49th post - (failed) hike

In July, I finally wanted to do the hike that I had been planning for so long: a slightly modified version of the GRR2. This hiking trail crosses the island from north to south, covering 135km and usually takes 7-10 days to complete.

My modified version covered 109km, as I had already hiked some of the original sections individually and wanted to skip them.

So on Wednesday, I took the bus west to Dos d'ane and started my hike from there. I packed water, a lot of sweaters, my hammock, my sleeping bag, and a few nuts. My plan was to complete the whole thing only with my hammock and not stay in the designated huts. I only wanted to eat there.

After just a few meters, I realized that the hike would be super tough - even though I was really well trained, my backpack was incredibly heavy and I couldn't handle the extra weight. So I forced myself to keep going and really pushed my mental and physical limits. I had planned to stay overnight in the valley at Rivière des Galets, but I found out that I arrived there way too early (1pm) and there were no trees for my hammock. So I continued on and hoped to reach my second destination, Aurère in Mafate, directly.

After a lot of struggle, but fortunately with a great view, I actually managed to arrive there before dusk. Totally exhausted, I ordered something to drink at the first hut I found and asked if I could also get some food. Unfortunately, the nice man said no, because everything here is flown in by helicopter and you have to make a reservation beforehand. Apparently, I looked at him so desperate that he promised to give me the leftovers from the planned overnight guests at 7:30 pm. Thank you!!

While waiting for dinner time, I set up my hammock and read a bit in my book. I sat on the terrace of the hut, where I actually met a family from Réunion who were traveling with a German girl - what a coincidence! We had a nice conversation, but then they went back to their accommodation.

With my makeshift meal of Rougail Saucisse and Poulet à la Vanille, I even got a lentil coconut soup. It really restored me, so delicious!

Quite early, around 8:30 pm, I went to bed, as I didn't have much else to do :D The day had been really exhausting, but also totally beautiful. That was going to change during the night.

At 2 am, it started to rain. And it kept raining and raining, continuously. I put a large plastic sheet over my hammock, but after two hours, my sleeping bag started to get soaked anyway. I really didn't know what to do, the hammock was soaking wet, my sleeping bag was about to become wet too, and if my clothes were to get wet, I would be in trouble. So I left my hammock and lay down in a sort of abandoned pavilion, simply on the floor, as long as I had a roof over my head. I only managed to sleep for about three hours that night and spent the rest of the time hoping that the rain would stop soon and I could continue walking tomorrow.

My pleas went unheard, and the next morning it was still raining. So I packed up my soaking wet hammock, along with my wet clothes and sleeping bag, into a plastic bag and stored everything in my more or less wet backpack.

Now there was only one option left, whether I liked it or not: to cancel and turn around on the second day. Continuing was unfortunately not an option, as the next two stages had no huts, which means that even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to sleep in a covered bed. And spending a night in a completely wet hammock at temperatures in the single digits was simply not feasible. So I spontaneously booked an Airbnb in La Pichette, a place I was supposed to reach by the end of the day. A little reluctantly, I turned around and walked back, this time unfortunately without any views, as everywhere was covered in fog and rain.

Once again reaching Deux Bras, I decided to take a different route, as I knew my legs wouldn't handle the steep ascent well. So I opted for the much longer, but flatter path through a riverbed, where I had to walk through water about every 20 minutes. But since everything was already wet by then, I didn't really care that my hiking shoes were wet too. After about 6 hours of continuous walking (almost without any breaks, because breaks in the rain are no fun and I didn't have the strength anymore to take off and put on my backpack repeatedly :D), I finally arrived.

Priscilla, my Airbnb host, greeted me warmly and even drove the last few meters to her apartment with me in the car. We chatted a bit, then I took a shower and fell asleep right away. After my three-hour nap, I woke up when she knocked on my door and asked if everything was okay - I hadn't eaten anything. So I went to the living room and she showed me that she had prepared Carry Poisson and salad for me. So kind! I felt bad for not eating with her before, but I was just so exhausted! She sat with me while I ate and we talked some more. For dessert, she even had Gateau Patat from her mother. Delicious!!

After eating, I did the dishes to thank her and then went to sleep again relatively quickly :D I was really tired.

The next morning, I woke up around 8:30 am, packed my backpack and said goodbye to my kind host. After a rather long bus journey, I arrived back at the shared flat, five days earlier than planned. But that's just how it is sometimes, if it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be. The first day was still beautiful though :D