Corsica

The French call Corsica the "Island of Beauty", and knowing that the island is not that far across the Mediterranean from Marseille, where people have a reputation for exaggeration, my expectations weren't necessarily sky high. I was however pleasantly surprised by what we saw, and I find the island's reputation well-deserved, even though we only saw southern Corsica.

Two days after we arrived was our wedding anniversary, and we were lucky to spend the day on board the Antika, a 14-metre long ketch that sails out of Porto Vecchio.

Antika

Sails away

The next day was spent diving at Dive Center Hippocampe. The morning's dive was at a site called 'Toro', where we saw a lot of groupers. After lunch we dived at 'Millenium' where there is a pit of barracudas!

Barracudas at Millenium dive spot

Our final full day was spent visiting inland and the far south of Corsica.

view

monument at Chera paying homage to Corsican resistants

mountain road

tiny hamlet

tiny church!

village of Sartène

south coast of Corsica; Sardinia on the horizon

at Bonifacio

house in Bonifacio where Napeoleon stayed from 22 Jan to 3 March 1793

Bonifacio

interior of the Sainte Marie Majeure Church, Bonifacio

See also:

• Marseille, Frioul Islands, & Montpellier

Grand Étang

Grand Étang (which means 'Big Pond') is Reunion's only high altitude volcanic lake and its largest inland body of water, with an area covering 50 hectares (123 acres).

Grand Etang, looking east

Located in the district of Saint-Benoît, it lies at an altitude of 525 metres at the bottom of an almost vertical ridge separating it from the Rivière des Marsouins valley.

looking west

You can walk or ride a horse around the lake, or just pic-nic there. The walk is about 4 km long, more if you take a detour to visit the waterfalls to the west. It's pretty easy but can be muddy depending on the time of year.

waterfalls, Grand Etang

looking west from the start of the walk

on the north shore looking west

path from carpark to lake

Grand Etang is part of a larger site that has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports a colony of Audubon's shearwaters (with 300 breeding pairs), as well as populations of Réunion harriers, Mascarene swiftlets, Mascarene paradise flycatchers, Réunion bulbuls, Mascarene white-eyes, Réunion olive white-eyes and Réunion stonechats.

Reunion stonechat at Grand Etang (known locally as a tec-tec)

One plant I've only ever seen growing at Grand Etang and nowhere else is wild Job's-tears. The plant bears hard, pearly-white oval beads that can be used for making necklaces, rosaries and other objects.

Job's tears

close-up of Job's tears

Fed essentially by rainfall and runoff, the water level is very variable.

The water can reach up to 10 metres depth, but on the day we visited it was less than 1.9 metres deep at this measuring stick near the shore.

depth measurement instrument

My husband remembers seeing pictures of Grand Etang after Cyclone Hyacinthe ("the wettest tropical cyclone on record in the world") in 1980 when the level of the water was so high it was more or less touching the electrical cables strung across the lake.

Some links (in French)

• Horse-riding: Ferme Equestre du Grand Etang
• Forestry Commission website: Le Tour de Grand étang
• Guide-reunion.fr: Grand Etang
• Rando pitons.re: Le tour de Grand Etang et les cascades du Bras d'Annette

Nature Photo Challenge

At the moment on Facebook the Nature Photo Challenge is currently doing the rounds. I've received several invites to participate but as I'm loathe to participate in chains I put seven of my favourite nature photographs all in one post, chosen simply because they represent a diversity of landscapes that I've had the chance to see around the world. Here they are, in no particular order:

the wide open steppes of Mongolia

Banzai Cliff, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, because
sometimes tranquil places can hide terrible human suffering

Kalahari desert, Namibia

Tibet, its mountains seen from the world's highest railway line

view from Mount Kinabalu, Borneo

Lake Baikal in Siberia, where we went diving

diving at St Leu, because 70% of our planet is sea

If you enjoyed this post you might also like:

• Steppe-ing Through Mongolia
• Vladivostok To Moscow : Travelling Across A Quarter Of The Globe by Train
• Saipan - a pearl in the Pacific
• The Highest Railway in the World
• Borneo - climbing Mount Kinabalu
• Namibia: places and landscapes

Maison Morange music museum

Inaugurated in Hell-bourg, Salazie, in November 2015, Maison Morange is a museum about Indian Ocean music and musical instruments. Located in a traditional Creole house (built in the 1920s by the former mayor of Bras Panon, Henri Morange), it displays over 400 instruments (from a selection of almost 2,000 collected over forty years by François Menard and Robert Fonlupt), it is France's third richest music collection. The museum itself took four years to see the light of day, and covers 450m2.

Reunion is of course remarkable by the diversity of its people, and this is reflected in the music and instruments displayed, which - like the Reunionese people - come from Africa, Madagascar, India (both Tamil and Gujarati) and China.

A small audioguide allows you to listen to the sound made by various instruments without disturbing other visitors, and all written texts have been translated into English, German and Spanish.

Indian processional handcart, on display in the entrance

The local music genres that have been born of the mix of this diversity, principally maloya and sega, has not been forgotten either. For information, in 2009 maloya was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Some maloya musical instruments on display: three drums, a piker at
the back, a kayamb at the front, and a bobre musical bow at the far left.

a selection of sega and brass band instruments

Each region has a room or rooms devoted to it. For China drums, gongs and cymbals are on display, amongst other instruments, and there is also a section on Tibetan music (religious and profane).

Part of the Chinese display

bronze Bianzhong? bells, Chinese display

In ancient China music was believed to be of divine origin, and it was thus granted great importance. It was a discipline that every gentleman, educated according to the Confucian tradition, would practice.

recreation of the boudoir of a Chinese man of letters

In the corridor the four divisions of musical instruments are shown: membranophones, chordophones, idiophones and aerophones. Even if instruments were made in different geographical regions by people of different cultures they are all based on the common principles of sound production, and can thus be classed into one of the above groups. 

This Chinese gong belongs to the idiophone group

Drums are part of the membranophone family

The festive aspect of African music in Reunion often overshadows its ritualistic origins.

part of the African display

Hindu Indian indentured workers arrived in Reunion to work on plantations after the abolition of slavery in 1848. Like the Chinese, Indians also attribute a mythical and divine origin to their music, and many deities of the Hindu pantheon are represented playing instruments. From the 16th century onwards Mughal princes in Hindustan developed a refined courtly lifestyle, and until the early 20th century princes and Maharajahs maintained groups of musicians and had music rooms where the latter performed.

Private music room of a Maharajah

Due to its size India has a wide diversity of cultures, and the musical instruments created by its people reflect various social and religious traditions. Animals and family life feature strongly amongst these themes.

Tribal Indian instruments

In the museum a small Indian luthier's workshop has been recreated. He and his assistants would have worked sitting on the floor, surrounded by tools and half-made instruments.

part of the workshop of an Indian luthier

Madagascar is itself an island that has been influenced by East Africa, the Arab world, Indonesia and Europe, but its music is nevertheless original. Malagasy have local versions of lutes, zithers, and brass bands, but it is the valiha - a bamboo tube zither - which has become the 'king' of Madagascar's instruments. Maybe that explains why I found the display of valihas one of the most beautiful exhibits in the whole museum.

display of valihas

Practical info:

• Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm (closed Mondays).
• Price €7, free for children aged 8 and under.
• Website: http://www.maisonmorange.fr (French only)

© Maison Morange

© Maison Morange

© Maison Morange

© Maison Morange

You might also like :

• Back to Salazie
• Hiking the three cirques
• Hike from Le Belier to Hell-Bourg
• Some tasteless humour

New guide book in English for Reunion

Planning a trip to Reunion? Looking for the perfect travel companion? Be inspired by the fully-updated 2nd edition of the Insight Guide to Mauritius, Reunion & Seychelles: a full-colour and comprehensive guide in English for real visitors and armchair travellers alike. It has excellent maps, beautiful colour photos breaking up the text, as well as informative and easy-to-read articles and listings. This new edition is thoroughly up-to-date, with its trademark ‘Insight’ articles and features on local history, culture and touristy stuff. To write their books Insight Guides use local experts who provide insider know-how and share their love and knowledge of the destination.

Inside Insight Guide Mauritius, Réunion & Seychelles:

· A fully-overhauled edition by three expert local authors (that's me for the Reunion section ☺).

· Inspirational: stunning, specially-commissioned photography brings these idyllic destinations and their people, sights and excursions to life. 

· Highlights of top attractions, including Piton de la Fournaise, one of the planet's most active volcanoes; and the Cirques, Reunion’s three huge caldera-like valleys.

· Descriptive region-by-region accounts cover the destinations in depth.

· Detailed, high-quality maps throughout will help you get around with ease, pinpointing the key attractions featured in every chapter.

· Travel tips give you all the essential information for planning a memorable trip, including an independent selection of the best places to eat and the best activities on offer, and useful advice on everything from climate to money.

· Rich heritage: explore the islands’ vibrant history and culture and understand their modern-day life, people and politics.

· Editor’s Choice: whether it be sporting activities, best beaches, culture and heritage, wildlife watching, or parks and gardens, there’s an at-a-glance guide to highlights of the most special places to visit.

· A free app and e-book. The Walking Eye app features an up-to-date A to Z of travel tips, information on events, activities, and destination highlights as well as hotel, restaurant and bar listings.

Insight Guides has over 40 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. They produce around 400 full-colour print guidebooks and maps as well as picture-packed eBooks to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture together create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

The Insight Guide to Mauritius, Reunion & Seychelles is published today in the USA & Canada, and was published on January 15th 2016 in the UK.

This article was originally published on the Go To Reunion blog.