Roche Plate to Marla via Trois Roches - Mafate day 3

This was our longest day, only 7 km, but an ascent of 910 m. Much of the difficulty came from the heat of the sun on open ascending sections.

The start was a gentle ascent through fairly dry country containing lots of succulents. But first we passed the church..

..then into the dry terrain..

...and up and down lots of ravines..

...looking back to La Nouvelle where we stayed night 1...

..and ahead, many ravines..

...a number of little shrines, we hoped one wouldn't be needed for us..

..a flatter section near the river with some interesting landforms..

..and then completely unexpectedly, a tisannerie, with fantastic cold orange juices and crepes.

The actual Trois Roches cascade..

Then along the river...

...before a boulder section...

...and as we came to understand, a steep climb up from the river...

...before an annoying descent, and another crossing...

..before the last haul up to the village of Marla.

Here we stayed in Gite Trois Roches, in lovely self contained cabins...

..with a to die for view even from the bed..

The views from the lawn terrace were arguably the best of the trip

A communal dinner again, curried chicken, saucisse rougail, lentils and rice now becomming very familiar dinner offerings