Up in the Hills

On a recent hike to Strawberry Hill, Javier and I began climbing a trail through the coolness of the rain forest. We ascended gradually to an open ridge that was covered in chest high fields of lemon grass. Lemon grass emits a strong lemon scent when crushed between your fingers and makes for fragrant strolling. Once, when we lost the trail, the lemon grass turned into masses of sharp edged blades that rasped and scraped into our shins. Near the summit we came across several donkeys happily munching away. Some were tethered and tangled and we spent some time untangling them to increase their grazing radius. Just beyond the donkeys we came across two small ponds that contained brown water and small fishes, an unlikely sight at an elevation on a normally dry island. The view from the windy summit (approx. 1220’ elevation)  was panoramic with long views of close and distant hills, roads, and villages all rimmed by the green of the sea.