Although I've been to the
cirque of
Salazie many times (I even worked for nine years in a company located at the entrance to the cirque), this was the first time we'd been back there since we returned to Réunion after spending three years living in
South Korea.
The word 'Salazie' is thought to come from the Malagasy word
soalazy which means ' a good refuge', although I have also seen it explained as coming from
salazane which means '(sentry) stakes'. I think there's even another explanation saying it comes from
salazhon which means 'tripod for a cauldron' ... as you can see, nobody is really certain where the name comes from.
Salazie is located on the windward, east coast of the island which means it's the wettest of the three cirques (the other cirques are
Cilaos and
Mafate), and also the most accessible (Mafate is only accessible on foot, and the road to Cilaos is very long and winding). All the rain means the vegetation is extremely lush and green, as you can see in the photos, and when visiting you should get an early start as the cloud cover will generally thicken during the day.
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| see what I mean by lush vegetation? |
When you enter the cirque the road leads to the main town of Salazie, called ... Salazie. There are some shops and restaurants here, but most people travel further into the cirque.
A few kilometres further on is the photogenic
Cascade du Voile de la Mariée ('Bridal Veil Falls') which you can see on the other side of the road.
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| Cascade du Voile de la Mariée |
A short distance after the falls there's a fork in the road, and you can either turn right to go to the village of
Grand Ilet, or left to continue to the village of
Hellbourg.
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| "view from a bridge" |
Grand Ilet is mainly a destination for those planning to enter Mafate from
Le Belier via the
Col des Boeufs ('Ox Pass') hiking path. The village has a beautiful shingle-covered church, Saint Martin. On this day out however we were only going to Hellbourg.
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| en route to Grand Ilet |
About one kilometre before Hellbourg is a lovely viewpoint called
Panorama du Point-Du-Jour ('Daybreak Viewpoint').
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| part of the view from Point-Du-Jour |
If the weather's good you can see across to Grand Ilet, and you will also see the magnificent 1352m-high Piton Enchaing which has a distinctive flat summit.
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Piton Enchaing
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Legend has it that a runaway slave called Enchaing took refuge on top .
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| passion fruit growing wild on a banana tree |
Hellbourg's unusual name comes from Anne Chrétien Louis de Hell, a former island governor (1838-1841) and a man, despite his name!
In Hellbourg one of the most popular tourist attractions is the Maison Folio.
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| fountain in the Maison Folio garden |
I was lucky enough to visit this traditional Creole house for the first time in 1993 before it opened to the general public two years later.
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| Maison Folio garden |
Now it's a major tourist attraction in the village, with a wonderfully luxuriant garden of tropical plants which grow in profusion in the humid climate.
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| "Trompette la mort" flowers (Brugmansia aurea?) |
Hellbourg has the distinction of being the only member of France's
Les Plus Beaux Villages de France ('France's Most Beautiful Villages') located in an overseas department.
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| A house in Hellbourg main street |
There are a couple of guétali in the village too. These are typically Creole pavilions in the corner of a garden, from which, in days gone by, the occupants used to observe passers-by without being seen themselves.
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| guétali of Barau Villa, Hellbourg |
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| the former Hotel des Salazes, closed since 1988, currently awaiting renovation |
Locally Salazie is well-known for its
chou-chou...
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| chou-chou aka chayotte, christophine, vegetable pear ... etc (photo Wikipedia) |
... which, when it grows, spreads as a vine over anything within its reach.
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| chou-chou vine |
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| chou-chou vine |
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| Bamboo also grows well in Salazie |
Because of the landscape when you leave Salazie you notice a tall waterfall you didn't see when entering:
Cascade Blanche.
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| Cascade Blanche - 640 metres high |
This post is by no means exhaustive about Salazie - there are plenty of other things to see and do too: an
eco-museum, a trout farm, visit to the Old Spa in Hellbourg alone, not counting good hikes all over (and in and out of) the
cirque.
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