Reunion is a very real slice of France in the Indian Ocean so if your french is a bit rusty best to read this and get yourself familiar with Claus and Cristina at Gandalfs Safari Camp! Claus and Cristina (originally from Germany so speak German, French and English) are absolutely wonderful hosts with a true and honest approach to hospitality. Their B&B is located on the South West side of the island in Manapany Les Bains about 5 minutes walk to the beach (with a natural 'grannies' pool where you can swim without fear of sharks). The rooms are compact but nicely decorated. I loved the fact each room had a theme; we stayed in the Arabian room overlooking the garden. All of the rooms are upstairs. Please note the toilet and shower are INSIDE the room with almost no privacy so unless you are a couple or very close friends you may find it a bit uncomfortable. The house has a self catering kitchen downstairs (outdoors) and this is also where the full continental breakfast is served (endless fresh fruit, bread, cereal and a dozen spreads. Coffee, tea and juice – delicious!). There is a small book exchange library and free DVDs for those lazy evenings after hiking and exploring.
The truly special thing about Gandalf's is Claus's advice and wealth of knowledge of the island (in a language we could understand!). It added immense value to our trip. We originally emailed Claus in September (3 months before our trip) regarding accommodation availability which he confirmed in a timely manner. He then assisted us with answers and options to A LOT of questions that we had about the island, hiking routes, organising gites, booking car hire and transfers. He was a pleasure to deal with and we were glad to have honest, helpful assistance in English prior to booking the trip.
On arrival Claus collected us from the airport and transferred us to the accommodation (2 hours along a good highway). Cristina organised a homely dinner for us on as it was New Years Day and nothing else was open so we were very grateful. Each day they provided us with options of sights and excursions suitable for the weather forecast (please note the weather on the island is very unpredictable), even lending us his maps to use as the information centre shop was closed over the weekend. Claus booked our rafting trip for us in Saint Benoit and gave us advice about a rainforest walk to do while driving across the island to the East coast. He also pre-booked our gites (mountains huts) for us during our cirques hike at no extra charge and confirmed everything on arrival with vouchers which we had no issues using while in the remote villages. He transferred us to the start of our hike in Cilaos (up a thousand turns and twists) and collected us from the top of Maido at the end with our 1 suitcase we left with him while hiking (this was one of the problems we couldn’t seem to solve while trying to figure out an itinerary on the island that could include exploration, hiking and beach days with luggage). He organised our car hire (through a company in Saint Joseph) for the first 5 days of exploration and quickly solved the problem when the boot didn’t lock correctly.
We had an amazing time in Reunion and traveled seamlessly around the island with the help of Claus and Cristina. Thanks so much.
Should it possibly help someone I have included our 10 day itinerary. We visited in January 2015, the weather was hot (32 degrees) with high humidity (85%) along the coast but in the cirques it was a pleasant 25 degrees. We spent 5 nights at Gandalfs exploring the southern part of the island (Piton de Fournaise day hike, Cascades de la Grande Ravine on River Langevin, Anse de Cascades near Ste Rose, drove around southern beach route and saw the volcano lava where it meets the sea, rafting in Saint Benoit, Foret de Bebour short walk, Makes viewpoint of the cirques and Saint Pierre for a nice meal). We then hiked for 4 days starting at Cilaos. Day 1: Day trip to La Chappelle river spot and back to Cilaos (4 hours). Day 2: Cilaos to Marla via Col De Taibit (6 hours, incline for 3 hours). Day 3: Marla to Roche Plate via Trois Roches (the best part of the hike if the weather is sunny : 5 hours mainly flat), Day 4: Roche Plate up 900m to the top of Maido Mountain (3 hours steep ascent but very do-able!). Claus collected us from Maido and we then spent 2 days on the northern beaches at Hotel de Recif at I'Hermitage. We went on a helicopter ride with Heliagon (Excellent! – saw Trou de Fer) and visited the lagoon and ate well! De très bonnes vacances!!
We stayed at the following gites:
Cilaos: Gite de la roche merveilleuse, beautiful wooden mountain hut, spacious rooms and great facilities. Highly recommend. Didn’t eat there. On the outer edge of town (about 7 minute walk into the central road). Good for starting the hike to Col De Taibit as route starts from up the hill.
Marla: Gite de Trois Roches, on the outer part of the village with breathtaking views down the ravines. We had a double room with a bathroom (cold shower) but clean and comfortable. More expensive dinner (24 euros). Breakfast was the standard bread stick and jam affairs and coffee/tea for 7 euros.
Roche plate: Ti Kaz Bleu (Axel). We stayed in the brand new double bed cottage which is lovely and had nice views and a beautiful outdoor deck. The dorms are further up the hill and not so great, low ceiling and rather stuffy. Dinner was excellent, Axel doesn’t live onsite and brings the dinner (and breakfast) down to the gites at about 7:30pm. You therefore need to ring him on your arrival to confirm where you are sleeping. Breakfast was standard bread and jam with coffee available in the rooms. The dorms and cottage had self catering kitchens.
