Cirque de Mafate

Mafate is a collapsed volcanic caldera with no road into it at all, ringed by walls a thousand metres high and inhabited by around eight hundred people in scattered hamlets that can be reached only on foot or by helicopter. Supplies arrive slung under a rotor. The cirque is the core of the UNESCO World Heritage area covering the island's peaks and ramparts, and its network of paths is the finest multi-day walking in the Indian Ocean. Îlets like La Nouvelle and Marla have guesthouses, and the crossing from Maïdo takes a full day. Everything carried in has to be carried out again.