Subi Rocha (Mountain Climb)

Subi Rocha!

So Saturday night I went to a fancy function at a touristy hotel just outside Coculi with a few volunteers who live there. Coculi is 2 ribeiras (valleys) over from me, which means two rochas (mountains) over as well. The function (there was a fancy dinner, a band from Sao Vicent, and then some mostly naked models that were modeling the clothes of some fashion designer from Sao Vicente!) didn’t start until 8, and since there are no cars to my village after meiadia (midday) I had to spend the night in Coculi. Well there are also no cars to my zona (village) on Sunday, so rather than spend 2 nights away from home and wait for the Monday car, I decided it would be a good chance to do some hiking, and resolved to walk home to Cha di Igreja early Sunday morning.

After a long night of tossing and turning in the spare bed at the Coculi PC house, I was blissfully, finally asleep sometime around 4am. 7 am rolls around and a piercing, clanging noise has ripped me from my dreamstate. Jumping out of the bed into a fighting stance, I shake the fog from my head to figure out just what in THE HELL IS THAT NOISE??!! It is, of course, the blistering, impossibly loud and resonant sounds of the Coculi church bells, conveniently located approximately 20 horizontal feet from my head. I peer out the window and see a man in the belfry, maniacally striking the clapper with an evil look of delight on his face. He seems to be thinking “Let’s See You Sleep Through THIS! Approximately 10 agonizing minutes later, I’ve gone partially deaf and The Hunchback has apparently decided everyone in town is awake now and dressing for church, and the ringing stops. I think about trying to go back to sleep for about 5 seconds, and then I jump out of my skin again, as The Hunchback gets in one good, solid, last lick, somehow louder than all those that came before it. (“And take THIS ONE for good measure!”) Anyway, sleep’s a distant memory so I’m up and making coffee and soon the volunteers that live in Coculi are up and in the kitchen and having a good laugh asking me how I like the Sunday Bells, and I tell them I won’t be crashing here on Saturday nights anymore.

Minutes later I’m off on my adventure Over the Mountain to Cha di Igreja. For an hour from Coculi, I walk up and along the modestly inclined ribeira and past the village of Boca before veering North and beginning the climb in earnest. 3 hours and a lot of cussing, coughing and blaspheming later, I arrive at the first peak. Along the way are impossibly beautiful views of lush and fertile valleys and tiny toy houses and in the distance, jaw-dropping cliff-edges (the guide book says over 1000m at some points) with shockingly non-existent walls or barriers, the enormity of the perfectly perpendicular, un-sloped mountain walls, and a blustery, bullying wind at the top. By the time I reach the second crux, despite the day’s cool temperature, I have sweat through my shirt and shorts and am panting like a black dog on a summer day in Texas. I am rewarded for my efforts though, by an unrivaled view of Cha di Igreja from atop the mountain. WAY off in the distance, my little hamlet appears, nestled into the greater valley, but perched precariously atop a 150m sandstone cliff (how did I never notice that before!?), the massive ocean looming behind it. It looks like a model of a town. I can reach out and pick up the church and the school and hold them in my hand like Monopoly pieces. I Can’t Believe I Live There.

Anyway, I rest and snack and hydrate and smoke a cigarette (sorry mom!) and then a little panic and delirium mingles with my sense of accomplishment as I realize that walking down steep things is often harder on the knees and legs than walking up them. I am proved correct on this point, but arrive safely on my doorstep a little over an hour later. A walk I’ll definitely do again, only with a longer camera lens. Pics are around here somewhere. Keep in mind that if you wanna follow along with the walk, look at the last picture first and the first picture last. If that makes any sense.