Hell-Bourg
Colourful Creole houses.
Jean-Louis Sicot — CC BY-SA 4.0 · regulator974 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · regulator974 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Regulator974 — CC BY 3.0 · Jan Remund — CC BY 2.0
The Cirque de Salazie is a volcanic caldera north-east of the Piton des Neiges in the centre of Réunion, the greenest and wettest of the island's three cirques, with more than 3,300 mm of rain a year. Its best-known village, Hell-Bourg, lies about 22 km in a straight line south of Saint-Denis, the island's capital. People first settled here in 1829, after a cyclone had devastated the nearby coast, and the commune of Salazie was formed in 1889. Its name probably comes from a Malagasy word meaning «good encampment». Families farm terraces of chayote, known locally as «chouchou», which turns up in many of their dishes. The road enters the cirque from the east coast along the Rivière du Mât valley, and countless waterfalls run down its green walls, the best known being the Voile de la Mariée. At the end of the road, Hell-Bourg has colourful Creole houses, gardens and the remains of its old thermal baths, and trails lead on to the Bélouve forest and the Piton des Neiges. Exploring the cirque is free. It is the closest of the cirques to the east coast; mornings are clearest before cloud builds, and a rain jacket is useful in any season.
Colourful Creole houses.
Down the green walls.
The road in.
Salazie, Réunion
By car or bus from the east coast.
Yes, so bring a rain jacket in any season.