Day 8 1st May: with Pascal Lee Rhony Lee Denis Li Lung Hok Jul Mercier
Lethargic start of the day. It seems the cumulative fatigue of the previous days’ activities is catching up on us all. Weather is playing a big factor as well, cos outdoors people are the most miserable when the weather turns full Donald. J. Trump.
Today we leave cilaos for st pierre, sort of a lazy road trip day. We considered stopping by another climbing site, but the only ones available on the route were either too hard for climbers of our level, or not safe for the car loaded with all our belongings. So take it easy, we have to.

I promised that the French bakery chapter was closed. So it is :P

Remember the 400+ switch backs to Cilaos? We are doing those in reverse 😈 👿 👹!!! What's with the duplicate reference you ask? Well..going down, you take the turns much faster, and the odds of motion sickness are highly enhanced :P We have our victim for the day, Mr. master climber, Pascal. Since throwing up is a highly contagious malady, and we didn't want to take any risks of a widespread pandemic, we enforced regular mandatory preventive stops that also served to:
1. take pictures
2. christen denis' new machete, bought in cilaos (conservationists need the tool for their work outdoors and no 3 below)
3. no 2 above to steal a bunch of bananas by the side of the road :P :P :P

Pascal must have tried all the tricks in grandma's arsenal against motion sickness, short of sucking on some maucob bonbon la menthe, since we didn't have any at hand. Acupressure points on the ear lobes and above the nasal cavity, consuming pickled ginger, splashing face with mountain cold water, walking, jogging, sitting down gulping in lungfuls of fresh air in upright and hunched positions, closed eyes and gazing at the horizon. He even resorted to opera singing (never ever heard of that one before today!!! :P ), to the great dismay of our ear drums! :P :P :P he most positively DOESN'T have a future in the music industry as a singer!!! :P:P :P All for nothing! 😝

Luckily as the winding roads straightened, his motion sickness gradually faded, and by the time we reached st pierre, he had nurtured a full blown appetite. One of the foods that was on his checklist was whole grilled bbq chicken, which just happened to be sold by the beach. 7 euros per whole juicy, crispy, salty, delicious bird. 2 please!!! :-) oh...not just for myself, for the five of us :P I'm not a PiG you know :P :P :P

Check in at Papa daya lodge to off load our belongings. Place has yearly recommendations from ‘le guide du routard’ all the way back from 1995 proudly displayed on the entrance wall. In real life, it's really just a basic accommodation strategically located in the centre of st pierre. It has a bed, toilets and wifi, so we're happy :-) the owners as well are quite a nice old couple. The husband is a madagascar born Hindu who migrated to reunion, and I assume, married the lady who was accompanying him.

Pascal and Rhony are on family duty, and they have to go meet their relatives who live within walking distance of our place of accommodation. The rest of us head of to langevin waterfalls, which are about 40 mins drive, each way.
The narrow roads leading to the spot are so steep that our renault duster struggles to clear them, with the wheels skidding on the steepest sections(probably around 40-45% gradient). The falls are just breathtaking. Picture eau bleu (for those who have been there). The water is infinitely clearer and the falls just beyond compare! Wait for the pics, they are worth it (I hope :P ) :-) :-) :-)

Head back to the hotel, quick shower and food!!! Pizza again...followed by gelato in 5 flavours: mango, lime and basil, coffee, pistachio and some exotic citrus flavour… Dessert bliss :-) :-):-)