Hiking Cap Noir and La Roche Verre Bouteille on the French island of Réunion was one of the most breathtaking experiences I had in the Indian Ocean.
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We left the cruise port in Réunion on a ragingly humid day (although in all honesty, almost every day in the Indian Ocean was ragingly humid), heading inland in our little hire car- towards the lush green mountains that had been taunting us in the distance since we’d first docked on the island three months before.
Up until then, our work schedule had prevented us from venturing much further than a shopping mall. So, truth be told, my opinion of Réunion was that it was rather dull; I am not a shopping mall kind of gal. (Soz Réunion). The urban areas that I’d seen on the island- on the way to and from the mall- were all kind of like being in a more colourful version of Le Havre. With a few more palm trees thrown in to plump up the concrete corners.
(No offence, but I’m not much of a Le Havre kind of a gal either.)
Thankfully, first impressions are often wrong, my friends!
Another French island you might want to check out: What to do in Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe
We hadn’t been driving for long before the road began to climb steeply uphill, past more modern concrete buildings and metal bus shelters. But the sky was so blue and the prospect of seeing something different (despite the fact that we weren’t exactly sure what to expect from this mysterious ‘Cap Noir’) was so exciting, that I for one was absolutely ecstatic.
Who doesn’t love a good road trip!?
What is Cap Noir?
We had no idea what to expect from this mysterious mountain range. In fact, from the description that others had given to us, it’s just a place with a really great viewpoint. Afterwards, we might as well return to a beach to enjoy the rest of our day.
WRONG.
Réunion Island is one highly volcanic location, home to one of the world’s most active volcanoes- Piton de la Fournaise. In fact, this is the most volcanic island in the entire world, with an average of one eruption every nine months. A monstrous beast of an inactive volcano- Piton des Neiges- is the highest point in the Indian Ocean, and is surrounded by three deep crater valleys, called the Cirques. So as you might imagine, the middle of Réunion Island is filled with dramatic terrain. Much of it is completely inaccessible unless on foot. Or alternatively, helicopter. But I’ll get on to that later.
La Roche Verre Bouteille is a hiking trail starting near the village of Dos-D’Âne, which leads all the way to the highest point of Cap Noir. On one side of the trail is the city of Le Port with its shipping containers and cranes loading cargo in the distance, and on the other is the completely untamed wilderness of the Cirque du Mafate.
Without a doubt, it was the most breathtaking place I visited during the entire three months I spent in the Indian Ocean.
(Because it was stunning but also because I was genuinely rather breathless by the time we got to the top.)
To Cap Noir! And beyond!
As we pulled into the car park closest to Cap Noir, a helicopter was coming in to land. A family climbed in excitedly, ready for a helicopter tour of the island. There’s no doubt that this is an incredible way to experience the insane terrain of Réunion, although helicopters aren’t just used for tourists.
As we began the trail to Cap Noir, a second helicopter chopped its way past, airlifting some tropical trees to a new location. Some mountain villages are so remote that it can be easier to transport things by helicopter; I couldn’t shake the image of a Tesco delivery helicopter landing in your garden halfway up a tropical mountain.
More Indian Ocean Hikes: Hiking Le Morne Brabant, Mauritius
We kept to a narrow path which we hoped would lead all the way to our first destination, stopping every now and again in complete awe, gobsmacked at the views we were seeing. To our left was the steep side of the mountain, packed with trees. To our right was a steep drop and the wide chasm of a vivid green gorge, a deep crack through the mountains. It was unbelievable, and yet it was nothing compared to the views we would experience further along.
Eventually we made it to a little viewpoint jutting out at a corner. Some people had scratched their names into the fences, a reminder of the very urban contrast at the bottom of the mountain. The ridges of the mountains formed a roughly circular shape, sloping down into the jagged bowl of the cirque.
Nataša stood on the edge of the path and let out an operatic cry into the void. The mini-opera bounced off of other sides of the mountains like a pinball, pinging back to us over and over again.
MAGIC.
The hike to the top
If you’re going to do something, you might as well do it properly, that’s what I always say.
So when it became obvious that the path continued around the side of the mountain to who-knows-where, there was no question in any of our minds that we should HIKE ONWARDS. Having done an extremely minimal amount of planning (due in part to the fact that there’s not a lot of info online about hiking in Réunion), we didn’t really have a clue where the path was leading us.
Would it eventually loop back towards Dos-d-Âne?
Hopefully.
Would it just keep going for miles and miles until we reached the other side of the island?
Possibly.
But that’s a risk that we were willing to take.
Explore more of Réunion: The Beginners’ Guide to Hell-Bourg, Réunion
We trekked on, along this narrow path which eventually began to lead upwards, clambering over giant rocks and hanging onto tree branches or each other to keep us stable. It was still boiling hot although gradually the higher we got the less damp the air felt.
My sweat patches were Something To Behold.
(Although not as ginormous as that other monumentous hike we did in the Indian Ocean, over in Mauritius)
Every now and again a metal ladder would appear before us, fixed sturdily into the rocks to take us up to the next level. It was INSANELY AWESOME. This was the Roche Verre Bouteille trail- not that I realised that until several months after I got home and decided to do some googling. When my signal suddenly re-appeared along with the blue dot on google maps, we were delighted to discover that the trail did indeed eventually loop back to the beginning. We pushed onwards and upwards in the style of people ON A MISSION.
The best time to climb a mountain
When we finally reached the highest point, I couldn’t quite believe my eyes. The mountains were a dazzling spectrum of every shade of green that you could possibly imagine. Spotting a couple who were scaling a massive rock not far away, Justin decided he should have a go as well and ran off to pull himself up to the very top.
I was mildly terrified, but he’s a professional at balancing so what can ya do?
The general consensus when hiking up mountains (and Cap Noir is no exception), is that the closer to dawn you can go, the better the view will be. Particularly in Réunion, the clouds are known to roll in around 10am and just like that the amazing views are obscured by haze.
We made it to the top at around 12.30pm, and for the entire uphill climb the only clouds in the sky were far far away from us. All of a sudden this was about to change.
We scrambled through a big stone archway to sit on a massive rock watching guard over the rest of the mountain tumbling away beneath it. Gradually a haze of icy cold mist began to roll in, coating everything in a fine layer of dampness which tumbled slowly over the top of us as well.
Mountain picnics
I didn’t even care about the dampness, there’s something incredible about the sense of accomplishment you get when you make it to the top of anything. And the icy chill of the clouds surrounding us was quite refreshing.
Nataša produced a selection of crew mess sandwiches and fruit from her bag, and we sat munching and feeling very proud of ourselves for our great hiking efforts.
(If you’re not familiar with the phrase ‘crew mess,’ that’s where the crew eats when you live on a cruise ship. Crew mess sandwiches are composed of whatever is available at breakfast time, and are smuggled out to consume ‘outside’ in order to spend minimal money. Technically you’re not allowed to take food out of the crew mess, so don’t spread it around ok!?)
Kisa, in charge of drinks, had actually carried a backpack filled with water and eight bottles of beer all the way up the steep ascent. I had to take my hat off to that guy, that is quite an achievement. And it was also quite a surprise, when he produced a beer from his backpack the second we reached the peak.
Like an actual beer-wizard.
So it was a classic mountain picnic all round. Sandwiches, fruit and beer. In the middle of a cloud. What more could you want??
The descent
The final section of the trail runs right the way along the central ridge of Cap Noir, with the ground seeming to fall away on either side of you. Although it’s wider than a balancing beam, it doesn’t feel that way when you can’t see anything but white cloud on either side of you. Clouds tumbled all around us and the sky was no longer anywhere to be seen.
For a while, 3 metres ahead or behind us was also nowhere to be seen.
We balanced our way onwards through the mist, finishing off the last sips of our beers as we finally began the descent. A winding chain of stepping stones crept all the way back to the level that we’d started at, and it was all a bit surreal hopping from one to the other and then scrambling in a very inelegant way when they got further apart. Not being able to see anything other than our little bubble made the whole situation a 50/50 split of exciting and nerve-wracking. If one of us slipped and fell into the void, it was a long way down and we’d surely disappear almost instantly.
(I mean. In hindsight, we were fine. But you never know, you know!?)
But relax, pals! We made it in the end!
I couldn’t quite believe it, but we did.
Stepping into the car park was like waking up from a very surreal dream. I’d felt completely isolated from the world for about three and a half hours, only to all of a sudden be back in the real world preparing to return a hire car.
WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!
If you’re after a map of the exact route of La Roche Verre Bouteille, check this one out.
Don’t miss out on other incredible and weird and wonderful places!
Tips for hiking Cap Noir and La Roche Verre Bouteille
- We were incredibly lucky with the weather. Normally the earlier you can start the hike, the better.
- There are buses from Le Port to Cap Noir (the 8A from the main bus station), however in Réunion they aren’t always reliable. If you’re short on time, a hire car is best.
- Don’t forget water! Beer alone will definitely not be of any use to you.
- The hike should take around three hours, although our stop for a picnic and occasional climbing escapades meant it took longer. Not that that should be a problem- this place is so beaut that I could spend all day and evening there.
- This is actually one of the easier hikes in Réunion, and as long as you’re not afraid of heights or ladders you should be fine, my friends!
- Do you need equipment to complete this hike? No you do not. I in fact, completed it in my humble old Vans.
- It takes about 20 minutes to drive from Le Port to Dos-d’Âne.
- Réunion is a French island, so the more French you can speak- the better. Currency here is Euros.
