Author: Ariel Sarah Prinsloo, PhD Candidate, University of the Witwatersrand

You’re scrolling through Instagram, only half paying attention to your friends’ updates, when a photo of a beautiful, pristine beach grabs your eye. Somebody you know is lounging on that very beach – and suddenly you want to be there, too. You check the location tag: Réunion Island. Réunion is a French department in the south-west Indian Ocean, situated between Madagascar and Mauritius. It ticks many of the boxes associated with a dream island holiday: beautiful green mountainscapes, waterfalls and sunny skies (and, of course, beautiful beaches). Its tourism marketing plays heavily on its year-round favourable weather and outdoor activities.…

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