Here are a few photos from a
guided visit to Tévelave we did yesterday. Tévelave is a village located at an elevation of 900 metres in the municipality of
Les Avirons on the south-west coast of
Reunion. It has a population of 1500, and is about a 10-kilometre drive up from the town of Les Avirons.
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| meeting point with our guide |
The name Tévelave comes from two
Malagasy words tévy and
lava meaning "big forest". It was originally a place where slaves (some of whom would have been of Malagasy origin) escaped to.
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| our guide had prepared a snack for us before we set off exploring |
Modern settlement of Tévelave began in the late 19th and early 20th century when smallholders settled there, cultivating subsistence crops and geranium essential oil. Our guide started the walk by showing us several endemic trees, including the critically endangered
Tan rouge (
Weinmania tinctoria). This tree can grow up to 18 metres high, and the bees who visit it produce a green-tinged honey called
miel vert.
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| Weinmania tinctoria aka Tan rouge |
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| bois rouge tree |
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| trunk of a Calophyllum tacamahaca tree |
The village has a small museum with traditional objects and utensils, including a "chabouc" which is a type of whip that was used on slaves and animals (as well as on children by some parents!). It was traditionally made of plaited agave leaves (see my reference to chabouc in my blog post about
Madeleine's Children).
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| a chabouc suspended on some dried bamboo stalks |
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this hillock overlooking the village is known as Piton Soutien Gorges,
which literally means "Bra Peak"! |
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| an unusual house in the village called Maison Deveaux |
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| a Yesterday, today and tomorrow bush (Brunfelsia uniflora) aka Franciscea |
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| Tévlave village church |
Avirons means "oars" in French, and the municipality's coat of arms shows a pair of crossed oars and two
Reunion ibis birds. These oars might have been stuck into the ground as some sort of sign, although it's also been suggested that "Les Avirons" is a transformation of the
Malagasy word zavironne meaning "a place that can be seen from afar". The town of Les Avirons was first settled in 1718 by coffee growers. Sugar later replaced coffee and by 1836 14,500 hectares were covered in sugar cane. By 1848 the figure was 23,000 hectares. Although it was initially part of the municipality of
Saint-Louis, Les Avirons became a municipality in its own right in 1894.
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| Coat of arms of Les Avirons |
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| an azalea tree in a garden |
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| looking across the village to the sea |
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| overgrown shack |
After the guided visit we had an excellent meal before heading back down to the coast.
If you'd like to do this visit, either on foot or by bike, (or need a professional guide for other visits to Reunion) you can contact our guide Mathieu Pitou via his
website or
Facebook page. He speaks fluent English and Italian.
P.S. In my post
Did you know? Some facts about Reunion I mention that a raspy cricket on Reunion was found acting as a plant pollinator for the first time in the world (see
here for more information about that). The plant pollinated is
Angraecum cadetii, a species of orchid endemic to Reunion, and the botanical name
cadetii comes from one of Tévelave's most famous former inhabitants, the botanist Theresien Cadet.
See also:
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