Travel. Reunion. East Africa.
A Jungle Hike in Reunion
Trekking to See The Largest Waterfall in France and the Iron Hole
While staying on the beautiful French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean in 2018, I went on a hike with some friends. We would see the largest waterfall in France and the giant crater it falls into, the Trou de Fer or Iron Hole, in English. There are six different rivers and waterfalls that fall into the Trou de Fer, but we were hiking to a viewpoint to see just one of them. We were told it was a spectacular waterfall, which it was, and the trek through the jungle was also beautiful.
There are other ways to get down into the crater itself, but that can take anywhere from a 9-hour hike to a 2-day expedition, depending on how far you want to go. We were just going on the 2-hour viewpoint hike. You can also visit the crater via helicopter, by far the easiest way to see the majestic views shown in the following picture.
If you are unfamiliar with the island of Reunion, here’s another article I wrote that tells you all about it.
We got up at 5:30 a.m. and started driving towards the trailhead. It took us a couple of hours to get there. The entry point is on the road we were on, but it took a few attempts to find the right spot. The signs were all in French, and it was a bit confusing figuring out which was the best place to hike from.
Our group (I was hiking with two sailing couples staying in other boats in the marina in Saint-Denis) hiked up the road and found a little area where you could camp and a cafeteria where they were serving breakfast to those who had camped overnight. I grabbed a quick cup of coffee while we were there.
Just outside the cafeteria was a gondola that can take two people at a time all the way across the valley to the other side. We were told it only worked when there was a load of wood on the opposite side. It looked like something fun to try, but it didn’t appear to be in working order. It reminded me of a contraption that Kevin Costner rode in his movie, The Postman. I was dying to try it!
From there, we started hiking along the trail towards the waterfall lookout. This was about two hours of hiking, and the trail was quite nice, with lots of hills and valleys and twisted, gnarly roots. And of course, lots of opportunities to take pictures.
There were a few muddy places along the way, which you can see in one of the shots where one of my friends laughed at my other friend for not wanting to get her shoes dirty.
There were lots of beautiful sights all along the trail. Obviously, by the number of pictures added here, I enjoyed all of it. The hike, the flowers, the trees. It all reminded me of scenes I’ve seen from the jungles of the Amazon. So much growth and green everywhere. The weather was also perfect for hiking — wearing a sweater to begin the hike but tying it around your waist halfway through.
Finally, after descending again down a long wooden staircase, passing many people going up (they must have gotten up a lot earlier than we did), we came to a platform. We saw what we had been hiking for — a beautiful waterfall across the valley. Definitely well worth the hike!
On the hike back, we decided to split up, which is almost always asking for trouble. We almost lost one of the hikers on the way, but we were eventually reunited again. This is one of many places you can hike to in Reunion. So much to do and see there. Definitely, a place you should visit if you get the chance.
For another perspective on the island of Reunion, take a look at Elle’s article.
For more of my articles, here are a couple of links. Also, please follow me on social media.
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