Last day in Cilaos

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July 14, 2017 - I woke up with a sore throat again. I guess the cold I had a couple days ago is still lingering. It made me feel quite tired, and I got up around 8am. Before that I could hear Delphine in the kitchen, but it sounded like she left just before I got up. I took it slow and left around 9:30am. I went to the bakery and got a chocolate bready thing for breakfast, and then walked over to the start of another hike. What else is there to do? This one took me to the Roche Merveilleuse, a lookout over the whole town. It took me about 40 minutes to get there, and the other people there seemed mostly to have driven, as there is also a parking lot there, and a lot of non-sweaty people. The views were nice, as are all the views here. It really is a beautiful place. I saw a sign that said something else was only a 20 minute walk away, so I went there as well. Turns out it was just to the road and some other parking. The walk was actually really nice, but I slid a little and stubbed my toe. When I put my shoes on this morning, I had decided I was done with hiking boots and was wearing my sports sandals. It hurt quite a bit and I saw that I split my toenail and it was bleeding. Nicely done. I cleaned it up and it was fine. What a goof. I walked back to the starting point, and somehow walked down a different trail than the one I'd come up. But I found where it linked to the orginal path. The hike took only two hours, and the skies were nice and clear.

At this point it was noon and I went back to the bakery to grab a sandwich. There wasn't much choice, so I took the one that looked like ham and some veggies. I looked around in town, but didn't see anything celebration goings-on for National Day today. I came back to the apartment and relaxed for an hour, and then walked around for another hour. I walked by a lake, but it was not a nice color and just then the clouds came in and it got quite chilly. I also walked over to the cemetery, to havwe a look around. From there I came back and felt tired. I started to pack my things and prepare for my journey to the capital, St. Denis, tomorrow. I was worried when I made my plans that I was spending too long in some places. For activities, that has been a little true. But I have enjoyed getting to know these places a little better, and especially not having to repack my bag so frequently.

By 6:30pm, Delphine wasn't home, and I wasn't sure if we would eat dinner tonight. The shops close by 7pm, so I headed out to find some food. The bakeries were closed, but there was still a street vendor selling sandwiches. I ordered ham and cheese and somehow got it "Americana" style with fries and cheese melted on top. Pretty good, actually. By this point in my trip, I figure I've eaten about 500 baguettes and said "Bon jour" 5000 times. And I still have two weeks left.

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