developed? Where are they going? 

We left on time for our overnight voyage to Mauritius. This was another fine day.