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| Gros Morne at sunrise |
Early one morning recently we started this
hike at Le Belier, a hamlet at an altitude of 1255m next to the small town of
Grand Ilet in the
cirque of
Salazie.
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| sign board at the start of the hike. |
At 7am at this time of year the sun has not long risen, and we had some beautiful views of the surrounding mountains at sunrise.
 |
| looking towards the Col de Fourche, Gros Morne to the left |
The walk itself is not very difficult by Reunion standards; the total distance is 10-11 km but it took us 5 hours to complete as we often stopped to pick
goyavier (
strawberry guava; see pictures below)!
As we always walked on the GR R1 (Reunion's main hiking path) or its variant, the track was well-maintained.
Initially the path passes to the south of Piton du Grand Sable and Piton Lelesse (1332m).
As usual there were a couple of rivers and streams to be crossed, but nothing very difficult as there has not been any heavy rain recently.
Part of the hike passed through a forest,
but most of the time you're surrounded by bushes.
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| goyaviers |
As it was early morning, there was still dew on the goyaviers.
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| dew-covered goyavier |
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| wildflower |
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| wildflower |
 |
| looking towards the east and the cirque entrance |
Bamboo can be found in many places on the island, but they grow especially well in Salazie. It's said they can grow up to one metre per day.
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| bamboo |
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| hunt the signpost! |
This river crossing was a little trickier than most,
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| walking the plank |
but there was a lovely little waterfall to be seen once you'd crossed.
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| waterfall |
We passed this small religious shrine.
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| shrine |
During the second part of the hike it's easy to see the distinctive Piton Enchaing (1356m) to the left.
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| flat-topped Piton Enchaing |
The end of the hike is along a paved road, and you arrive at Ilet à Vidot, a hamlet near
Hellbourg.
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| road nearing Ilet à Vidot. |
Walking along the road we passed some gardens, where we saw chili peppers and
chou-chou (chayote) growing.
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| chili peppers |
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| chou-chou growing on a trellis |
We finished the hike at an altitude of 930m, 300 metres lower than we started, although with the up-and-down type of the path we actually had an elevation gain of 530m and an elevation loss of 831m. Our lowest altitude was 784 m.
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| satellite map of the hike |
From Ilet à Vidot you can take a bus, or pick up your car if you've left one there.
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