While Seychelles and Mauritius are independent island nations, Reunion is a department of France. That’s right, they use the Euro and the capital of Reunion – an island to the east of Madagascar – is Paris. I think of it like how Puerto Rico is to the USA. Reunion is a “hot spot” volcanic island (like Hawaii), with an active volcano on the south-east side. The cruise ship port is to the north-west, so no issues there.
Side note: I think this is the first place since Peru where we drive on the right hand side of the road.
Side note 2: Reunion gets more rain (on average) in a day than Paris gets in a year…
After the adventure of getting to Mauritius, I was looking for a more relaxed experience. Let’s go see some turtles.
Kelonia is similar to the crocodile farm I visited in Australia as it used to be a place that grew and harvested the animals. However, selling turtle shell parts was banned, so now it is a museum and injured-turtle rehabilitation center. Complete with kiddie-photo stand…
They have several large pools where turtles recover, if possible. For example, this one has lost one of its arms.
They also had some tortoises.
They showed a few “this is what used to be made out of turtle shell” exhibit, but I won’t share any here. I’m kind of glad plastics took over.
The rest of the tour was a quick walk thru the old town of St. Leu. Nothing to report, just a relaxing visit. Next: South Africa.