Michelle Eichenberg

The next morning started with the alarm clock going off at 3.20am. As we have stayed at Satish' way too long, we haven't got enough sleep tonight at all. I was feeling sick. However, we packed our things for the day (including 5,5L of water) and started driving. The journey would take 1.45hrs from the East to the West. The last 1,5km were a complete mess of a street with more holes than dirt. We arrived at 6.05am and saw a guard at the gate. Shit, I thought, as I've read a blog about hiking Le Mourne and it said that the gates open at 7am but that you could easily slide past the gate. How should we do this with a guard standing next to it? Despite thinking that it would be a painful hour to wait until the gate would open, the guard saw us and just opened the door. "Please fill in your name and that you started at 7 o'clock", he told us. Sure thing, 6.15am is as close as it would get to 7am. Grateful, that we could start the journey with the sun still waking up and the heat still at its lowest, we began the hike. The first 3km were made of a stony, uneven trail that had a steady rise but was alright to do with little water breaks. The trees gave us some shade in which we could rest our bodies from the sun's UVs. Every now and then, we could get a nice view down to Le Morne Beach. After about 1h, we have reached the first real view point and the end of the "normal" trail. Now the tricky 0.5km would start. And it really got tricky. We had to climb the blank mountain, without any gear, safety or help. Bit by bit, we had to make sure were to put our hands and feet to have a good hold and catapult us up to the next spot, and so on. It was tough, as the sun has found its whole power now and was burning on our heads. Luckily, we've brought enough sunscreen with us. It was not only adventurous but dangerous and I have to say I was as terrified as thrilled by the experience. When we finally arrived on top of the Le Morne and stood next to the cross, I felt exhausted and exhilarated at once. But we couldn't really applaud us for our efforts just yet, as we had to make the way back safely first. As there were coming even more people to the top and it got very crowded, we decided to cut the photo shoot short (which was pointless anyway, as clouds lingered around the top and you could see nothing anymore) and get on with going down again. This was difficult at another level, as loose rocks could slide away at any time and the stones were heating up by the sun quickly. I got on by lowering my centre as much as possible which basically meant that I would sit on nearly every stone and slide down. I felt pretty stupid doing that, but I was rather safe than sorry. And as we finally reached the green gate again, we knew that the worst part was finally over. Now we only had 3km left with the (now seemingly) easy "stroll" down the hill. We were reminiscing about this torture and came to the following conclusions:
1. There is definitely not enough information for visitors. Not only regarding safety but also directions (sometimes we didn't really know where to go) and history. This mountain has a very dark history, being the place were slaves from the old British days fled to and "saved themselves to freedom" by jumping off its top, i.e. taking their lives. The cross was the only thing that "reminded" of these suicides, however such crosses can be found on every German mountain as a sign for "Yeah, you reached the top". So it would have been very nice to have some signs along the way to just learn more about it.
2. Le Morne doesn't seem to like its tourists. Or at least, the government doesn't do anything so that tourists would feel welcomed here. It starts with the dirt road that leads to Le Morne which is not in a good state at all, and ends with the seemingly careless approach to let tourists in who maybe not even know what they are being baited in. The first part is doable, but I would have wished for more explanations and maybe some safety instructions for the climbing bit. Just putting a sign on the way with "Stay hydrated, no children allowed, dangerous climbing, etc" doesn't seem quite enough for that. We saw children climb that hill, in the seering sun with no hats on. We saw people with nothing but a purse. I know that everyone should look out for themselves and are responsible in what they are doing, but I can't believe that not more people die there, to be quite frank. We arrived back at the entrance at 11.10am and people were still entering the trail, looking completely done by the sun already. Obviously, we don't know how high they went, if they did do the climbing part. However, nobody is checking at that green gate whether everyone has enough water with them, has their sun protection, etc. Yes, the entry to Le Morne is free, but I'd rather pay 10€ and have enough safety measures around me than not. If they'd only take 10€ per person, they could build a reasonable street, they could hire people to make sure that tourists there are safe. Because, I have to say it, but a lot of tourists are really stupid and really don't know what they're doing. You can't be sure of "common sense" nowadays. I really felt like the Mauritian government gives a shit about tourists there. And it didn't feel good.
3. The view from the viewpoint before the climbing part is just as good as the one from the top. I've thought that maybe you could see the underwater waterfall from the top of Le Morne. You don't. You can only see it flying over it. It was somehow fun to climb that mountain, but all the resources it took me to get there, weren't really rewarded at the top.
So, if you're not a good climber, are afraid of heights or just don't want to put the effort into it: You can only do the first 3km, that's totally enough and gets you sweaty as well. I'm not a good climber or hiker, tbh I haven't done any of it really before that, but I've done it. I'm proud of myself and Seb to actually have achieved that. But I don't need it ever again.Meer informatie