Oé-Cusse Hills Hike

Almost all the promoted hikes in Oé-Cusse involve heading up river systems to waterfalls, so I had to develop my own hike up into the hills behind Pante Macassar. This hike starts from Amasat Guesthouse through an atmospheric glade of palm trees, before heading up a steep and rough ridge for expansive views toward the coast and inland.

It was an overcast start, typical of January, the middle of the wet season. Even without the sun though it was hot, and incredibly humid.

I took the path on the right of the photo below, off the main Oé-Cusse road heading east to the border with Indonesia. There was one fence to climb over, and some pens for the cows grazing nearby.

These huge palms were hugely atmospheric, if easy to get lost in!

I came out at the end by a fenced area which I think is farmed, with the fencing to protect the crops from goats. Last time I walked around here I got bluffed and stopped by the fences half way up the hillside, and it took some time to figure out a way down and back.

I headed up a rough path to the left of the fence to a relatively small hill, that offered good views of the incredibly lush surrounding landscape, a complete contrast from when I last visited in the dry season.

My telephoto lens gave me a closer look at the variety, though almost all of it looked too steep to hike.

There was one ridge that looked a little gentler, and I’d previously made it onto the foothills of it, so that was my goal for this hike.

I returned back down to the fenced area and found this section which looked like a water course. At about 5m high it was doable with some scrambling, though care needed to be taken, particularly on the return. I think I came down this way last time I was on the ridge, finding the other ways down blocked by thick, impassable bush.

This got me onto the ridge, which had a poor rocky surface, but there was definitely a bit more grip on it than when I last visited in the dry season. I headed carefully up to reach the top, already enjoying some great views.

From here I continued up the spine of the ridge, which was quite doable.

I stopped when it started to narrow and get even steeper. I would be able to get up it, but getting down would have been risky.

The surrounding landscape was quite incredible, different to anything else I’ve seen.

As expected it was harder coming down than going up, with my hiking poles proving invaluable. It was reasonably wide but increasingly steep on both sides, so if I slipped things would quickly get very serious.