Cruise The World With Us 2026

Monday – April 20, 2026 – La Possession

I believe it safe to say we have all used or tasted vanilla at one time, but how many of us know where vanilla comes from? Today’s featured photo shows vanilla plants being grown under protective nets on Reunion Island. Today’s excursion took us to the Roulof Vanilla Plantation. The link I have provided guides you to a site that has French text. Hopefully you have an app that converts it for you to English.

Reunion Island is a very hilly island and has a still-active volcano located on the Southeast portion of it. We did not travel to that area as there is still danger of eruptions – the last of which was late January 2026. The active volcano is Piton de la Fournaise.

Today’s excursion was primarily in the mountains East of our port – La Possession. To get to the inland area we had to drive on a causeway which is built over water parallel to the cliffs of the Northeast quadrant of Reunion Island. As we drove to an area called Camp Ozoux, we stopped at a lookout that gave us a panoramic view of the valley. It was beautiful and the weather cooperated with blue skies and fluffy white clouds. Further up the road was a village where we stopped and had time to walk and explore. It sprinkled a bit then stopped and became sunny again.

After roughly an hour in the village we drove to a restaurant for lunch. The view from the restaurant was stunning. It was nestled in the hills and overlooked the valley. The food was local fare (Creole in nature) but I only remember 1 item – the dessert – a sweet potato cake (because I’m not fond of sweet potatoes unless they are hot and have brown sugar and butter). Surrounding the restaurant were homes with flowering bushes and vines. Also present were large spiders (don’t know the species).

As we drove down the valley we could see many single waterfalls. After some time we stopped to look at a group of waterfalls that covered a large area of the mountainside. You’ll see several photos in the gallery of this area – including a couple selfies.

Eventually we reached the Roulof Vanilla Plantation which is tucked away in a small town with a narrow road leading to it. Out of the bus we were given a tour of the premises and a short lecture explaining how vanilla is grown and processed (much of which is done by hand). I was not aware that the vanilla bean is a variety of orchid. If you are interested and want to take the time, here is a site that provides the steps to process vanilla.

Today’s gallery was completed with a sail away time-lapse. Hope you enjoyed our visit to Reunion Island.

Here are photos and video from Reunion Island.