I have become the mom that can juggle the baby in the arm while moderating a Zoom meeting and doing work – on 2 computers nogal
I get up every day and dress the kids to make sure they get to school on time
I get to work on time every single day – just kidding, my office has been in my house for 4 years already
We don’t do as many takeaways as we used to… thank goodness
We go out on little trips for the kids almost every weekend
I may be an adult now, but I still need a parent – sometimes. My remaining parent unfortunately lost sight of the importance of family and I couldn’t stand by while my family fell apart.
“I don’t mind being described as vanilla in certain ways.” – Cal Ripken, Jr.
I agree with Cal Ripken on not minding to be described as vanilla – now that I know that vanilla isn’t just ordinary. Believe it or not vanilla comes from an orchid!
5 things you didn’t know about Vanilla (or Vanille)
Vanilla is originally from Mexico
and was brought to Reunion Island in the 1800’s. Here at first they unsuccessfully tried to get production going. What they didn’t realise was that the orchid needed Melipona bees to pollinate them (as in Mexico). Then one day they realised that you have to pollinate each flower by hand… and voila!
Each flower lasts 1 day and if it isn’t pollinated within 12 hours of blooming… no vanilla pods.
The pods grow for 9 months… Once the green pods start turning yellow that’s when they are ready to harvest. They are first boiled and then dried in the sun for weeks (months).
It can take 3 to 5 years for a vanilla plant to bloom and after harvest there is still months to go before you’ll find the vanilla on the shelves
ProVanille – Bras Panon
We went to ProVanille, a cooperative near Bras Panon on Reunion Island for an English tour. They buy their vanilla from farmers and do the curing, drying and sorting on the premises. However, they still have a few Vanilla plants for demonstration purposes.
We first enjoyed a cup of vanilla coffee before the tour. The tour cost 24 Euros for 4 adults.
They keep the plant low to the ground so they can reach the flowers and pods. These green pods are starting to go yellow so they would be harvested soon.
They dry the pods on wooden shelves in the sun, but as soon as the sun waves goodbye the vanilla is brought inside. See how rounded and puffy the pods are? This means they still contain a lot of moisture and still have some drying to do.
These vanilla pods are much dryer, but according to our tour guide they still had some drying to do!
This photo and video clip shows how they “class” the vanilla by length. You will pay a premium for longer pods.
Escale Bleue Vanille – Saint Phillippe
We also stopped by Escale Bleue Vanille to look at an award winning vanilla grower’s operation. It is pretty much the same everywhere, so if you visit one farm the next one is the same. We got in for free because their English tour guide was away… we aimlessly wandered about looking at everything, but it was still interesting.
On the left is the shop and on the right (yes, that is a garage) a workshop to harvest the vanilla, boil it etc.
See how they keep the plant low to the ground? This is so they can get to the flowers and pods easily.
If there is a tree, their is a vanilla plant creeping up. They cut the “tentacles” holding onto the tree to reign in the height.
If you want to know what you can do with vanilla – other than baking – keep on coming back to my blog.
If you haven’t read the first 2 posts about our family holiday on Reunion Island, here are the article links:
Our first day on Reunion Island had a slow start. We had to get everyone through one bathroom, feed them with the provisions our hosts provided and get out and up to Hell-Bourg.
If you don’t know, Reunion Island has mountains in the middle of the island and the cirques where they have built little towns – plus little towns dotted along the coast. However, to get to these little towns on the cirques is a story on its own…
We first set off to buy provisions for our day trip, but Google Maps just couldn’t get us to a shop and we were left buying from real dodge-looking little shops. What we didn’t know was that there was a Carrefour not too far away – and that it was actually a grocery shop. We got routed to these 2 churches instead…
Anyway, we started our trip up to Hell-Bourg… and it was one hell of a road! Turn on turn on 180 degree turn all while my husband had to change gears with his right hand while sitting on the wrong side of the car and a very narrow road with a 1m ditch and a barely there shoulder… My heart was beating a million miles a minute and I was cursing like a pirate. My husband was glued to the middle line while I had to keep my eye on the closeness of the ditch.
When we finally arrived at Hell-Bourg we were more than a little relieved. My legs were jelly and I was never that glad to walk with my 2 little feet on this planet.
Hell-Bourg
Hell-Bourg is a quaint little town with an even older version 20 minutes away by foot. We couldn’t do the walk as we had Lexa and the pram as well as my very old parents.
However, we walked the main street, looked at all the sights that were open on a Monday (because most places are closed on a Monday and some shops and attractions observe a siesta. The main attraction on the cirque is to hike around, music museum (closed on Mondays), graveyard and eateries.
With a view like this when you will never see it…
After a quick lunch we made our way back down the mountain and had the most beautiful views. The jagged edges stabbing the sky was just beautiful.
Vanilla Farm, St Suzanne
We then tried a vanilla farm, La Vanillerie near St Suzanne, but they did not have an English tour and could not tell me when they will have someone to do an English tour. I must add that I had emailed them 3 weeks prior and NEVER received a reply.
So, we then decided to go to La Cooperative Pro Vanille (Provanille) near Bras Panon when we drive down that way. It was lucky that I jotted down and printed out quite a bit of information on places to visit as we only found the tourism office at the end of the first day.
Temple du Colosse, St Andre
Instead of vanilla we then hunted for the colourful Temple du Colosse and a place to buy food. All the gates at the temple was locked so we couldn’t explore it but it was still impressive. It is definitely worth a visit.
To travel is to breathe. It is the single most important thing you could do in your life that would change you for the better.
Nothing could quite prepare us for the roads of Reunion Island. We’ve been to island destinations – and I promise, we (I) don’t sit in a resort waiting for my next cocktail to arrive. We explore. We are on the road looking around, (attempting) to connect to locals, eating, drinking and taking photos.
Lexa did not scream or sleep on the flight, she was having the time of her life!
Meeting the roads of Reunion Island
If you’ve ever been to Zimbabwe you will know those tarred roads where if traffic comes from the front you have to scoot on over and drive one wheel in the dust… Reunion Island is the same, but far, far scarier. I will share more about the scariest road we’ve ever driven on my next post.
First night on Reunion Island
We rented a Renault Trafic, a very wide minibus with 3 seats per row. When we signed for it the rental agent showed us the damage card and it was scratched f.up on the passenger side… and then we took to the road with Google Offline Maps, in the rain, 9pm at night to find our self-catering accommodation “15 minutes away” (only because we got lost).
The cottage in St Andre was hidden on a narrow street (read 1.5 cars should fit). Numbers on most of the houses were non-existent and well it was dark and raining and we were tired as we landed 8pm after 3.5 hours in the air – but you know that you pretty much lose a day at the airport when travelling. Eventually when we drove the whole street we turned around the boat of a mini bus in the dark, in a narrow street – me standing outside with a torch at the back and my dad relaying signals to husband at the wheel. Then we found it, the sign only visible from one side. Husband mounted a manhole that was almost 20cm high and tried to drive over it (because that’s what real men do) to turn into the driveway.
The owners must’ve heard us (me yelling in a panicked voice at husband not to floor it over the manhole) because they came out of their home across the road looking very concerned. They immediately welcomed us and got us in the gate and settled at Casa Floria that I booked via Booking.com.
The little cottage was perfect, 2 bedrooms, a huge bathroom with shower, fully equipped kitchen and livingroom plus internet – and a patio with a huge table for meals. The best part, the owners had thought of a family of 5 arriving very late in a new country and bought bread, milk, coffee, jam, butter, cheese and cold meat! It was just that touch that made us feel welcome in a French department in the Indian Ocean.
If you would like to find out more about our family holiday on Reunion Island, I will be sharing a few blog posts over the next few weeks. Tips to survive the roads, places to see, what to do and a lot of photos!
We survived… a family holiday with my parents and Lexa – and 2 x 4 hour flights! Loved it, but also really glad that the trip is over. I missed home, my cats, lekker chips, pap & sauce, hearing South Africans talk and driving on the left of the road in a right hand drive vehicle.
It was tough, but I would do it all again.
In the next few weeks I will tell you all about the museums, vanilla farms, waterfalls, towns and beaches we visited as well as what I thought about creole food. There will be tips on what to take and where to go as well as what to expect when you do a road trip.
I took along some products to test… because when you do a road trip your skin gets punished. One product in particular lived up to its promise – but you will have to wait and see…
I can’t even tell you yet what I loved most about the trip, I am just so tired right now… I just know that I took over 3000 photos and still need to sort through mine, my mom’s and still need to submit a travel insurance claim for my dad’s lost video camera.
