Smart Travels: July 2015

Saturday, 25 July 2015

Slacklining in Reunion Island

I've previously posted an incredible video about slacklining across the 3 Salazes, here are more videos of slacklining in Reunion, including a world record!

The first shows Swiss Raphael Bacot and his Reunionnese counterpart Kevin Borg of Slackline 974 crossing a suspended midline against a background of exploding waves on the south coast, at Cap Mechant.

The second takes place in the isolated mountain cirque of Mafate and shows Kevin crossing a 40-metre high gorge at Trois Roches. Both these exploits were filmed using a mixture of images from a Gopro (from the slackliners' point of view) and aerial shots by drones.

The third video shows Nathan Paulin setting a world record on 9th June 2015 by crossing the longest slackline in the world, 403m long and 250 metres above ground at the Cassé de la Rivière de l'Est. It took him 23 minutes to walk the 403m and he was filmed by Les six patates. (A few weeks later he set a new world record highline at the Natural Games in Millau, France – 469m).

Sunday, 12 July 2015

Mauritius seen from Reunion and vice versa

Well-known local photographer Luc Perrot published a photo this week of Mauritius seen from Piton de la Fournaise, Reunion Island. He explained that winter brings clear night skies, which make this sort of photo possible.

Mauritius as seen from Piton de la Fournaise,
Reunion Island © Luc Perrot

cropped version of the above photo © Luc Perrot

Panoramic view, with the volcano clearly visible
to the right © Luc Perrot

As some people seemed to think it wasn't possible to see Mauritius from Reunion, Mauritian photographer Burty Makoona sent the photo below, which Perrot annotated.

Reunion, seen from Mauritius © Burty Makoona

Annotated version:

Reunion, seen from Mauritius (annotated) © Burty Makoona

Another photo by Perrot was recently Photo of the Day on the Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) website (EPOD is a service of the Universities Space Research Association).

Piton de la Fournaise © Luc Perrot

Advance warning: solar eclipse on 1st September 2016

On Thursday 1st September 2016 an annular solar eclipse will be visible from Réunion Island.

example of an annular solar eclipse

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light (in this case 97%) and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring).

path of the eclipse

While the whole eclipse will last from 06:13–12:00 UT, the point of maximum eclipse will last 186 seconds (3 minutes 6 seconds), and the maximum width of the band will be 100km (62 miles). It will be seen across central Africa southwards to Madagascar and into the Indian Ocean. The partial eclipse will be visible across most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The points of Greatest Eclipse and Greatest Duration will be in southern Tanzania.

path of the eclipse

Most of Réunion will see the annular eclipse at about 10:09 UT. Although the island is not on the centreline, the duration in the south-west (near St Pierre) should be quite good, as the centreline duration is still over 3 minutes.