I'm slowly beginning to process the reality that my coming home is NOT, for the grand majority of people I know, the start of a new chapter in life. With the exception of my immediate family and myself, my return will be little more than a convenient chance to reconnect. It's going to be a difficult transition for me, I think: I can feel it already. I've fallen in love with this island and it's incredible landscape, and if I ever get a chance to come back I do believe I'll take it. But with the grand majority of my friends gone home ahead of me, I do feel closure. I don't resent the end of the semester at all; home is going to feel GOOOOOD.
Today I'm packing and cleaning. I just weighed my suitcase at 23kg, precisely the weight limit... now to finagle the rest of my six months' worth of life into my 35-liter hiking pack.
So what have I done with my final week on the Intense Island? Well, did a little hiking in the Cirque de Mafate, starting at sunrise from Le Maido.
We camped overnight in the Ilet des Lataniers. The Cirque de Mafate is one of Reunion's three natural calderas that form the rugged interior terrain. Mafate has no roads, and seemingly never will now that it is considered National Park. The 700 or 800 inhabitants of the little villages in Mafate acquire supplies via footpaths or helicopter.
The hike was a bit more difficult than I'd been prepared for, and I admit the last hour descending from the trail head to the paved road in Sans Souci was more than I was psychologically prepared for. The last bit, even though I knew it was almost over, really drained me mentally, and it wasn't until later that we found out that our little hike was considered on the same difficulty level as Le Dimitile and Piton des Neiges - two hikes that I WISH I'd had the courage and time to do. But all difficult transitions seem more rewarding in retrospect, and I'm thrilled we made time for this last big hike before resigning ourselves to the slightly more comfortable, vacation-esque activities of the past few days.
Since the hike my friends and I have driven around the island twice (approx. 3-4 hours not counting stops), done some last-minute sight-seeing, watched the sun rise from various points of interest - the lighthouse in Ste Suzanne this morning - and gone swimming in a couple more of the glorious (and VERY COLD!) waterfalls to be found tucked away in shady groves.
Also, got to celebrate the Fourth with some of our American friends - Peter & Michelle, a married couple of scientists who are here working with birds. They've been extremely kind to us in the past several weeks and provided us with weekly supplies of delicious home-cooked food!
48 hours from now, I should be in Charles de Gaulle airport, saying hello to my mom and sister and goodbye to my German friends Franzi and Thomas. I'm so glad to have them with me all the way through my flight to Paris... and even more glad to have been able to watch the last couple of Germany matches with them... SO entertaining (both the games and their reactions.) It'd be an understatement to say that I'm hoping Germany wins the World Cup, because baby, I'm going to be there for the final!
