Seven years ago (though it doesn’t seem nearly so long) I published three blogs on hiking the country of Malta. The first, on the Island of Malta, was necessarily short as I stayed only one week and spent much of the time investigating the numerous architectural ruins (not surprising as I was traveling with my brother, Mark, and his wife, both architects!) Returning to Malta for 2_^1/2 weeks last month gave me an opportunity for a deeper dive into some of the trails in the more rural, northern end of the island.

After a wet winter, this past March Malta was far greener than I recalled, boasting many more wildflowers, photos of which were noticeably absent from my 2018 post. Let’s start with a geography refresher. . .

The trailhead for most of the hikes was the door of my apartment in Mellieħa, a ridge-top town in northern Malta. All except one hike were variations on a theme. . . the theme being the Mellieħa peninsula. The final hike out my door was a loop to the south, out to Il-Majjistral Park on the west coast. (Foolishly, I failed to extend the hike to include Xemxija’s Old Roman Road Heritage Trail).

A half-hour bus journey south from my apartment brought me to the town of Mġarr, which was the starting point for a loop hike to Fomm ir-Riħ on the west coast.

Another hike requiring a short bus journey was to the L-Aħrax peninsula, at the northern end of Malta Island. It is located to the east of the Red Fort and Ras il-Qammieħ, where I hiked with Mark in 2018. Despite some paved roads as well as a couple of new resorts under construction (yuck!), there were still a few nice rural and coastal spots on this hike.

Altogether I identified about 22 wildflowers blooming in March. I thought that was a reasonably good tally, until I discovered the Malta Wild Plants website, a 20-year effort by Stephen Mifsud. It will be a great resource if I ever return, or if any of you, my dear readers, visit Malta.

Currently, I am in England enjoying a warm and generally sunny April in Hastings, East Sussex. My next blog post will be of the South West Coast Path. Last week I completed the last few days of the Dorset section with a friend from California.

Stay tuned and enjoy the spring weather and wildflowers,

The Vagabond Hiker

Almost all of the six-plus weeks that I spent in Malta were on the island of Gozo. About 1/4 the size of the island of Malta, Gozo has less than 1/10th the population and far more rural character, making it a far better choice for hiking. It is easily reached by public bus from either the airport or the capital, Valletta. Car ferries run every 45 minutes during the day from northern Malta to Gozo.  The extensive and reliable bus system on Gozo meant that I could dispense with the hassle of a car.

During my sojourn I circumambulated Gozo, though private property and some rugged terrain forced me inland in a few instances.  From my base in Victoria near the center of Gozo, the public bus system enabled numerous point-to-point coastal walks as well as circular ones encompassing some of the numerous rural country roads. For about half of the time my brother Clifford was visiting on a working retreat, and a couple of the photos below are his.

My plans from now through the middle of September are now complete.  I updated my calendar on this blog to reflect these trips. They comprise hikes in five countries I have not yet visited (Romania, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Kosovo) and three that I will be returning to (the UK, Peru, and Italy).

Stay tuned for more hiking, trekking, and climbing blogs in the coming months!

The Vagabond Hiker