24th
of December: On the spur of the moment,
I decided to visit Seychelles to climb the highest peak. There were only three African countries I
haven’t visited where I did not need a visa. I knew very little about the
island – just that Morne Seychellois was only a 45 minute easy hike from the
tea factory. It was, however peak season
but things always work out and a friend of mine’s uncle managed to find me
‘cheap’ accommodation for ‘only’ €35 per day.
Al he wanted was 6 milk stouts and some biltong and whiskey for the lady
that arranged the accommodation for me.
Two hours after I received his e-mail, my flight was booked.
25th
of December: Finding milk stout at the
airport? Instead I bought more whiskey
and biltong. Sometimes I forget how much I love travelling. I love to watch the
people waiting at the airport, meeting new people and sharing their excitement
upon arrival.
I loved the
island the moment I stepped off the aeroplane.
At the airport, I drew some Euros, a lot more that I expected to spend,
but since I travel a lot, I knew it would come in handy in the future. It was
magic driving past Victoria with the Christmas lights all lit up.
My flight was
delayed and I only arrived in Bel Ombre after 22:00, where I was pleasantly
surprised with the apartment. It was
humid and I really appreciated the air conditioner. Falling asleep with the
sounds of frogs, fruit bats and the sea, was incredible.
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| Villa La Cachette - a lovely place I stayed in |
26th
of December: I woke up in lovely Seychelles with only a printout of the hikes I
googled and showed my landlady, who was on her way to visit family for a week, I
gave her a list of all the hikes. She gave me a map and showed me where they
were on the map, but it was all Greek to me. I felt like an idiot and then she instructed
her husband to drive me to all the starting points. I was just as clueless as before but I took
some useless GPS readings and at least I now knew where the Anse Major hike
started.
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| The start of the Dans Gallas Trail |
I was dropped
off at the start of the Dans Gallas trail – according to the book, it is the
most strenuous one. The view was magnificent
and after 90 minutes, I bumped into a couple coming down. “We couldn’t find the path to the top – so
good luck”. I hiked for another 30
minutes before the path disappeared. I was on my own and the reason I was in
Seychelles was to climb to the highest peak. It was silly to risk injuries so I
turned back. Because of the humidity,
the sweat was pouring off me.
Once down, I
started walking. After walking for quite
a while on a tarred road, I remembered that my landlord mentioned something
about ‘whatever you do, do not turn right!”.
I have, of course turned right.
Ages later, I
stood in front of a police station. I
only had a piece of paper with the apartment’s address on and asked a passing
lady if she knew where it was. She
looked at the paper, looked at me, looked at the paper again and burst out
laughing. She then said I must take a
bus – and when I said I would prefer to walk, she burst out laughing again. I
definitely made her day – if not her year.
Eventually I
stumbled through the apartment’s door having had enough excitement for one day.
I sat on the veranda and listened to the bats, sea and birds. Tomorrow, I was
going to see the view from the highest peak in Seychelles.
27th
of December. It was raining and although the bus service is pretty good, the house
sitter offered to take me to the bus station in Victoria. While waiting for the bus, I showed
the map
to the guy sitting next to me, and realised with a shock that I was on my way
to Morne Blanch instead of Morne Seychellois.
He suggested that I take the same bus as him, get off at Sois Sois and
then take another bus to the tea factory.
Although I made several “small” mistakes, I was finally on my way to the
highest peak in Seychelles. I was also able to buy a local sim card so I could
at least phone the house sitter.
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| The bus station in Victoria |
Just to make
double sure, I asked a local if this was the way to Morne Seychellois. He looked stunned, shook his head and told me
that I definitely needed a guide but that everything was closed because it was
a Sunday.
I was given
the number of the sports centre and told to phone the next morning.
The next
moment a tourist stopped and before he could ask me for directions, I told him
I was also lost. He said his son can
drop me off – but then I discovered that he was going on a hike and this was
how I ended up hiking the Copolia trail with a German. It sure was my lucky day. Not only have I discovered that I needed a
guide to get to Morne Seychellois, I
also got a lift back to my apartment with the tourists.
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| "Batman's Fruit Bat" |
It was still
early and I decided to do the Anse Major trail.
I was told that it was at the end of the road so I could not get lost
right? At the start of the trail I met
Richie aka Batman who invited me to meet his fruit bat. After a while, I bumped into a couple who
told me that they were lost. I guess I
might have gotten lost as well but eventually we found the trail to the
beach.
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| Richie aka Batman |
I had to buy
some water but missed the shop closest to the apartment and ended up at the
police station. After hiking just about
the whole day, I was pretty tired but at least I was getting to know my way around.
I had one more day left in Seychelles and my evening was filled with nightmares
about not reaching Morne Seychellois.
28th
of December. I woke up early to discover that my phone was not working. With the house sitter’s assistance, I finally
got through to the sport centre and the lady that answered informed me that I
definitely needed a guide but that everyone was on leave.
I begged,
explained my situation and then just as I was about to burst into tears – she
told me she will see what she can do. It started to rain again and for some
reason, I still thought I needed to get to the tea factory so the house sitter
drove me once again to Victoria Station.
After a while I got a phone call from Francis – who offered to take me
to the top for RS5 000. I only had
RS1000 on me and told him I will EFT the rest – still thinking I am halfway to
the start of the trail. I had no
choice. If I postponed my flight and
stayed another day or two looking for a cheaper guide, it would cost me at
least RS5000. I told him I will go back
to BelOmbre to get the rest of the money.
Thinking I would have to go and draw more money, it was such a relieve
to find out that I had exactly RS5350 left of the ‘extra money’ I drew at the
airport
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| Going for a quick swim |
An hour later
we were on our way and I was informed that it would have taken ages to pick me
up at the tea factory and that it was already very late to start the hike. I
had my doubts about being taken for a ride, but I had no choice. It was still
raining and already 12:00.
It turned out
to be quite a jovial hike and both of them had great senses of humour. We came
across snakes, hedgehogs and a lizard. I was told that I was lucky because not
everyone sees animals. During the 5
hours it took us to get to the top there was constant laughter. He also mentioned
that most of the people turn around a quarter of the way into the hike and that
his boss had to almost beg him to take me.
In the beginning I asked him if this was a
special price and he said yes – it definitely was.
I then said I
will also just charge him RS5000 to take him to the Drakensberg and of course, we
all laughed. He turned out to be the
Sports Director and travels a lot with children to other countries.
And then we
were on top of Seychelles highest peak and it was like paradise. The trees were
covered by ferns that only grow where there is no air pollution. Francis told
me that people thinks he photoshopped the
pictures he takes of the trees. It was
raining so unfortunately I could not take a lot of pictures during the hike.
But then the clouds opened up, something that does not happen that often once
it starts raining.
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| On top of Morne Seychellois |
They just had
to make another joke showing me where I would have ended if I followed the
‘trail’ from the tea factory. Since it
was getting dark, we did not stay long.
At one stage Jimmy stopped to tie the lace on his pants and Francis
said: ‘you better fasten your seatbelt.
This means Jimmy is going to run down!” And we did it in 3 hours. I felt like Jane swinging from branch to
branch and they told me that they were surprised that I was so strong, which
definitely restored some of my self-confidence.
I was dropped
off at the apartment and although soaked throughout and muddy from some falls,
I could not thank my guardian angels enough for how things turned out in the
end.
Using a taxi
in Seychelles is extremely expensive but I could not get hold of the person who
offered to take me to the airport. I was getting in a flat spin and then there
was a knock on the door and Debbie, the lady who arranged the apartment stood in
the doorway. She was there to collect
her whiskey. It also just happened that she
worked at the airport and gave me a lift there the next morning at 06:00.
And this is
why I love travelling. Meeting
interesting, kind people, seeing beautiful places, getting out of my comfort
zone – and yes, every now and again I tell myself I am going to stop being so
impulsive and give my guardian angels a break.
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