Piton des Neiges (3070 m.), view from Cilaos (1150 m.)
View of Cilaos village from GR R1. Indian Ocean horizon beyond the crater.
Hiking up the inside of the volcanic crater from the town of Cilaos on the GR R1 long-distance hiking route. This, the Forêt du Grand Matarum, is primal tropical forest, never harvested. But all the species have arrived from somewhere since the volcano went quiet so there’s a hotchpotch of trees and plants we know from Europe plus many from elsewhere.
Early start, to avoid the worst of the heat and also the usual afternoon cloud. I met many people coming down who’d climbed the previous night to see the dawn - I’d seen the lights of their torches up on the track from my hotel room, also the stars of the Southern Cross, unfamiliar to me.
Tough climb up the crater side, many steps of at least knee height. Programming rests and recovery by altitude, as with my training hikes in the UK. And suddenly I found myself at 2180 m., 800 m. up from the start of my hike at 1380 m., more than the height of Skiddaw in Cumbria that I’d hiked the previous month as a training hike.
But not at the crater rim (2479 m.). I turned around as the weather was giving warnings; first little bursts of wind, then the birds stopped singing and the sunshine went dark. Next mist, then drizzle and then full tropical rain. 24°C so not cold... just go with it, splashing along the path but taking care of slippery rocks and roots. Wet t-shirt on the way up and wet t-shirt on the way down!
Dinner of grilled swordfish with passion-fruit sauce, salad and local potatoes au gratin. With Ladi Lafe wine from the Cilaos vineyards.
I had had better luck with the weather in 2008 on this route but also had to turn around as my flight home was cancelled and rebooked earlier.
Kiosque at 2000 m.
Grilled swordfish with passion-fruit sauce, salad and local red potatoes au gratin. Ladi Lafe wine from Cilaos