The Last Islands in the Bunch
Wednesday we scheduled ourselves for a water taxi which would take us to Curieuse Island. This is where a sanctuary has been created for the wonderful gigantic Aldabra Tortoises, very much like the Galapagos Tortoises which have gotten much more press. Didn't even know they had these tortoises here before we started getting ready to come. Anyway, this island was once used as a leper colony and was a harsh place but has now been taken over by a small museum which was the Doctor’s House, the doctor who was sent out by the British to take care of the lepers and oversee their care and also is a place where most of the tours end up for a BBQ lunch on the island.
The plan is to drop you at one side of the island where the tortoises are, mostly, and then you hike through the mangrove forest to the other side of the island where your boat and crew meets you and cooks you a BBQ lunch
. Then you are back in the boat for a short ride to Ile St. Pierre island which is quite small and there you snorkel but don’t really get on the island.
We meet at the appointed time and they brought the King Creole as close to shore as they could and 10 of us piled onto the boat. The poor boat captain was trying mightily to push us into deeper water so he could start the engines. We finally had to all go stand in the front of the boat and two of his co-workers had come out and help push. Gosh, we could have helped push but paying guests don’t do that, I guess. It is not a long ride to get to Curieuse and we are out and wade to the beach and he comes ashore and shows us the map and where we go to the other side. Then we go look at the tortoises of which they have 300 on the island and there were maybe 50 on that side in the area and we went and looked at all of them and took lots of photos. They are wonderful. Surprisingly they can move rather quickly at times but it is easy to see how they were almost hunted to extinction because there is no way they can get away from a person with a big bat or rifle or something to kill it. Now they are protected and doing quite a good job of keeping the grass down on the island.
We started our hike across the island and first thing we do is go straight up a hill
. OK, he said hike through the mangrove forest which to me means sea level and flat!!!! As we are walking up the hill, we hear grunts, steady and rhythmic. OMG, it’s a couple of huge tortoises in mating throes! Wow, never thought I would be a voyeur to a couple of giant tortoises! We passed on quietly, not wanting to disturb their passion and who knew they were so vocal about it too!
Down the first steep hill and onto a boardwalk that is going through the mangroves. Whew, this is more like it because it’s really hot and humid. There are many, many crabs on the islands. Mostly small red ones but also some that have grown quite large. Part of the protection of the tortoises is to catch the babies when they hatch and protect them for the first five years of their lives so the crabs can’t eat them. As some of the crabs are 5X the size of a baby tortoise, I can see the need.
As we are walking along the boardwalk and watching the crabs, my lens cap pops off my camera and drops to the ground. There is a small crab that is making his way towards my lens cap. I foolishly say, "Let’s see what it does". Hubby valiantly lies down on the boardwalk to grab the lens cap when it gets serious with the crab. The crab grabs it. My hubby makes a grab for it
. The crab runs under the boardwalk with the lens cap. Hubby reaches under the boardwalk and there is a huge crab underneath that the smaller crab has run over to. Maybe he plans to give him the lens cap. Hubby grabs a stick and pokes the crab and makes him drop the lens cap and then he is able to pull it out with the stick and grab it. Whew. Crabs – one, Me – zero!
When we get to the end of the boardwalk, there are more rocky “steps” leading up and over the next hill. Wait a minute. What happened to easy stroll through the mangroves. Now I am understanding why we were told to bring water for the walk. They knew it was a climb and a scramble. So up we go again, rock climbing. It is not an easy climb as the rocks are uneven and steep and sometimes covered in water or mud. So our second rocks scramble of the day. Then back down to another boardwalk. But on this hill, there were some excellent granite formations to see and also the broken down causeway which was built way back when to give hawksbill turtles a place to go lay their eggs but it didn’t work out and the hawksbills got sick from being in the enclosed space made by the causeway and during the last Indian tsunami, the causeway collapsed. Nice view though.
Across some more boardwalk and mangroves and some green crabs and some baby mangroves and mangrove stumps or knuckles
. Nice walk, this part but unfortunately, all too soon, we are climbing another steep hill. I am starting to dislike this hike across the island very, very much. Then down the hill to a flat section where the ocean is off to our left and we can see a bit of beach but we are walking over tree roots now so while it is flat, it is still a bit hard to walk and avoid tripping over the tree roots.
And then, another hill and the last hill is always the worst! This one was the steepest, the highest, and it was a water course so there was a running flow of water cascading down these rocks which made it harder than ever sometimes to find firm footing and step up to the next set of rocks. Now I do definitely not like this walk at all. Crap. I just wanted a stroll through the mangroves and what I got was hot mountain climbing – to me-who lives virtually at sea level almost most of the time. I had to rest several times to get up this hill and it just kept going and going. Finally we get to the top and there is a beautiful breeze. Ahhhh. And then down again and thank goodness we can again see the ocean and hear voices so we are finally close to the Doctor’s House and the beach were we will have the BBQ.
We walk into the rest area and there is a shower, toilets, the Doctor’s House museum, some old ruins of former leper homes, and the BBQ area, some benches, and the beach
. I make for the first bench I see that has a back to it and sit and rest for awhile. That last bit was a hard slog.
After a rest, we go to the Doctor’s House and read all the information about the island and the leper colony that lived here and the Doctor’s and the Coco de Mer tree. Upstairs is just a room for kids with interactive displays on the sea but none of them are working. And then we go get in the water because it’s so hot.
Finally, lunch is served to our group at 1 p.m. It was quite good BBQ of fish and chicken and lots of different salads. But then we are informed we won’t leave the island until 2:30. I am so happy that I thought to bring our kindles so we could read because I don’t want to get back in the water yet as we are going to the other island to snorkel.
Finally time to leave. It’s a short boat ride to Ile St. Pierre which must be the place to snorkel around here because all the tours bring their guests here. We had left all of our diving gear over on Mahe as we didn’t expect to be in the water here. The guide was supposed to bring masks, fins, and snorkels for all but he only had a box full of masks and snorkels. No fins. My hubby and I both got a mask and snorkel and jumped in the water but there was quite a bit of wave action and without fins, I am not that great of a swimmer so I didn’t want to get far from the boat and I didn’t want to get too close to the island where there were waves breaking over large rocks. So it was almost an in and out immediately. Hubby got out quickly too as it just isn’t a lot of fun snorkeling by yourself and without fins. Once again, we have proven we are not snorkelers but divers.
Unfortunately, two couples had brought their own gear so we had to wait until they were finished. The ladies of both couples finished much faster than their hubbies but the hubbies came back before too long. One had a camera in a “waterproof” baggie which unfortunately for him, wasn’t. Then it’s back to the shore and back to our hotel to clean up and rest and get ready to leave on Thursday. Nice day for our last two islands.
No comments:
Post a Comment