Did you know there is a little piece of Europe that lies close to us off the coast of southeast Africa?
No, neither did I.
On my recent voyage as a speaker aboard the Silversea Silver Spirit (a frequent visitor to Nelson Mandela Bay this cruise ship season), I was set to discover a fascinating frontier land that considers itself more French than African.
Réunion, officially Department of Réunion, is an island in the Indian Ocean that is officially an overseas department and region of France.
Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located about 679km east of the island of Madagascar and 175km southwest of the island of Mauritius — both destinations on this voyage.
In January 2024, it had a population of 885,700.
Its capital and largest city is Saint-Denis, where I had the pleasure of visiting for the first time.
Located at the island’s northernmost point, it is close to the mouth of the Rivière Saint-Denis.
Surprisingly, this low-key city is the most populous commune in the French overseas departments and the 19th most populous in all of France.
At the 2020 census, there were 315,080 inhabitants in the metropolitan area with 153,000 living in the city (commune) itself.
Saint-Denis was founded in 1669 by Étienne Regnault, the first governor of Bourbon Island (as La Réunion was then called), on the northern side of the island, where a larger and more fertile plain was deemed more propitious for the development of settlements than the drier and more barren area of Saint-Paul on the western side of the island.
During the Napoleonic Wars, Saint-Denis was captured by British troops on July 8 1810.
The British occupied Saint-Denis and the entire island for almost five years.
On April 6 1815, after the Treaty of Paris, the British officially restored Bourbon Island to France during a ceremony held on the main square of Saint-Denis.
Later in October 1815, as news of Napoleon’s return to France had arrived in the Indian Ocean, a British fleet from Mauritius presented itself in front of St Denis, asking the French governor of Bourbon Island to surrender the colony to His Britannic Majesty.
The French governor refused, and the British started a blockade of the island.
Eventually on October 28, the news arrived of Napoleon’s second abdication and Louis XVIII’s return to power, and the British fleet ended its blockade.
In the 19th century, after France’s loss of its largest sugar colonies of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) and the Isle of France (Mauritius) as a result of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, sugar cane replaced coffee as the main crop in Bourbon, and sugar became the main export, again ensuring the development of Saint-Denis, from where sugar was exported to Europe.
In 1961, the first modern hotel and the first supermarket opened in Saint-Denis.
The city’s (and more generally the island’s) infrastructure, however, was still largely underdeveloped compared to metropolitan France, and many people lived in poverty.
A change emerged in the mid-1960s as economic development and rising incomes, thanks to financial transfers from metropolitan France, led to the eventual westernisation of the local culture and the emergence of a consumer society: TV sets became ubiquitous, large hypermarkets appeared on the outskirts of the city as in metropolitan French cities, selling many products imported from metropolitan France, and the ownership of motor vehicles became generalised, leading to heavy traffic during rush hours in a city whose public transport was not developed.
Today, IBM has an office in Saint-Denis. The island began organising to be a digital hub for nearby African nations, relying on its two undersea cables for good internet connections.
The potential for services would alter the island’s economy, now no longer reliant on sugar, an agricultural product.
The university in Saint-Denis has programmes to educate the young population in digital skills.
As with any development, transportation routes are key. As well as an active commercial port, the island is served by Roland Garros Airport, 7km east of Sanit-Denis, which is the main international airport of Réunion.
Five or six airlines serve the airport and link the island to France as well as locations throughout this Indian Ocean region.
There is also a good road network in Saint-Denis — including the impressive but expensive ‘Nouvelle route du Littoral’ (‘New Coastal Road’), a 12km highway built above the sea.
Construction began in 2011 and is due to be completed by 2030.
The cost of the road was estimated at €1.6bn (R33bn), at its launch earning it the nickname “the most expensive road in the world”.
This is a fascinating place. A real mix of European culture and tropical island life. One can also sense that Africa is not too far away. I’ll be back for sure.
Dr Dean Allen is a best-selling author and keynote speaker. He is currently writing a book about the history of wildlife tourism in the Eastern Cape. www.deanallen.co.za
HeraldLIVE
AT THE FRONTIER | A little piece of France in the Indian Ocean
Columnist
Image: SUPPLIED
Did you know there is a little piece of Europe that lies close to us off the coast of southeast Africa?
No, neither did I.
On my recent voyage as a speaker aboard the Silversea Silver Spirit (a frequent visitor to Nelson Mandela Bay this cruise ship season), I was set to discover a fascinating frontier land that considers itself more French than African.
Réunion, officially Department of Réunion, is an island in the Indian Ocean that is officially an overseas department and region of France.
Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located about 679km east of the island of Madagascar and 175km southwest of the island of Mauritius — both destinations on this voyage.
In January 2024, it had a population of 885,700.
Its capital and largest city is Saint-Denis, where I had the pleasure of visiting for the first time.
Located at the island’s northernmost point, it is close to the mouth of the Rivière Saint-Denis.
Surprisingly, this low-key city is the most populous commune in the French overseas departments and the 19th most populous in all of France.
At the 2020 census, there were 315,080 inhabitants in the metropolitan area with 153,000 living in the city (commune) itself.
Saint-Denis was founded in 1669 by Étienne Regnault, the first governor of Bourbon Island (as La Réunion was then called), on the northern side of the island, where a larger and more fertile plain was deemed more propitious for the development of settlements than the drier and more barren area of Saint-Paul on the western side of the island.
During the Napoleonic Wars, Saint-Denis was captured by British troops on July 8 1810.
The British occupied Saint-Denis and the entire island for almost five years.
On April 6 1815, after the Treaty of Paris, the British officially restored Bourbon Island to France during a ceremony held on the main square of Saint-Denis.
Later in October 1815, as news of Napoleon’s return to France had arrived in the Indian Ocean, a British fleet from Mauritius presented itself in front of St Denis, asking the French governor of Bourbon Island to surrender the colony to His Britannic Majesty.
The French governor refused, and the British started a blockade of the island.
Eventually on October 28, the news arrived of Napoleon’s second abdication and Louis XVIII’s return to power, and the British fleet ended its blockade.
In the 19th century, after France’s loss of its largest sugar colonies of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) and the Isle of France (Mauritius) as a result of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, sugar cane replaced coffee as the main crop in Bourbon, and sugar became the main export, again ensuring the development of Saint-Denis, from where sugar was exported to Europe.
In 1961, the first modern hotel and the first supermarket opened in Saint-Denis.
The city’s (and more generally the island’s) infrastructure, however, was still largely underdeveloped compared to metropolitan France, and many people lived in poverty.
A change emerged in the mid-1960s as economic development and rising incomes, thanks to financial transfers from metropolitan France, led to the eventual westernisation of the local culture and the emergence of a consumer society: TV sets became ubiquitous, large hypermarkets appeared on the outskirts of the city as in metropolitan French cities, selling many products imported from metropolitan France, and the ownership of motor vehicles became generalised, leading to heavy traffic during rush hours in a city whose public transport was not developed.
Today, IBM has an office in Saint-Denis. The island began organising to be a digital hub for nearby African nations, relying on its two undersea cables for good internet connections.
The potential for services would alter the island’s economy, now no longer reliant on sugar, an agricultural product.
The university in Saint-Denis has programmes to educate the young population in digital skills.
As with any development, transportation routes are key. As well as an active commercial port, the island is served by Roland Garros Airport, 7km east of Sanit-Denis, which is the main international airport of Réunion.
Five or six airlines serve the airport and link the island to France as well as locations throughout this Indian Ocean region.
There is also a good road network in Saint-Denis — including the impressive but expensive ‘Nouvelle route du Littoral’ (‘New Coastal Road’), a 12km highway built above the sea.
Construction began in 2011 and is due to be completed by 2030.
The cost of the road was estimated at €1.6bn (R33bn), at its launch earning it the nickname “the most expensive road in the world”.
This is a fascinating place. A real mix of European culture and tropical island life. One can also sense that Africa is not too far away. I’ll be back for sure.
Dr Dean Allen is a best-selling author and keynote speaker. He is currently writing a book about the history of wildlife tourism in the Eastern Cape. www.deanallen.co.za
HeraldLIVE
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