尼德艾格尔(Nid d'Aigle)位于塞舌尔拉迪格岛中部,海拔高度大约 333 米,是全岛最高的自然地理标高。这里在克里奥尔语中意为“鹰巢”,以其能俯瞰整个印度洋海域的 360 度全景视角而闻名。站在山顶,除了能看清拉迪格岛标志性的花岗岩海岸线,还能远眺普拉兰岛(Praslin)、费利西泰岛(Felicité)以及著名的姊妹岛等 5 座以上邻近岛屿。对于体力尚可的自由行游客来说,这处免费开放的高点是跳脱出常规沙滩行程、深度探索塞舌尔原始地貌的首选地。
登上尼德艾格尔最大的奖励莫过于山顶那块巨大的花岗岩观景台。从这里望去,海水的颜色从近岸的浅绿色过渡到深邃的宝蓝色,层次分明得像调色盘。天气晴朗时,视野甚至能触及几十公里外的弗雷加特岛(Frégate)。相比于在沙滩上平视大海,这里的视角让你能从上帝视角审视拉迪格岛那被丛林覆盖的脊背。你会发现这里的植被密度极高,浓绿的雨林直接铺向白色的沙滩边缘,那是大自然未经雕琢的原始感。
这里的生态环境非常典型。攀登过程中,你有很大几率在路边厚厚的枯叶堆里发现身长超过 20 厘米的巨型马陆,或是正在觅食的塞舌尔红头蓝鸠。山顶附近分布着不少肉桂树、肉豆蔻和柠檬草,空气中混合着泥土与植物的辛香味。这里还是塞舌尔金丝燕的栖息地,它们飞行的轨迹极快且难以预测,在山顶巨石缝隙间穿梭。如果你对植物感兴趣,沿途能见到一种名为 Palmiste 的原生棕榈,这种树最高能长到 40 米以上,是岛上森林层次的重要组成部分。
徒步的起点通常建议选在拉帕斯(La Passe)或者贝莱尔(Belle Vue)餐厅附近。第一阶段的路线主要是极为陡峭的柏油坡路,坡度在某些路段甚至超过了 30 度。这段路虽然平整,但对腿部肌肉的考验不小。如果你不想在第一阶段就耗尽体力,最稳妥的做法是预约一辆出租车直接送到 Belle Vue 餐厅。很多游客错误地尝试骑自行车上山,这几乎是不可能的任务,因为不仅坡度大,而且高温下的体能消耗会非常快。如果你选择步行,这段路大约会消耗 30 到 40 分钟。
过了 Belle Vue 餐厅后,路线会转变为原始的红土小径和乱石坡。这时候路标开始变得模糊,你需要留意那些刻在岩石上的白色标记或前人留下的石堆。这段丛林路不算长,大约只有 500 米到 1 公里,但因为环境潮湿且遮阴较少,走起来会非常闷热。最后的登顶路段需要一点轻微的攀爬动作,扶着岩石向上走几步就能看到那座基站和最核心的观景点。雨季的时候,红土地会变得像涂了黄油一样湿滑,这时候脚下的稳定性比速度更重要。
去尼德艾格尔徒步本身是不收门票的,这里完全免费。但如果你打算在半山腰的 Belle Vue 餐厅休息,那就要准备好现金或银行卡。那里的一杯新鲜果汁大约在 100 到 150 塞舌尔卢比,虽然价格比平地贵,但那里的景观位确实值得坐一会儿。建议每人至少背上 1.5 升的饮用水,山顶没有任何售卖点。如果你打算看日落,一定要带上头灯或充满电的手机,因为下山的丛林路在太阳落山后五分钟内就会变得漆黑一片。
关于穿什么,千万别穿人字拖。虽然当地人可能赤脚也能上山,但普通游客建议至少穿透气性好的徒步鞋或防滑运动鞋。最推荐的登山时间是清晨七点半之前,那时候气温还没升起来,光线也柔和。如果你想看日落,下午四点开始往上爬是比较合适的。要特别留意的是 11 点到 15 点这段时间,阳光近乎垂直照射,山上几乎没有躲避紫外线的地方,中暑风险很高。说真的,那种汗流浃背、甚至连衣服都能拧出水的体验,在塞舌尔的热带雨林里是常态。
这里不需要预约,全天候免费开放。如果你只是走主路去山顶,路线相对明显,完全可以自行前往。但如果你想尝试那些穿越丛林连接到 Anse Cocos 的偏僻环线,请个当地导游会保险很多,费用通常在 40 到 60 欧元左右。
如果从海边码头出发全程步行,往返至少需要 3 小时。如果打车到 Belle Vue 餐厅后再开始徒步,单程登顶大约只需要 20 到 30 分钟。建议总共预留半天时间,这样可以在山顶发会儿呆,或者在餐厅喝杯东西等落日。
对于 8 岁以下的孩子或体力较弱的老人来说,Belle Vue 餐厅以上的原始路径可能略显吃力。建议这类人群打车到餐厅,在餐厅的露台欣赏同样的风景,没必要强行去爬最后那段乱石坡。山路上的红土干了之后很硬,湿了之后极滑,安全第一。
Madeline Gregory The hike has some gorgeous views, and it feels like a great accomplishment once you complete it. I am unfamiliar with how this trail is maintained, but the majority of the time you are battling through bush or climbing up granite or over/under fallen trees. A real jungle adventure 🌱 I recommend collecting a stick, with which you can use to bat spider webs away; this was very useful as I felt I was the first person to pass through in awhile. Bring water as the incline is unrelenting. Also secure your items while scaling rocks, so you don’t drop anything into a rock crevice and have to crawl into it to retrieve it, like I did 😅
Radek Horak If you like some hiking, try this. Just be prepared for a sweat bath. Getting to the start of the trail is a steep journey itself, climbing to the top through the bush might be another challenge for some. You will get rewarded by a nice view. There are some fallen trees, little ladder and rocks to overcome. Make sure to have good shoes and enough water. You can also meet some turtles at the local villagers backyard.
Ludovica Ibba Good short hike, at points challenging depending what way you take. Apparently there are different hiking paths. We left the bike at the beginning of the pavement road that lead to Bellevue restaurant and walked up. Before the restaurant we took a path on the right with a green handrail and start to climb up. The path can't be done in flip flops, you need hiking shoes and is challenging for kids. It took us 30 min to get up with breaks and once we arrived at the view we met some people that arrived through a different way which they said be longer but less challenging for kids. We were surprised because we did not see another way... The view is nice and we enjoyed to do something different than hiking to get to a beach or cycling!
Aviv Blechman Hard steep way to belle Vue, after that steep and slippery way up to viewpoints Really take comfortable shoes with you and 1-2 liter water per person, must of the way is covered by the trees but in the top there is some sun. We didn't made the circular way because it was hard to identify the road.. Hard way up, you should be in good fit to do it
Andrea Lee For the amount of effort and exertion it takes to go up the very steep path especially when it's a hot and humid day (and especially considering that the unshaded, steep walk up the asphalt road to Bellevue and the starting point of the hike is already quite tiring), I would say that the views up top are totally not worth it (coming from someone who travels extensively and who isn't easily impressed). Romeo and Juliet Rock looks way more impressive but we unfortunately could not do it as a guide is needed for the hike and all 4 limbs need to be in working order (which husband did not have due to a dislocated elbow). Back to Nid d'Aigle: there are 2 lookout points up top. We followed the signs and definitely the view from past the TV tower is better. Thankfully, we also found another way down that was less steep than the way up and husband was able to go down without much struggle one his one functioning arm. Still. Would not recommend. Also, would not recommend the juice at the end of the hike at Bellevue. Expensive and artificially sweetened..