Vicious thorns!

We are climbing up, up up the dusty trail to Shirley Heights. We are "Fatuhiva" and Shannon. Oernulf has had enough exercise wrestling with the water tank today, he says.

Monster Aloes and bundles of "cucumber" cacti tower over us. The giant flowering Century Plants are king of the foliage. The 12feet stalk with its saffron-yellow crown attracting a court of adoring hummingbirds. There is a sort of "flower pot" cactus, too. It's a huge, round spiky cactus with a blood-red cylinder growing out of the center. Nasty looking, with sweet pink flowers blooming from its top. It also has vicious thorns. They lie, sprays of them, spike up along the path. Then they penetrate sandals and tennis shoes like a needle through a thumb. Ow. There are also razor-edged aloes, too (not the nice Aloe Veras). They attack "Fatuhiva"s Bjarne sending a stream of blood down his arm.
But up we climb on to the undulating cliffs looking out over the foamy sea to a light blue silhouette in the horizon that is Guadeloupe. Huffing and puffing at the top we find goats showing off, jumping from rock to rock.
It's just a half mile downhill slide back to Freeman Bay, our anchorage. Our last hike with "Fatuhiva".

And, come evening, we have the last of many, many great meals with our sailing friends, on their boat. Tomorrow we'll be parting ways. For now. Farwell and Fair winds, Fatuhiva!