Near to Pas de Bellecombe is situated the Gîte du volcan.
This hike starts from the parking lot with a spectacular view overlooking the entire
bowl-shaped valley squeezed between ramparts. From the outlook the route to
follow can be seen winding through that valley all the way down to the
impressive four kilometers as the crow flies precipice from where the Sainte-Rose River falls 500 meters lower.



 

The path starts by slowly going down via a forest road quickly
followed by an equestrian trail that leads to one of the most beautiful highland
tamarin (Acacia heterophylla) forests of La Réunion with fallen trees arched
over the path and dozens of giant and twisted trunks all around. It’s now
summer in the Southern hemisphere and digitalis were in full bloom. One and an
half hour later, the plateau is reached, marked by a cowshed at the entrance and
a series of fences and barbed wires flanking the trail.

 

It takes one extra hour to cross the plain with the dry bed
of the river along the path to get to the Cassé
de la Rivière de l’Est. Unfortunately on that day, fog and clouds were blocking
the view over the precipice.

 

Eight hundred meters before reaching that overhanging
place, there is a trail branching off to the east to make a loop but due
to several landslides, a sign is now mentioning that it has recently been closed. Consequently, there is no
way out but to take the same way to come back to the parking lot.