The Mafate cirque, Réunion's wild gem

The Col des Boeufs is one of the gateways to Mafate. This is where the road ends and a helicopter takes over to transport passengers or deliver goods to the villages in the cirque. The atmosphere is similar to that of a bus stop when the locals wait for their turn by the helicopter, as long as the sky doesn't become overcast. It's also the starting point for hiking trails through wild and dazzling landscapes.

It starts as soon as you descend into the cirque, with the Plaine des Tamarins and its reclining trees, where a special atmosphere emanates that is both bucolic and enchanting. You can observe the fauna and flora of the cirque, meet tec-tec, the island's endemic birds, plunge into the pebble river and stop at every viewpoint to admire the mountains, waterfalls, rocky cliffs, canyons and all the reliefs that are the result of volcanic eruptions and erosion due to rainfall.

Far from the beaches, the Indian Ocean and the big towns, the Mafate cirque is home to remote villages cut off from the world, known as îlets. The 9 hamlets linked by hiking trails are inhabited by hundreds of people who make their living from farming, livestock rearing and tourism. Hiking in Mafate is an opportunity to discover the region's isolated villages and meet the Mafatais, who live here all year round. And walking from islet to islet is a great way to explore the cirque while discovering the local culture.

The capital of Mafate, La Nouvelle, is situated in the centre and has a population of 150. Perched at an altitude of 1450 metres, it is an essential stop-off point for hikers. Oriented towards tourism, the village has gîtes, a grocery shop and bakery, a shop and Creole restaurants supplied by helicopter. Like the capital of Mafate, the village of Marla is popular with visitors. Here, you can cross the path of a farmed deer.

In the village, the Mafatais are delighted to welcome tourists to their guest houses to show them their way of life, cook Creole food over a wood fire and tell them the legends of the cirque. The walk from Marla to La Nouvelle takes 2? hours. Descending the Marla plateau, a 4-hour hike leads to the Trois Roches, an impressive geological site where water is at the heart of the landscape. It slides over the rocks to fall 45 metres below.

These small, isolated villages were once a refuge for runaway maroon slaves. Today, these islets remain cut off from the rest of the world, with no roads having been built. The inhabitants get their supplies from village grocery shops or by helicopter. But the invaluable link between the inhabitants and the rest of the world is the visit of the postman, also known as the "sherpa".

His arrival is eagerly awaited by the locals every week. More than just delivering mail, the postman also looks after the elders, reading them a letter or helping them to write a reply. The most famous, Ivrin Pausé, was the only postman to serve all the islets on foot for 40 years, covering 253,000 kilometres. A feat that merited a statue of him in Grand Place, his home town.

In all, there are around thirty hikes and over 250km of trails in Mafate. Depending on the length of your stay, a few sites should be added to the list of places not to be missed.

• Let's start with Plaine aux Sables, an enchanting green plateau with an unobstructed view of the peaks of Mafate, an ideal place to spend a night under the stars in a bivouac.

• As mentioned above, Les Trois Roches is a plateau of slabs and huge rocks. The site has a magical atmosphere thanks to the river of pebbles that rises up to fall into a deep abyss.

• For a moment of tranquillity and contemplation of nature, head for the Plateau de Kerval to the south of Mafate. In this high-altitude meadow, located at 1850 m at the foot of Gros Morne, travellers will discover a small lake and a waterfall where a few cows are also lounging.

• The Maïdo viewpoint: overlooking the cirque at an altitude of 2,200 metres, the Piton du Maïdo offers a breathtaking view of the Mafate cirque, as well as being a gateway to it.