After leaving Saint Denis, our first foray was to head up the canyon of the Riviere des Galets into the Cirque de Mafate, to see the mountain formation as Dos d'âne ("Two humps").
Leaving from the village of Dos d'ânes high up in the hills, you immediately get a feeling of Reunion's impressive vertical relief, because the trial is on a cliff over the river over 3000' below:
As you hike down the valley on the trail, the view shifts from just the impressive river canyon, and the view of Dos d'âne starts to come into view...
And then you finally turn that last corner to the Cap Noir overlook, and the full view of Dos d'âne and the Cirque is phenomenal. (And your eyes aren't deceiving you, there are a few villages in the Cirque, even though you can generally only reach them after several long and steep hikes):
