Diving the Hai Siang

The Hai Siang is a 49-metre former Taiwanese fishing boat that was voluntarily sunk off the coast of Cap Homard (Reunion Island) in 1983. The name means 'wild pig' in Chinese. It lies on a sandy bottom at 55 metres deep and, if you are appropriately qualified, it makes for good diving as you can see from the photos below. We saw lots of snappers, unicorn fish, trumpetfish and clown triggerfish. Unlike the Antonio Lorenzo it rests upright.

Hai Siang looking at the bow 

Hai Siang mast

Hai Siang stern

school of snappers

me with snappers

deck, looking aft

on the seabed, off to starboard side.

mast

looking down at the deck to the entrance to the holds

To finish with, a professional photo of the Hai Siang by Gaby Barathieu:

See also:

• Diving the Antonio Lorenzo 
• Diving World Record in Reunion Island
• Synthesis & Cetacea
• Diving, Reunion Island
• Réunion overhead and underwater

Flyboarding in Reunion

Ever heard of a Flyboard? A type of jetpack supplies propulsion to drive a 'board' through and above water to perform a sport known as flyboarding. It was invented in 2012 by a French water-craft rider, Franky Zapata. 

pre-activity briefing with Jean-Luc Gilquin

A Flyboard rider stands on a board connected by a long hose to a watercraft. Water is forced under pressure to a pair of boots with jet nozzles underneath which provide thrust for the rider to fly up to 15 m in the air.

The design allows the device to climb out of the water and be more or less stable in the air using underfoot propulsion and hand stabilisation. 

The Flyboard is buoyant for safety, which also allows the rider to rest in the water between rides. 

In Reunion the activity is run by Jean-Luc Gilquin at the Colosse Park in Saint André, where there's one of the island's few inland bodies of water suitable for this type of activity. (It can't be done over the sea due to the water sports ban currently in place in Reunion due to the shark situation).

you can see the hose clearly in this photo

In the photos you can see my husband, with the results after about 15-20 minutes of getting used to the device.

To find out more:

www.flyboard-reunion.fr

Diving the Antonio Lorenzo

I did my second dive on the Antonio Lorenzo yesterday; the first was in October 2013.

The Antonio Lorenzo is a 53-metre Chilean longliner which lies at a depth of 38 metres in the bay of Saint-Leu. 

On 1st September 1998 it was caught by a French patrol boat illegally fishing in French territorial waters 120 nautical miles from the Kerguelen islands in the southern Indian Ocean. Its holds contained 100 tonnes of Patagonian tooth fish. It was brought back to Reunion, where arrived on 14th September. On 16th December 1999 six holes were drilled into its hull, and it was sunk as an artificial reef at Pointe des Chateaux.

It lies on its port side, which explains why the mast sticks out a 45° angle. I'm afraid I'm not much good with technical language for vessel elements, so I can't label what different parts are called.

this almost looks like a coral reef but is part of the vessel

a last, somewhat ghostly, shot as we started ascending

me with my SMB during our 10-minute safety stop

See also

• Diving the Hai Siang
• Diving World Record in Reunion Island
• Synthesis & Cetacea
• Diving, Reunion Island
• Réunion overhead and underwater

Interview on expat.com

Last month I had an interview published on the website Expat.com (formerly known as expat-blog.com). 

Entitled Reunion Island: Love at first sight I discuss my love for Reunion's lifestyle, natural landscapes, and its ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity.

So if you want to know (amongst other things) what brought me to Reunion Island, a useful tip for soon-to-be expatriates on the island, and how easy it is for an expat to live here, read the interview here!

Plaine des Sables

At Grand-Etang 

In Saint-Pierre town centre

See also:

• Reunion Island Jobs & Housing
• From London ... to Seoul via Reunion Island (a May 2011 interview with Blogexpat.com when I was living in South Korea)

'Ring of Fire' Solar Eclipse on Reunion

On 1st September in Reunion we experienced a 'ring of fire' annular solar eclipse, when the shadow of the moon crossed the Earth.

© Zamir Popat Photography

The shadow's central path was 13,400 km long, but only about 100 kilometres wide at maximum eclipse, and on Reunion we were just slightly north of the eclipse centreline. 

The path of the eclipse crossed central Africa & north Madagascar

Fred Espenak

Fred Espenak

My own photos are useless, but here's a round-up of some of the best photos, time-lapses and videos of the occasion. (Note that the sky wasn't extremely dark, but filters were needed in order to photograph the sun, which gives the impression of a black sky).

Woman looking through telescope at St Louis, where a viewing centre
had been set up. Photo: Richard Bouhet/AFP/Getty Images

People look through eclipse viewing glasses, telescopes or cameras in St-Louis. 

This photograph of the partial phase by Stephane Moser was chosen as NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day on 3rd September 2016.

Image Credit & Copyright: Stephane Moser

from Etang Salé forest
© Dronecopters - Jonathan Payet 

Time-lapse © Luc Perrot

Time-lapse © Frog 974

Time-lapse photo © Slooh

© Alan Le Redac

A combination of pictures shows the beginning to the end
(top L to bottom R) seen from a beach. © Reuters 

Palm tree leaf during the eclipse © Olivier Payet aka Tofruokal

The event was also widely talked about in the world's press. Although it was visible in parts of Africa and across Madagascar, most press pictures come from Reunion.

• 'Ring of fire': Moon passes before Sun (BBC)
• Africa stargazers glimpse 'ring of fire' during annular solar eclipse (The Guardian)
• African stargazers enjoy rare 'ring of fire' annular solar eclipse (The Telegraph)
• Video: Solar eclipse spectacle on Reunion Island (Reuters) 
• This video shows the entire 3 hours 10 minute duration of the eclipse!

You might also like:

• Advance warning: solar eclipse on 1st September 2016
• Reunion photography pages on Facebook

Podcasts about Reunion

If you live in Reunion you may have heard about Anglais.re, a language-learning concept and website created by my dynamic duo of compatriots, Richard Thom and James Christie. As well as proposing English language training online (free and paid versions) there's also a weekly podcast. 

Every Thursday a native speaker of English talks about their experiences and adventures on Reunion. From tasting fried wasp larvae in Ste Rose to getting hypothermia in Salazie, every story is fun and full of surprises, lasting no more than 5 minutes. There are two speeds to choose from: normal and slow. You can also read the text while you listen, and there is even a list of the difficult words translated into French. It's free and you can of course listen as many times as you want. Recent episodes even have a video version where you can watch the podcaster record their story and see a real-time translation of the difficult words on screen. At the time of writing this blog post they're now up to 104 episodes, and the 64,000 plays make them Reunion's most listened-to podcast! 

Although I'm not a English teacher I recently recorded two podcasts: the first about life as a translator in Reunion Island:

and the second about the struggles of getting a decent cup of tea in Reunion when you're a tea aficionado like I am.

P.S. For more about my visits to tea plantations and sampling of locally-produced tea around the world see the post My ABC of travelling.

Useful links:

• Anglais.re
• The Invisible Woman
• My Cup of tea

New guide book in English for Reunion

Planning a trip to Reunion? Looking for the perfect travel companion? Be inspired by the fully-updated 2nd edition of the Insight Guide to Mauritius, Reunion & Seychelles: a full-colour and comprehensive guide in English for real visitors and armchair travellers alike. It has excellent maps, beautiful colour photos breaking up the text, as well as informative and easy-to-read articles and listings. This new edition is thoroughly up-to-date, with its trademark ‘Insight’ articles and features on local history, culture and touristy stuff. To write their books Insight Guides use local experts who provide insider know-how and share their love and knowledge of the destination.

Inside Insight Guide Mauritius, Réunion & Seychelles:

· A fully-overhauled edition by three expert local authors (that's me for the Reunion section ☺).

· Inspirational: stunning, specially-commissioned photography brings these idyllic destinations and their people, sights and excursions to life. 

· Highlights of top attractions, including Piton de la Fournaise, one of the planet's most active volcanoes; and the Cirques, Reunion’s three huge caldera-like valleys.

· Descriptive region-by-region accounts cover the destinations in depth.

· Detailed, high-quality maps throughout will help you get around with ease, pinpointing the key attractions featured in every chapter.

· Travel tips give you all the essential information for planning a memorable trip, including an independent selection of the best places to eat and the best activities on offer, and useful advice on everything from climate to money.

· Rich heritage: explore the islands’ vibrant history and culture and understand their modern-day life, people and politics.

· Editor’s Choice: whether it be sporting activities, best beaches, culture and heritage, wildlife watching, or parks and gardens, there’s an at-a-glance guide to highlights of the most special places to visit.

· A free app and e-book. The Walking Eye app features an up-to-date A to Z of travel tips, information on events, activities, and destination highlights as well as hotel, restaurant and bar listings.

Insight Guides has over 40 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. They produce around 400 full-colour print guidebooks and maps as well as picture-packed eBooks to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture together create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

The Insight Guide to Mauritius, Reunion & Seychelles is published today in the USA & Canada, and was published on January 15th 2016 in the UK.

This article was originally published on the Go To Reunion blog.

Advance warning: solar eclipse on 1st September 2016

On Thursday 1st September 2016 an annular solar eclipse will be visible from Réunion Island.

example of an annular solar eclipse

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light (in this case 97%) and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring).

path of the eclipse

While the whole eclipse will last from 06:13–12:00 UT, the point of maximum eclipse will last 186 seconds (3 minutes 6 seconds), and the maximum width of the band will be 100km (62 miles). It will be seen across central Africa southwards to Madagascar and into the Indian Ocean. The partial eclipse will be visible across most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The points of Greatest Eclipse and Greatest Duration will be in southern Tanzania.

path of the eclipse

Most of Réunion will see the annular eclipse at about 10:09 UT. Although the island is not on the centreline, the duration in the south-west (near St Pierre) should be quite good, as the centreline duration is still over 3 minutes.

map showing path of eclipse over Reunion
© MICHEL VIGNAND

The last solar eclipse visible on Réunion was on 21st June 2001.

For more information:

• Annular Solar Eclipse of 2016 Sep 01 - NASA
• Annular Solar Eclipse of 1 Sep, 2016 AD - Moonblink