Africa

[Visited: July 2021]

Even though I had been to La Digue before, and even though I am a keen hiker, I had not been to Nid d'Aigle on my first visit. On my second visit, I make sure it is high on my list. One morning, I take a bike so I can cycle to the trailhead. The bike is old and rusty, the gears don't work properly, and quite soon, despite putting all the power I have on my pedals, I need to get off the bike on the steep road. I push the bike up the rest of the road. At the end, it is so steep that I nearly slip. I lock it to a pole, and start walking up the trail. Soon, the trail also gets steep, so much so that there are ladders to work my way up. Even though I made sure to go very early in the morning, I am sweating heavily on my way to the top. The vegetation also means that there are not many views to be enjoyed.
Once I reach the top, I walk a little on, turn around, and am finally able to reap the fruits of my ascent. I have reached 333m altitude, the highest point of La Digue island. Unfortunately, I cannot reach it physically, as the area around the mast is closed for visitors. There is a trail roughly running north-south, and I start walking towards the south, until the trail ends. I turn around, and follow the meandering trail towards the north. At several points, I enjoy views in all directions. I can see some of the beaches below, and the road we cycled before. At a further distance, I see Praslin, Round, Felicité and other islands. I am glad the sky is clear as the views are stunning. When the trail starts running down in the forest, I turn around. I need to be back down in time for breakfast, and I am getting hungry.
I take a different trail going down, and find my bike waiting for me at the pole. Given the shaky condition of the bike, I walk down the first, steep part, before I dare to mount the bicycle and ride down. I am happy with the wind caused by the speed that cools me off. Still, going down the steep curves is hard work, and requires a lot of braking as I don't trust the bike, especially not with high speed. Once I am on the flat road again, I enjoy the ride. I make sure to buy a drink as a reward for the hard work of the early morning, before I head back to our hotel for a hearty breakfast. We will then rent much better bikes to explore the southeast of the island. When I look back at Nid d'Aigle, I have that great feeling of having conquered it, even though it is nowhere near a real mountain.

Around the World in 80 Clicks

Personal travel impressions both in words and images from Nid d'Aigle (Seychelles). Clicking on the pictures enlarges them and enables you to send the picture as a free e-card or download it for personal use, for instance, on your weblog. Or click on the map above to visit more places close to Nid d'Aigle.
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Nid d'Aigle > Seychelles > Africa

[Visited: July 2021]

Around the World in 80 Clicks

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