The ''Cirque de Mafate'' is a

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

Island (

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

; located in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

). It was formed from the collapse of the large

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more viscous lava ...

the ''

Piton des Neiges The Piton des Neiges (Snow Peak) is a complex volcano on Réunion, one of the French volcanic islands in the Mascarene Archipelago in the southwestern Indian Ocean. It is located about east of Madagascar. Piton des Neiges is the highest poin ...

''. The very remote and inaccessible cirque was settled in the 19th century by

maroon Maroon ( , ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word , meaning chestnut. ''Marron'' is also one of the French translations for "brown". Terms describing interchangeable shades, with overlapping RGB ranges, inc ...

slaves (i.e. slaves who had escaped from their masters), then later by poor white laborers. It owes its name to one maroon leader.

Geography

The cirque is entirely enclosed by mountains, especially tall cliffs, known as ''remparts'', save for the sole river exiting, the ''Rivière des Galets'' ("river of the pebbles"). Inside the cirque, there are considerable declivities. The ''îlets'' are pieces of more-or-less flat lands, on which the hamlets are located. The name "Mafate" comes from the Malagasy word "Mahafaty", which means lethal, an allusion to the difficulty of reaching the Cirque.

Population

The cirque has one village, La Nouvelle, and several hamlets (fr. îlet): Marla, Roche-Plate, the Îlet-aux-Orangers, Grand Place etc. The Cirque is entirely public property, managed by the Forestry service, from which the inhabitants rent inexpensive concessions. There is no main electrical supply. Inhabitants thus produce their own electricity using

solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

s (with battery storage), and occasionally diesel generators. However, fuel for the latter must be brought by helicopter at high cost. Because of the reduced available power supply, inhabitants systematically use low-consumption (fluorescent)

light bulb Electric light is an artificial light source powered by electricity. Electric Light may also refer to: * Light fixture, a decorative enclosure for an electric light source * ''Electric Light'' (album), a 2018 album by James Bay * Electric Light ( ...

s. Similarly, all inhabitants use solar water heaters. These can be supplemented by

gas Gas is a state of matter that has neither a fixed volume nor a fixed shape and is a compressible fluid. A ''pure gas'' is made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon) or molecules of either a single type of atom ( elements such as ...

-powered heaters — but gas canisters must also be brought by helicopter.

Services

La Nouvelle and hamlets have grocery stores where staples can be bought. Typically, these stores also provide some limited bar and

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

services (hot

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

and local fast food, such as

samosa A samosa () () (Hindi: समोसा) ( Persian: سمبوسه) is a fried South Asian and West Asian snack. It is a pastry with a savory filling that mostly consists of vegetables like spiced potatoes, onions, and peas, but can also include ...

s). Many inhabitants have opened ''gîtes'' (dormitories, WC and showers) where hikers can stay for the night, and often dine, for a fee. La Nouvelle and several of the hamlets have elementary schools. In 2005, the school at Marla reopened with 6 pupils after being closed for insufficient enrollment. There are neither secondary nor higher education facilities. There are several

dispensaries A dispensary is an office in a school, hospital, industrial plant, or other organization that dispenses medications, medical supplies, and in some cases even medical and dental treatment. In a traditional dispensary set-up, a pharmacist dispense ...

between which a few

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

s rotate, as well as scheduled visits of a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

, but no permanent health care facilities. All emergencies have to be evacuated by helicopter. There is no

Gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

station.

Transportation

One peculiarity of Mafate is that there are no roads. Because of this, it is a major attraction for hikers willing to experience some unspoiled nature, while still benefiting from grocery stores and other amenities. For this reason, with the impending creation of a

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

on the heights of Réunion, it seems very unlikely that roads will be ever built. All access, including for supplies, is by foot or helicopter. There are a number of footpaths for reaching the cirque, among which: * By the ''Col des Bœufs'' ("pass of the oxen"), from the Cirque de Salazie, leading to La Nouvelle. This way is the easiest, since there is a forestry road leading to parking lots at the pass. * By the ''Col du Taïbit'' from the

Cirque de Cilaos A (; from the Latin word ) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from , meaning a pot or cauldron) and ; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform arising from flu ...

. * By the ''Canalisation des Orangers'' on the heights of Saint Paul (Réunion).

Geography

Population

Services

Transportation

References

External links