The Jungle awaited. Since I can remember I have craved the Jungle. There is something alluring about the prehistoric trees reaching ever upwards into a closing canopy. Something that has been seen by so few human eyes, untouched and untarnished. The Jungle is an amazing natural experiment; here you can really see what nature can do, when left to its own devices.
I have been up the mountain on Silhouette a few times now and in all cases, the paths are steep and unforgiving. The climb begins
with a gentle slope which quickly converts to steps of the jungle. Gnarled tree roots lay exposed, manipulating the soil and rock above and below them. They provide a natural stair case up the mountain, interceded with volcanic boulders and wind etched rock. Leaf litter deepens as you gain height and with it comes the smells of a forest at work. All year round leaves fall, flowers bloom and fruits drop, the smells
are sweet and musty. The air is heady with the smell of decomposition, as wood and leaf becomes part of the root mat under foot. It’s not an unpleasant smell, It smells almost ancient or prehistoric. Wet and earthy accented with the occasional sweet and sickly jack fruit. As your rise further into the forest the air is thick with the smell of aniseed and cinnamon, products of plantations on the island.
The terrain is difficult and often you find yourself using trees as levers and vines to swing. Some parts of the forest are glacis which are large boulder fields. Here volcanic rock
has fallen and formed bridges over valleys, made up of huge boulders up to 5 meters in diameter. Occasionally these have to be crossed.... the surface of these are completely smooth, blue green algae, moss and lichen have taken over but through time wind has polished their surface. In some places you have to hall yourself onto the rock and cling on whilst simultaneously sliding to level ground. When it’s wet, it is particularly dangerous as walking boots offer no grip when presented with blue green algae.
On my way to Mon Plasir (the highest point I would reach) We came to Jardin Marron – the garden of the wild. This was a s
mall stretch of level ground half way up the mountain. Here It is said that during colonisation of the island some slaves escaped and made their home here. Some of the forest has been cleared and papaya, Jack fruit and coco de mer trees remain. They do not produce a seed so must have been planted there by someone...
Very few people take the track up to Mon Plasir so the path is rough. The incline is often vertical
so it is a case of grabbing hold of something and pulling yourself up. The forest begins to change at this point as moss covers every surface, the clouds lie at this level so visibility decreases and humidity increases 10 fold. Once at the top the temperature has dropped by 3 degrees and the north westerly winds can be felt rising up over the ridge. I was lucky enough to be able to go to the ancient pazonia forest a little way down the other side of the ridge. Here the vegetation has really taken over with wild raspberry bushes, tree ferns and endemic spiky palms abundant.
After fighting our way through the vegetation with machete in hand we came to a clearing, it was beautiful. These prehistoric trees stretched far upwards flatting out in weird triangular shapes at the top. Vines hung down from the trees as well as winding they’re way up the trunks. It was something right out of a George Orwell novel. Above us fruit bats screeched over head and tropical birds nested.
They weren’t fancy but they flew with great elegance, white and streamline with delicate whisping feathered tails of half a meter long.
After taking some samples we started the trek back. I realised the jungle looks the same from every angle but my supervisor seemed to remember the path so I followed behind- with a bit of distance as he was brandishing his machete wildly.... You may think the decent is the easy bit, but it’s actually quite tricky as you begin to look down to the forest below. After a while I got the hang of it, swinging from trees for balance and being careful not to grab the native palms that have evil spikes. I took the advantage of having vines to swing from and for reassurance. After a while I began to really enjoy this obstacle course winding up and over fallen trees and down landslides, tip toeing over slippery boulders. The pace was fast now as my supervisor charged ahead, it was important not to lose concentration as sometimes after tripping on a vine it seemed like nature was out to get you. Or perhaps, just giving you a friendly tap on the shoulder to let you know she was still there....
However, that’s just what my supervisor did. He got his foot caught in a tree root and had tripped twisting his knee and slicing his hand on his machete. Glad I stayed well back.... Luckily I had brought tissues and plasters but the journey down was going to be made more difficult. It seemed to last forever, with the quiet of the Jungle it is easy to get lost in your thoughts and often I found myself repeating them over and over again and was only awoken with the occasional grunt of my supervisor in front.
We came across many landmarks of carved rock and fallen tree that seemed so familiar, I knew we were nearing the bottom. As I landed on level ground my legs felt like jelly, I was scratched to buggery, sopping wet, so tired but happy. It was the most gruelling walk i have ever done but well worth it.
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