Belouve viewpoint and gîte

The Belouve point of view and gîte in the land of the Tamarins des Hauts

At the Bélouve point of view is a mountain refuge, the Bélouve gîte. Located in the Hauts de l'Est of Reunion Island in Bélouve forest at about 1,500 meters above sea level, it dominates the circus of Salazie.

Equipped with the Paul Charly cable car, the name of the area's first conservator, the Bélouve gîte served as a station for logging in the Bélouve forest from May 1953. It has not been in service since 1980 following the passage of the cyclone Hyacinthe, but you can still see its station and the cabin just next to the small Tamarin museum.

The lodging houses a museum dedicated to Tamarin des Hauts, a tree endemic to Réunion. You will be able to know in detail the history of the cable car and the forestry work of the Bélouve forest. How the agents of the national forestry office take care of and preserve the Tamarind grove, regeneration, cutting or even cleaning.

Take part in the Bélouve viewpoint hike at Iron Hole, a simple and family walk even for the less trained. First pass through an alley surrounded by Tamarins and fanjans, native tree ferns and endemic to intense island. Continue your way to the Queen of the Tamarins, a huge tree lying on the ground over 300 years old.

After enjoying the virgin forest and its colorful and abundant vegetation, take the stairs and witness the magnificent spectacle that opens before your eyes, Iron Hole. A 300-meter crevasse created by the Piton des Neiges in which dizzying waterfalls rush.

For more than visits to Reunion consult our interactive map of Réunion.