Every journey is a quest. I was about accomplishing my first hiking on that Saturday. Guess what ! I woke up realizing that I got my menses. There was no point changing my mind for such an awaiting moment. I courageously said yes to the adventure. Ok try me !
I was already late to meet my friends at Reduit. They waited for me around 45 minutes. We were a group of 4 friends, and I knew only one of them. Oh no, they are going to have a bad impression on me, because of my lateness. Finally I met them at Reduit. I apologized. I first met Jules(from Rodrigues), Toky (from Madagascar) and my friend Amelia(from Canada). We quickly bused to Petite Verger, the starting point of Le Pouce mountain. We started walking. It was not even 10 mins and I’m tired.
In fact I was not tired, but I could breath normally. Do you want to know why ? The day before I went to Belle Mare beach. I swallowed much salty water, my nose were blocked with slight phlegm and I could barely hear. I second asked myself. Will I be able to do it ? I rested 3 times. Fortunately as a team building, my (new) friends waited for me. I was along with Jules, and Toky was with Amelia. I forced my mind to go for it. I took very deep breath and kept walking. My waist felt so weak with slight menstrual pains. It was not my legs which got tired, but me.
We reached a point where we got a very nice view. My friends were busy taking pictures. Believe me, I was not interested in taking any picture. I just wanted to go on top. I don’t know why something crossed my mind, telling me to walk. I didn’t wait for them and started walking. They could catch me anyway and I was not behind. So, I walked alone all over. I walked, walked and walked until I found new French speaking friends. We got into conversations.
Made a long way with them, until we got distracted how to continue our route. There were two confusing directions. One which will lead us to Port Louis and the other one to Le Pouce. We figured it out. We continued. My friends soon caught me. I told you… they gonna catch me soon. We became one again. I felt a bit calm. Maybe my problem was that I needed to be alone for some time. Or, maybe because they were walking fast, I had much pressure on me to catch them. Now, I’m happy. I feel better.
We walked in between Goyav de Chine trees. Of course, it was a must to pluck some and enjoy them on the spot. We soon reached to a big playground-like grass. So happy, I thought we were on the top. But no, there was still more way to go. We all relaxed around 15 mins over there. Then we continued.
After that, Toky and Amelia went fast. Jules stayed with me. I appreciated my new friend act. We walked together until the difficult steep rocks came on our way. Jules would go before me, take my bag and then hold my hand to bring me up. We did this at several points. Many rocks were sliding and falling down. It was a bit difficult to hold against a specific rock. At a point, I looked up and saw Amelia standing. I asked her, how much more do we need to go ? Guess what ! She replied “you are already up and I’m proud of you”. No need to tell you. I yelled all my voice out. Wohooo !!! I made it 🙂
My first hiking had been a memorable one for me. It made me believed in myself. Be it how much weak I was or how much pain I had. I wanted to do it and I made it. Surely, my willpower dominated. I was a conqueror and will always be one. It was the courage to continue that counted.
Le Pouce is the third highest mountain in Mauritius, at 812 meters. It is named Le Pouce because of its thumb shaped peak.
JAYA BHUJUN 
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