Hiking in Mauritius: Signal Mountain (Montagne des Signaux)

After my first hiking experience in Mauritius at Mount Le Pouce, which I shared with you earlier (Click here to read), I must admit that I have become quite the adventure seeker waiting to discover more and more exotic locations on the island. Needless to say, when my friends planned another hiking trip up the Signal Mountain, I jumped at the opportunity!

Signal Mountain or Montagne des Signaux (in French) is located in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. It is a very easy trek as there is a tarred road leading all the way to the summit. The way is quite picturesque with beautiful views of the buildings in the capital city, the harbour, the Champs de Mars racecourse, the western coastline and other neighbouring peaks. The summit is at 3000m and can be done in an hour (one way) or less if you are a pro (unlike me)!!

2015: Life Lessons

Phew…what a year 2015 has been! Looking back, this year has taught me many important life lessons which I shall be carrying with me for the rest of my life. As the year is about to draw to a close, I thought I will share some of the life lessons I learnt and hopefully they will be useful to some of you as well. Here goes (in no particular order)…

Daily Inspiration: Find the Silver Lining…

They say that every cloud has a silver lining. This is true…..however, to see that lining, you must stare at the cloud long enough in its face! Last time, I was looking at the storm clouds gathering in the sky and wanted to find that silver lining that people talk about. In the process, I found that I had to stare at the clouds quite a bit and indeed, I could spot that hint of silver peeking out.

This led me to realise that life too, is the same. Problems and challenges appear as clouds and in order to be able to spot the underlying goodness, we need to look at the challenges in their face. Running away is an option readily available, but challenges do not disappear if you look away.

Hiking in Mauritius: Mount Le Pouce

We recently went hiking in Mauritius up the mountain Le Pouce and I wanted to share the experience with you. Le Pouce is the third highest peak in Mauritius. It is located in the Moka District and is part of the Moka range of mountains. Le Pouce, which in French means “The Thumb”, is so named because of its thumb shaped peak.

The majority of the hike is considered to be fairly easy and no climbing gear is required. However, the very last part, about 75 metres to the summit can be slightly challenging; especially for newbies like me, due to the steep ascent. But let that not deter you; you only need a few good friends: some to push you from below and some others to hoist you up to the top!!

Embracing Change

Let’s face it…change is inevitable. Changes do occur in life; often at times when you least expect it. Embracing change is not always easy. How do you react when change happens?  I have witnessed two common reactions to change: resistance and fear. Some people try their best to resist change – to remain in the realm of the known; while others do go with the change but with an element of fear lingering in their minds.

In either case, change cannot be avoided; however, by resisting change or fearing change, we make it all the more difficult for ourselves to accept the change and move on.

These are a few of my favourite things….

Do you remember that song, “These are a few of my favourite things” from The Sound of Music? I absolutely love that song…always have..!! Today it has been a rather gloomy day here in Mauritius. It has been cloudy the whole time and now it is chucking down with rain…!! Well, so to cheer myself up, I thought I would make a list of all my teeny weeny favourite things and share the same with you all!!

So, without further ado, here is the list of my 15 favourite things (in no particular order) which never fail to cheer me up no matter what the weather looks like outside..!! Of course, there are many, many more but maybe that will be another post!