Can you imagine a single volcanic cone rising from the dark-blue ocean in the middle of nowhere? That’s how Saint Paul island looks like. But it is not brown or black like most of the volcanoes. It is green! Thousands years ago a part of the Saint Paul’s volcano rim broke, opening the way to the caldera which is now filled with water. It is possible to sail by the little ship into the caldera. When I saw the island in the early morning in the sun I thought that little Saint Paul Island is one of the most picturesque places of this voyage. In the past French tried to colonize Saint Paul. I am proud to mention that is the middle of the19th century Polish captain Adam Mieroslawski on behalf of the French Governor of Reunion was here acting chief of the island. A little fishery and French garrison was on Saint Paul at that time. Now French authorities announced that Saint Paul is a Nature Reserve. For some reason (they always repeat: his is not a cruise ship!) we stayed at Saint Paul only about 3 hours. In the tourist program a 10-minutes helicopter flight was included. I saw that for the first time they are launching their only zodiac. -Can I sail also in a zodiac into caldera? The answer surprised me: yes, but then you have to pay for the helicopter flight: 48 euro per minute x 10 minutes. Sorry, I cannot pay anything extra! I saw the zodiac sailing many times to the caldera and back with wealthy tourists and crew members. How much cost the petrol for one round-trip sailing to thecaldera. 4 euro? I thought at this moment with a great sentiment about the crew from my Russian ships to Antarctica, it is hard to imagine that they can have about such an approach. They were happy to offer us additional opportunities to enjoy the voyage. But now I am on the French ship. Flight was nice but I was not lucky to have a front seat, so my air pictures are so-so.
