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300 Days alone

Feb 27, 2020
It wasn't until I arrived at Geneva airport that I realized it was all over. It was difficult there physically but above all psychologically and if I had to do it well again... I don't think I would. In September 2008 I left Switzerland and it is comforting to spend 10 months

alone

in the Tonga group of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean to live, I brought a machete and my Swiss army knife, I also have a medical kit and a satellite phone. , solar panel and battery to power my camera. It is a dream that I wanted to realize.
300 days alone
I have been working for it for 14 months and now, now I am here but I think the most important thing is to keep zen and calm because no matter what happens, I will be

alone

in the archipelago. of Tonga is lost in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the island of Tofua is about 250 kilometers from the capital, and its last inhabitant left more or less 20 years ago. Tofua is a caldera, an ancient volcano that explodes in the middle, it has a lake of sulfurous water and in the north of the island, you can see the smoke of the volcano, still active, it's only been 24 hours I'm here I miss the food I miss the drinking water I miss everything is terrible no, it's not terrible but it teaches me that I can't do it the first time , you have to go step by step and I have to learn and it takes much more time than I expected.
300 days alone

More Interesting Facts About,

300 days alone...

The next day I installed my solar panel to charge my batteries and went fishing again. At sunset I still hadn't caught anything. But just when I wanted to give up, I caught my first fish. To top it all off, it was big enough to feed me for the next two

days

. I feel good. I feel much better than this morning because I was able to get a fish. I was able to eat it and still have some for tomorrow. I'm happy, I'll finish this fire again five minutes, ten minutes and after I go to sleep because I don't want to waste firewood there's a lot of it but... it's not dry.
300 days alone
All the wood is wet Hello, hello. It's full of ants, I can't even eat it anymore. Oh yeah, sure, I was sure, they had everything. There weren't many friends on the island. I had to find a way to preserve my catch. In their home in the Alps, the elders use two ways to preserve meat: salt and smoke. Well, the goal is to do something to smoke the fish because I hope to have a lot of fish, not a lot and I need to smoke it. Building the smokehouse didn't take long, it worked perfectly, my grandfather would have been proud of me for the first two

days

I slept as I could use the curved trunk of the coconut tree, but I wouldn't do it for ten months.
300 days alone
I didn't spend like that. I had to build myself a shelter. I started with the ceiling. Lattice work, coconut tabs, new or dry, the usual lock or the unusual one for the roof, I used coconut branches which I passed through the panels hoping that it would not let the water through and after four days my shelter was already built and I could Move on. I had to complete another important ritual to live in the rhythm of nature. I had to stop time, the thing is that I need to find a good place for the watch, not too far from the sea, so even if it is underground it can get a good vibe from the sea.
Yes, it's beautiful, so from now on I'll be here. for approximately nine months and 20 days, where I stopped time. At first, fishing took up most of my time. I didn't catch fish every day and waited long hours for them to bite. I proposed a system to free myself from this task. The principle was simply a very heavy branch as a fishing rod, a heavy stone as a counterweight, the fishing line and the bait, and it worked. ok, that's it, I'm exhausted, it seems very easy, I know how to do it but I don't eat as much anymore because I have no other option and my drink is fine, but every time I have to make physical effort I feel it.
Now I get tired very easily I will rest I am not in a hurry anyway not when you are hungry you are less picky I have some sea snails well just a few of them are not enough for the feast. well, appetite, lack of food, sudden loneliness No point of reference I don't know what weighed me down the most, but after eight days I broke down. My family misses me, everything I know really misses me. It's nice here but I... I can't figure out I don't have food... I have water yes but it's so difficult it's very difficult and... in my house I have everything, so I say why, why Do you know that?
You could, you could, you could stay home, relax with your friends, your girlfriend, your family, it just hit me without warning, I was depressed twenty-two thousand miles from home, away from my friends, my family, my refrigerator and the worst of It was all my idea. Luckily I had the motivation flag, my friends wrote me messages that they read, they gave me the courage to move forward and to make matters worse, it was that day that I saw whales for the first time and when you see it I can tell you that you will forget all your problems.
I miss many things here and there are many things that I have here that I cannot have at home but in the morning it is very difficult to take them into account but at night I feel them again and I feel very happy, I feel calm. I think what I need to learn is to go slowly now I need to learn to... take the time to do everything here but everything I do I want to do quickly to finish it as quickly as possible and that is not the way. I had to put this, this plastic that was the protection of my solar panel, because I realized that my roof is not waterproof at all and I really need a waterproof roof for all the materials I have, that's why I put I will start doing it.
Today we are going to work with the coconut sleeve to make a waterproof roof. The first step was to reach the top of the coconut tree, but if it seems easy enough to climb the tree, it is different to reach the palm trees of that tree with such a smooth trunk. Having accomplished this feat, I stripped the tree of its palm trees, which I chose for their length, which corresponded quite closely to that of my roof. Next comes the weaving, the method is simply once up, once down, once up, once down. In the Tonga Islands, the roof of the shelters is covered by layered lattice work that makes them waterproof.
It is clear that quite a few of them are needed anyway. Another big problem I had was mosquitoes, there were thousands of them in that forest, so the best way to keep them away from my camp was to clean around the shelter and open the space so that the sea wind could create a natural protection, but not it worked. Since this morning I heard the volcano and I didn't know what happened and I was a little worried because we never know and that's why I got to the top I have to find a way I got to the top to look at the volcano The way to the volcano is not really a piece of cake, especially when it comes to trekking through the jungle, but as soon as you reach the side of the crater, the view makes you forget the effort.
It's beautiful You feel very humble in this kind of moment It makes me cry it's true that sometimes I feel alone the only thing that hasn't changed here is me at the beginning but I've been here for a month and it's true that I miss almost everything I'm in the middle of nature but In the middle of nowhere I'm alone I'm really alone, it's not easy. After my first visit to the volcano I decided that each day I would extend the known circumference by a few hundred more meters. I always look around a little There are always things to discover, always to find, always Today it was a huge mango tree, bent by too many fruits Finding those almost ripe fruits is like receiving Christmas gifts to strengthen my roof, I needed a rope and In Tofua there was the rope tree.
I just had to find it oh no it's not solid at all, it's not, it's completely rotted and after several tries I finally found what I was looking for, yes I just had to cut some long strips of the fence and let it dry in the sun. today I'm finishing one side of the roof we still have to check if it's waterproof of course but at least I did it with nothing, with my hand and the coconut sleeve and I'm proud of this and you know life is here. very simple but it's not that easy... all you have to do yourself and I learned a lot about this, it gives me a new perception of the world since fishing didn't bring me food every day, I added a new dish to my little ones Dietary coconut sprouts cooked over charcoal seasoned with ash and bran.
The coconut was easy to open. The inside looked like a fruit compote It is difficult to describe the mild taste a little sweet but without coconut and spicy taste it was excellent after more than a month on the island I was able to survive and organize the essentials There was only one problem left by the lack of contact human thing that I now realize is that I start to feel alone because I have no one to talk to I have no one to change my mind and then I talk to myself but I always agree with myself so it's not fun like that and no one can give me more information about what I already know and I'm alone whatever I do I'm alone I can't say you know I don't think I have enough in my mind I'm starting to get bored Alone, lonely and bored now.
I found a very nice place there, but the access is very difficult to go from the beach because of all the rocks, so maybe I can find the easiest way to go from inside yeah, while sitting on the beach I contemplated the immensity of the sea and I enjoyed my victory but when I looked around I found myself facing the worst of our civilization, so much garbage thrown into the sea thousands of kilometers from here and through water currents they are carried to end up along the coast. I even found some bamboo. what can I use it for...
I decided to bring it back to the camp until I find a use for it, but I already had my idea... and now, in theory, I... I made a digestif Forget the life of mosquitoes in Tofua It may seem pretty gentle, but every day when I go fishing, I risk getting hurt on the rocks. I washed regularly during my exploration in the forest, I ended up with numerous infections under the skin that no longer healed. I had to use my satellite phone to call Dr. Richon in Switzerland and he followed up from there. Yes, Jack, my name is Xavier Rosset.
Mentally speaking, I'm fine, I can do pretty much whatever I want, but it's physical, I have a little technical problem. I need you too... I described how things were. He told me what to use from the medical kit he helped me put together in Switzerland now I'm going, I'm going for it, I really don't want to do it because it already hurts so much, maybe it will get better after it gets better. the dirt comes out every day, every day I have to wash myself every day after sea water then I have to boil the... flat water, I have to clean again with normal water I have to put betadine which is a special cream that I am in the middle of nowhere and I take antibiotics!!! in five days if it doesn't get better I have to call the doctor again thanks to my doctor's advice I take special care of my wounds they healed in a few days but even though I was busy every day I started to suffer another problem that the medicine couldn't cure.
I no longer have motivation to do anything because I'm alone, I haven't even tried to light the fire with wood because... because I'm fed up, I don't have anything... I don't have I don't know why, why should I do this. I'm alone, who should I share this with. Nobody. Nobody. I came because I came and needed help my friend in my town was cutting his fingers so he broke his kawa and broke his fingers too so as if he heard me, Lofi appeared in my life. A few days a year, farmers from the neighboring island come to Tofua to grow kawa, a plant whose root is used to produce a bitter drink. save his friend's finger, but his camp was now more than a six-hour walk away and he was returning to my friend Lofi's town because one of his friends has a big cut and his fingers came off a little bit and maybe he can do anything.
I will do my best, but if the infection has already started it will be too late. The best way to see is to go and see. Lofi chose to follow me so she could match his speed to mine instead of looking over her shoulder to avoid getting lost, very sweet, huh? the middle, right? It's very very sweet. It's so good. As soon as we arrived at the camp, I was able to quickly assess the seriousness of the matter. You're okay Maloa lele I couldn't administer first aid but I knew he would have to go to a medical center as soon as a boat could pick him up.
In the meantime I did the best I could with the medical kit and my little knowledge. Well, I guess I did what I could. Better with your friend until tomorrow I can do it but then I'd better go to the hospital. ok, thanks, I'm a doctor with tofua, but I did my best. With Chimy's finger I am much better now and for me it is time to return to Hokula to my home in Hokula. It's true that it seems strange to me to leave these nice people and return alone. my place what I do I don't know but now it's time to go and I'm on my way very hot day Solitude is not always found even if you look for it.
There is talk of the arrival of a sailboat that seems to be approaching Hokula. For me it could be an extraordinary visit and I really want to see them on the same boat with a group of Norwegians. They were doing two months of sailing in Elachipel to complete. For once I'm not the one on camera. No, they are the visitors. What do you think of the house? Did you see it? I guess it's not very luxurious for you, for the next half year or a year you have a bed and a place to hide from the rain when you finish the roof.
Before finishing the roof, I took them to the volcano. They had that day,... and I had all the time in the world. It wasn't the first time I was here but so far I stayed at the top. With them I got even closer tocrater I like this one. on a remote island in the middle of nowhere, yes, a local, that's cool, you like the machete, you like machete work, cool way to work in the forest, I could guide these people, very people great, what could guide them to the top of the island brings them to the volcano and spends the day with them unfortunately they have to leave today but we had a nice day together and now I buy rice, I buy onion, I buy a garlic, I buy two beers and I also buy a coke so I'm very happy to have met them It was great because today I didn't feel alone anymore to talk to people I could change my mind, I could... you know, I wasn't alone anymore Now it's for sure that I feel very happy because they were here but in another way I also feel a little sad because they are leaving but what I have to keep in mind is that they were here with me and they changed me. day thank you Norwegian people, thank you very much My visitors were right In December, the rainy season, I and Gins had to make sure my roof was waterproof.
Once the work was finished and the last branches were fixed I decided to pamper myself with a smaller one. luxury view over the sea. All the work with the machete ended up grinding the blade. The machete no longer cut anything and to sharpen it there was nothing better than volcanic stones polished by the sea. Once wet it worked perfectly. After a few months on the island I already had enough knowledge. So something of a routine has been established. I was pretty good at providing myself with food and the perimeter around my campsite increased considerably, as did the loneliness...on Christmas Day I decided to use my satellite phone to send a message to my parents.
This is the first Christmas that spending without you feels a little strange but that's it I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas and Dad I hope your hips are better everything is fine and I wanted to let you know that everything is fine here no Don't worry about me and I wish you a Merry Christmas. Spending Christmas and New Year's Eve alone on an island is really depressing. I thought about my friends, my family, foie gras, champagne and sparklers, all the things I don't normally like. I was fine here for another six months of loneliness, especially since Gael, my best friend, promised to come here and spend the last two weeks with me.
But meanwhile he was alone. This is what I thought because there is a competitor from an amazing company that lifted my spirits. His name is Sugar and he is nine months old, it is Lofi's father who gave him to me because he thought she felt too alone here in Hokula. Luffy the farmer who came to ask me for help came back one morning to give me this dog. He wanted to thank me for saving his friend's finger. My motivation returned to normal. A garden would add diversity to my diet. so I become a farmer and always use what I can find in the area.
It may be strange that I chose the front of the school to do my planting but strategically it is a very good idea because first of all here is the only place where there is not a large tree. Another thing is that it is a 15-20 minute walk from my campsite. Then I can come every day for the wild boar and if I don't come every day they will eat everything I make here. Another reason is also that the tanker is here, I will use it to give water to my plantation. I have to work more useful than beautiful.
I also saved the watermelon seeds that Lofi gave me with the dog. The soil seemed fertile and the temperature ideal. So while I waited for things to grow, I decided to continue exploring the island. In search of new fruits or vegetables, beach caves or just new landscapes, I walked along the coast to the west along the rocky cliffs that blocked access to the sea. Here I am on the west side of the island, the objective was to discover a little this part of the island that is very different from the part where I have my house.
There are no big trees here, there is low vegetation and very dry vegetation and also one of the objectives is to find Captain Cook's cave because it is close to the sea, but here it is so big that it is not impossible, no, but very difficult, okay, now It's time to go home to prepare dinner and in order to eat I need a fish. That night I got a big surprise... I cooked this. It scares me a little to see this little animal. I saw another one about a month ago of the same size. I think it's pretty big.
In addition to the beast suddenly being impressive, it had a large amount of food. I tried my humu, it is a hole in the ground in which a fire is prepared. You put the pieces of fish on hot amber and cover it completely as if it were an oven. The heat coming out is supposed to cook everything slowly for hours. The shark spent the whole night cooking. I prayed that no insects would invite themselves to eat in my house. bills. With the removal of the leaves and dirt that covered it, I can't believe it, it's hot, it's still hot!
Slow cooking would preserve the fish for two or three days, but I was frustrated because I had only eaten fish for the past few months. So I decided to go wild boar hunting. I tried to find a path for the pigs, there are many many paths for the pigs around here and the pig used this path and for us it is not possible... to follow all the paths because if they are 60 centimeters high they are no longer, but if I find one, I want to make a hole, about 80 centimeters long, 40 centimeters wide and maybe a meter 20 deep.
I want to hide it and put some coconuts in it and if I can, maybe a pig can get in. Along the way I wanted to find the right place where the ground was soft and close to water and where the pigs would surely pass through. Water... I think I found a good path for the pigs and now I need to find a good spot and make a hole. While I wait, my little garden has started to grow. The first shoots were visible. It was a great success and the end result looked quite promising. Big here are the watermelons and here are the small onions.
Just a week into my gardening efforts, everything was above ground. Ok, I didn't have much of a choice, but I could see that my work was paying off. The trap was ready the garden was growing it was the perfect time to pay a visit to the volcano I woke up this morning and had nothing to do so I say... why not go to the volcano and on the way from the top I could hear a very loud noise coming from the volcano... now. When you're down here, it really looks like it really looks like the place of the moon and the moon.
And now I am going to see the volcano A feeling of deep humility characterizes each visit to the volcano I was in contact with the center of the earth water air earth and fire all the elements are reunited. Thousands of years of tropical rains forged this magnificent landscape. As I walked through the canyons, I dove deep into the incredible history of the island's formation, scratches were part of my daily toll of small inconveniences that I paid little attention to. But when one of them started to swell and I couldn't even bend my finger, I started to worry.
Aaaaaïïïieueeeee It really hurt. My doctor explained to me over the phone what steps I should take to try to stop the infection. In 24 hours, if it doesn't seem to get better, I will go to the hospital, it will take between five and ten days until I can get to the first hospital that can do something for me. so... you know I don't have to wait too long if the infection doesn't really stay in the hand, it can go up the arm and get into the blood and it can cause a general infection and if I have a general infection. infection, it's my life that's in danger and I don't want to die, I'm not afraid of it, but if I can do something about it, I will, you know.
In Tofua, it rains almost every day. For some time now my roof had proven to be waterproof, so, well protected, I waited for the rain to stop and put my hand on it. There's nothing really special to do, this is the kind of day where you have to learn to do nothing. then I don't do anything. The next morning when I arrived at the trap, it was a pleasant surprise to see that it was no longer covered. It was a little pig, a female. Surely her mother passed by it but the little one fell into her.
Did you know? I made such a big hole, just for you, little pig like you, I didn't really know what I was going to do with it, but I certainly wasn't going to let it die here just for a few minutes. Days later, when my finger improved I decided to look further afield, in search of Captain Cook's cave. When the Tongans brought me to the island, they showed me where it was, this time luck was on my side. I could feel certain vibrations and I had the feeling that I finally found it. In my garden the plants make me happier and happier, here is one and here is another very small one that is just beginning.
I am very happy and I have it with me, a small one made up of hands and this is the one. result Normally when I go for a walk the pig follows me but today I take a fairly long walk and the pig follows me but it only follows me for a kilometer or so and then it goes to the forest and I start to hide and it can take me two hours to recover. pig. and then I have to carry it and the pig doesn't like to be carried so shouting and carrying a pig to carry a pig for two hours three hours shouting like that is not possible. and it is very noisy, a pig and that is why next time I will make a booth in front of my house to put the pig, because... you know how to be patient... this has been going on for two hours now!
Awful!!! Every day the island was full of surprises. Waving my machete, I ended up cutting down a strange vine. if it comes yes it probably takes a little more time than drinking water in our countries but... at least we have water and here and we have time It's very good it's a little sweet When I'm in the forest going it's very important I have to take this because There aren't many coconuts around and I have to drink. Since I've been in Tofua, it's really the first time I've seen these big waves breaking, they're very big waves.
There is the place where I am going to fish today the waves are about 10 m higher It seems like the beginning of a storm or I don't know or la la! Great waaaaaave, it's really amazing. When I saw the storm approaching, I wondered if my heart was going to survive. Waterproofing is one thing, but there were other issues to consider, like the roof falling in or a coconut tree falling on it. I need to take out my solar panel. The next morning, back at the same place, there was nothing left. The sea took everything away. In the afternoon the wind became even stronger and in the evening my ordeal really began.
The creaking noises were quite terrifying, but the worst was when the wind changed. The rain hit me directly in the face and there was no place to hide. I was soaked... Hello everyone. Now it's starting to get dawn again, which is really good because most of the night I didn't sleep, I couldn't see around me and I didn't know what happened, but I could hear a thunder storm thunder lightning lots of sounds, storm, thunder, lightning and everything. I slept a little but every time I fall asleep something wakes me up again very short night now I won't come back today because I'm starting to be able to see again what happened it's important New day new day I'm happy because my shelter is still in operation.
This is what I use to clean in front of my house. I decided to make two towels in front of my house. I know it's not much use to make these paths because every day I have to do it again because the leaves from the trees fall a lot and I have to do it again but then I have something else to do because sometimes the weather here is sometimes very long and then I don't know what to do. I also had to put my solar system back together. Apparently there is no fault, it is fully charged.
I wasn't sure the adapter was working because all the moisture was from the storm, maybe I thought it was broken, but it still works and seems to work. Well. But there were still victims of the storm. At first glance everything seemed fine. Sugar cane grew as well as onion and taro, and watermelons did not survive. They were rotten, it was terrible, everything was destroyed. I drove my misery into a new craft project. I am very happy because now I have a bank. Sometimes it's hard to get the motivation here, but today I woke up and said yes, great, I'm going to make the bench and now in the afternoon I have a bench, I have my bench, I'm happy.
It was near the end of my adventure, Gael would soon arrive to help me adjust back to social life and prepare to return home. Then I started scanning the horizon. In this world nothing can be taken for granted. Baby had a bad surprise for me as she always jumped out of the pan but this time she disappeared. Today I entered the island, maybe 500 meters here, 500 meters further I tried to find it but... The island is too big you can search as long as you want... it was not possible to find it. but at least I tried.
When I caged her in the hole, I did, she was at most three weeks old, she was very small. I had to feed her the best I could and after a week she started eating on her own which was a big win for me. I feel like parents that I have to let the kids out. and if it was her decision to go back into the wild and divorce me and start living her life in the wild again, that's her decision. I'm happy with that and now that she's gone, I don't have any problems with my shelter.
I kind of miss this... I mean, you know, it's part of the game. I just hope everything is okay for her. and if she wants to say hi again one day before I leave, I will be very happy. Gael's arrival meant the end of my lifelonely and really revived my energy. I wanted to show him everything and looking back, I tell myself it was incredible. It's very nice because since Gael arrived I can start eating again like the food he ate in Switzerland and here there is dried meat and cheese and it is Nirvana heaven at Christmas.
One of Gael's first challenges was to find his way through the forest to find Hey, Gael, where's the path? For another two weeks I tried to share my experience of the last nine months with my friend who was fishing on the volcano. I told him all about my joy, my sadness, my loneliness. The final departure was approaching. There was one more task to complete before leaving the island. When I put the box in the hole I stopped time and what I realize now is that even if I wanted to stop time, time keeps running but you don't have the same perception. and for me it was always important to know what the day was and I know that every experience has a beginning and an end. and when the experience begins when the adventure begins You must always push forward, forward and in the end you must accept that you have left everything.
And it's part of the game to leave everything and go back to the life you had before. When I arrived here I didn't know anything about this place and now I can say after nine and a half months I feel at home yes I feel at home

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