I recently found out about a hiking group (SXM Trails on Facebook) that has been doing walks at different spots around the island for about ten years. This morning was my first trip with them. They start early (5:45am), which meant I started even earlier to walk to the meeting point in Colombier. I left at 4:45 and headed the back way through Friars’ Bay, which was a bit eerie, and quite dark because the moon wasn’t out. I ran into a large pig rummaging around the Friars’ Bay Beach Cafe.

It was actually still quite dark at the meeting time, but by the time everyone arrived and found parking the sun was coming up behind the mountains. Our route led from Colombier down Rue Loterie to Loterie Farm where we took trails up to the top of Pic Paradis. The beginning of the trail was especially nice because it led alongside a small stream. Some remains of the Sucrerie Loterie, including a couple large cauldrons and a well, were beside the trail partway up.

For the first hour or so, it was still dark enough and cool enough in the forested areas that there weren’t a lot of animals out and about. I did manage to find a couple caterpillars I’d never seen before and a bunch of familiar creatures. I was fortunate to get a ride home from Jesus, who recently came two votes from winning a council seat in the Dutch side elections. It was his first try, so I think that’s a pretty good start. Next week the walk will be from Hope Estate through Grand Case, around Bell Point and into Anse Marcel. Quite handy, since I won’t have to hike to get to the hike.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 5th, 2010 at 2:11 pm and is filed under Explorations, Les Fruits sur la Terre. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.