14. Beitrag - Cirque de Mafate

This weekend I went on a relatively spontaneous two-day trip to the Cirque de Mafate . My roommate Celine's group of friends had booked accommodation there for themselves, then unfortunately one person was unavailable due to illness and so I was asked if I would like to come along. Of course I won't say no :D

On Saturday at 8:00 a.m. we headed east with two cars, more precisely to Col des Boeufs at 700 meters above sea level. After a 1.5 hour drive through a beautiful landscape and a photo stop at a large waterfall along the road, we were there and were professionally welcomed by the parking lot attendant. Unfortunately, the parking lot was really narrow and it took a while until we were all completely satisfied with the signaller, but we (or our driver, who I really admire and don't envy) finally made it.

From there the first day of hiking started. The landscape was impressive and completely different to what I was used to in La Réunion. At times it looked like a mixture of steppe and typical German hiking trail. We then spontaneously decided to take a detour to La Nouvelle and it was absolutely worth it, the view was great and the rest area was ideal for us.

After this break, we continued hiking until we came to a small basin, where we cooled down and strengthened ourselves again before the last strong and long climb. It was actually quite strenuous, but our arrival was at the top of the mountain :D. We had one person with us who is absolutely not a fan of hiking and she really had to struggle. But I would like to express my respect again that she rocked it so much (the second day was almost even better than the first!).

At around 4:30 p.m. we arrived at the Miellerie de Marla, our fantastic accommodation. It really was incredibly beautiful, the view was amazing, the garden full of flowers and a koi pond and a big brown dog who was just as friendly as his owners and our hosts. Dinner was supposed to be at 7 p.m. and we passed the time with showers and playing cards.

For dinner there was a real course menu: a pineapple-coconut punch, a starter salad, a rougail saucisse , a coconut-caramel brûlé and a cinnamon rhum. After another round of card games, we went to bed feeling full and clearly tipsy.

The next day at 7:30 a.m. we had breakfast: Fresh baguette with butter, strawberry and tomato jam (really delicious!), juice and a cup of coffee (I didn't know that, but it's funny to drink your coffee from a bowl) .

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The second day of the hike began shortly before 10 a.m. The destination was the Trois Roches waterfall. To do this, we first had to take a long, slippery and unsecured path down from the hut. But the whole thing was worth it, because once again I was presented with a landscape that I had never seen before.

The waterfall was also breathtaking because the water really fell into a gigantic gorge. As a bonus, there were a lot of cats who would have liked to get some of our provisions.

After a long break, it was a steep climb up the mountain for the next 3-4 hours. That wouldn't have been so bad in itself, but the entire path was a single flight of stairs. According to a fellow hiker's Applewatch, we climbed 95 floors that day - in crazy heat.

At around 4:00 p.m. we were treated to another natural spectacle: it was super cold for the last hour because we were walking in the clouds. All the great mountains and beautiful nature were covered in the mystical white and you could hardly see your hand in front of your eyes. It was simply magical (and way too cold for a change).

When we got to the car I was really exhausted, sweating and cold, but it was a wonderful and very fun weekend with ideal company.

Overall, I really wasn't particularly well prepared (no cash and 800ml of water in my luggage), but I had competent support and therefore had a lot of fun :)