The fourth eruption in 2018 of
Reunion Island's volcano,
Piton de la Fournaise, (
one of the most active volcanoes in the world) started early on the morning of 15th September. As I had a family member arriving to visit a few days later and so had already booked the volcano gîte for the night of 22nd September, we were pleased it was still erupting when we went there to stay. After checking in at the gîte we headed to
Pas de Bellecombe from where the eruption was visible once night started falling.
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| view of the eruption from Pas de Bellecombe as night fell |
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| tec-tec near Pas de Bellecombe |
After a (short) night at the gite we got up at 4am, drove the few kilometres to the 'Foc Foc' car park, and then started hiking. Even at the car park you could clearly see the red glow of the eruption in the sky, and our first glimpse of the lava itself came after walking for about 40 minutes.
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| first glimpse |
We carried on hiking along the ridge edge until just after sunrise.
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| my favourite photo of the trip |
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| close-up |
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| sunrise |
After watching the sunrise we hiked a bit more (a little further than the Foc Foc sign), before turning round and heading back.
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| Foc Foc sign |
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| photo taken at Cratere Commerson, on the drive to the volcano |
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