Hiking in Mauritius

It has begun! I arrived in Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean some 855 kilometers east of Madagascar, where I spend a month to find out what lies beyond the white sandy beaches lined with palm trees. Follow me on three of the most beautiful hiking trails on the island.

1. A 360 degree view of blue bays
Sigh, puff, cough. We follow the path to the top of Le Morne Brabant, a mountain and peninsula in the southwestern tip of

Mauritius. From the foot of the mountain it is about an hour and a half to the top. Sweat drips from my forehead, my temples pound. "How am I going to do this?" I think. Le Morne is our first ascent in Mauritius. My body still has to get used to the steep mountain paths and especially to the heat. But before I know it, like a mountain goat, I am climbing with hands and feet up the ever-narrowing path to the top. All the way we look down on white beaches and turquoise blue lagoons dotted with reefs and islands.

With heads like tomatoes we reach the more than 500 meters high top. "The caves in the rock were once used as a shelter by former slaves," explains our guide JeanBony, as we climb over the basalt cliffs to a higher vantage point. "They escaped

just before slavery was abolished and lived here for years without any idea that they were free. When they saw white people approaching the top, they plunged themselves into the abyss. "I look down and I am horrified at the thought. White-tailed tropic birds circle around us. Fortunately, times are better on the island now. Together we stand on a tip of the rock, with a 360-degree view of Mauritius: mountains, forests, beaches and a clear sea. I can't wait to find out the rest.

2. Hike along 7 waterfalls
To end the year well, on December 31 - again together with JeanBony, our new Mauritian friend - we hike a full day along the Tamarind waterfall, also called les 7 cascades: the 7 waterfalls. The water plunges nearly 300 meters down seven levels into the wild Tamarind Valley. We descend towards the river and hear something running away. A wild boar? JB rolls down a few large stones to scare the animal. "You don't want to run into them," he says. "If that happens, you better run." Climbing a tree seems smarter to me, I note. "You can do it," JB replies, laughing, "but then you're still there tomorrow." The hike takes us over huge rocks, narrow paths and dense forests through the valley until we reach the river.

A little later we are at the bottom of the waterfall. From here the real work begins. Climbing and scrambling with hands and feet, along several "death walls", or long and steep climbs up, after which we arrive exhausted and breathless on a higher level. There, a new waterfall always awaits with a new overwhelming view. Here we chug. We eat, chat and swim. The top three falls are easily accessible from above, but we

climb the waterfall from the bottom to the top. And that means: all the nature to ourselves. A rare luxury, in an indescribably beautiful place. After 7.5 hours we walk, exhausted and in the pouring rain, back to the car. I can't think of a better way to end 2017.

3. At the top of a 150-meter-high waterfall
Rolling hills and dense rainforest. The Black River Gorge National Park is the largest conservation area in Mauritius, with over 50 kilometers of hiking trails. We hike - after first going the wrong way for an hour and a half - the Cascade 500 Pieds, a trail in the southernmost point of the park. Lesson one in Mauritius: hiking trails are poorly marked. We hop over stones and streams, through dense vegetation and crushing viewpoints. Despite the generous amount of mosquito

repellent on my body, mosquitoes suck my blood greedily. In the meantime, we have been on the road for almost three hours, including walking the wrong way, we don't have much water and no idea whether we are still going the right way.

"Let's turn around," says Robin, as we descend steeply. I don't want to hear anything about that. I haven't labored all those hours to turn around again, without seeing anything. When called upon, a family appears on our path: the first people we meet. "Another 5 minutes," they say. We hike further down, cross a small steam and then the overgrown path suddenly opens into an open space. I walk along the stream to the edge of the cliff and suddenly find myself at the top of the 150-meter-high Cascade des Galets, which plunges down into

the dense vegetation of Black River. I start to dizzy when I look over the edge. I quickly take a step back. I sit on stones and look down on the south coast and the national park, as the waterfall crashes violently past me. What a place! Good thing we haven't turned around ...