Day Four! According to the map, day four is the longest day, with the most elevation. We were concerned that it might be too much for us, so I’d arranged for a local taxi to be “on call.” The path follows both trails and (extremely lightly travelled) roads. Road access meant that a taxi could come pick us up and give us a lift to our accommodation, if it proved to be too difficult.

So we set out on a blissfully cloudy morning. Hooray!

We also tried to set out a little earlier than usual. Experience had taught us that it took almost two hours in the morning to get up, have breakfast, pack up, and clean the cabin. Which sounds like a lot, and while we could have rushed a bit more, it sure seemed like we needed all that time.

The morning had a lot of ups and downs, but nothing too unmanageable. There was also a little snack bar in a village, where we could stop and have a bite.

We ended up taking a shortcut by accident (following the signs and ended up on a shorter but steeper route).

The apex of today was the highest point on the island. We climbed up a beautiful road; it’s amazing how much the landscape varies here.

Eventually we arrived at the top, which was the “point of no return” for getting a ride to the hut. After this, we’d be off road and would need to finish the day on foot.

We took a break, had a snack, and assessed the situation. Both of us felt up for continuing, so off we went!

I have to say, this section of the trail was really, really beautiful, and my favorite so far.

The trail map promised two “dips,” and I wasn’t looking forward to descending and immediately going up again. But I guess the map was wrong because they never materialized.

We eventually walked down out of the trees back to our standard elevation. We had some miles to go, but the end was in sight. There was also an unfortunate incident with a cow…our presence spooked it and it darted into a nearby field with a different herd, seemingly unscathed by the barbed wire. Here’s the cow just before the freak out:

Tonight was our last night in the huts. We were promised a chocolate cake if we did a good job with our morning cleaning duties. So we were curious to see what would await. Our last few steps on the trail…

And what to our wondering eyes should appear!

Time for some laundry and time for dinner and bed.