The story about redemption - part two

Time for redemption, for both myself AND a beach. Last trip, Porte d'Enfer was a mess of sargasse seaweed, brown and smelly, and the beach itself was absolutely deserted. The restaurant seemed all but abandoned, the only people inside being the sad waitstaff, and no one else in the vicinity but a handful of hikers walking disappointedly by. Today, it looks as though someone had taken charge of the situation and been doing something about it: the beach is raked clean, all of the offending seaweed pushed to the edge of the forest to decompose. The beach is no full of sunbathers, mind you, but the trails are full of hikers at this early hour, and we *know* all those hikers will be coming back in a few hours, looking for a tasty and convenient place to eat...I would bet anything the restaurant owner is the one responsible for the improved beach conditions. The water is not as clear or beautiful, but there is definitely a marked change in the place.

As for my personal redemption: 6 years ago, Mario and I came here to hike the cliff trail, from Trou Man Coco to the Pointe-Souffleur, where the waves are forced up underneath the limestone, shooting up into the air in a very geyser-like fashion. But we were ill-prepared for the difficulty of hiking on uneven, and often sharp, limestone. We were not ready for the heat and humidity that bogged us down as we hiked on the very open and unsheltered cliffs. We didn't bring nearly enough water, having only one small bottle between the two of us. And I was much less of a hiker back then, with much less endurance, and zero tolerance when faced with a stressful situation. I didn't make it - Mario had to leave me in one of the few shady groves to wait while he went to the Pointe-Souffleur alone, then came back to collect me on his way back. I want to say that it was because of the extreme heat, the lack of water, the fact that I was experiencing borderline heatstroke, but in hindsight, I think it was more my inability to push through the stubbornness and mental block, and just keep going.

Looking out the end of Porte d'Enfer Bay	Tidal pools in Porte d'Enfer bay
Trou de Man Coco, hidden under the limestone cliffs	Forceful waves beating against the cliffs

This visit was a chance for me to revisit the hike, with better boots, LOTS of water, and a much more positive outlook of the journey. It is only 6 km round trip, which is getting to be a little too easy now for us to complete. It is labeled as "difficult", but we've hiked BOTH La Soufrière and Chutes du Carbet, which are qualified as "very difficult", and not only did we survive those, we did it with smiles on our faces. Mario insists that is the best indication that a hike was a success: not how tired you are, but how much you enjoyed it. 

Dangers on the trail - spikey cactuars!	Great viewpoint of the Pointe du Souffleur geysers
Mario checking out the view	Look at that water spout!

I like to think that, by the time we hit the Pointe Souffleur, 1 km further than we originally calculated, and sat on the cliffside for a moment to watch the blowholes noisily spout their geysers of water, I was all smiles and enjoying the show very much. When we sat in the cool shade of a small grove of raisinier trees, finding the only two flat rocks and eating our baguettes sandwiches, I was laughing at the parade of hermit crabs that suddenly emerged from the forest around us. When scoping out the trail from a good vantage point, I scoffed at how the 3 km hike to Trou du Souffleur seemed like nothing, even laughing at the extra kilometre added when we realized that the "Trou" was just a big, fenced-off hole in the ground, and not the geysers we were searching for. Even the strong winds and heavy rain we saw coming at us from off the ocean did nothing to dampen my spirits on this hike, only make me put away my camera and keep walking. 

The arid clifftop trail

At the furthest point - you won't get me this time!

Nope, I completed my hike smiling, and proud of myself. Check another one off my personal list of hikes completed with a smile. I even mocked a couple of those flip-flop-wearing hikers heading out on the star of their own possible disaster. They turned around! 

And when we finally emerged back out on the beach of Porte d'Enfer, and headed past the restaurant, all of the tables were full, piled high with plates of chicken and glasses of juice and bottles of beer, and the restaurant owner was happy.