The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Malta redux

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 21/2 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. . .

A map of the country of Malta, situated about 80 km south of Sicily, reproduced from my 2018 blog post

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).

Balcony view east from my top floor Mellieħa apartment.
A farmer with Il-Palazz in the background.
Tree mallow (Malva arborea), many of which were a meter or more tall
The ruins of Ras il-Griebeg, along the northern coast of the Mellieħa peninsula
Field gladiolus (Gladiolus italicus)
The coast near Imġiebaħ Beach
The town of Mellieħa. My apartment is denoted by the arrow on the left.
Il-Palazz, sadly closed for renovation
A morning view east, on the descent to a coastal loop walk.
Statue of St Paul, to the east of the peninsula.
A rural road on the peninsula. These roads weren’t so bad to walk as the traffic was somewhere between light and non-existent.
A field and coast view along a path north of my apartment
Imġiebaħ valley
Azure stonecrop (Sedum caeruleum), native to Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily, according to Wiki; and apparently Malta.
Giant Fennel (Ferula communis). Though not one of my faves, I had to be impressed with these burly guys
A gorgeous flower of the caper bush (Capparis spinosa)
A rural road/path to my south, heading towards Il-Majjistral Nature & History Park
Italian Bugloss (Anchusa azurea). The hike to Il-Majjistral was fantastic for botanizing
Branched Asphodel (Asphodelus ramosus)
Vista north from Il-Majjistral. The cliffs south of Dwejra Bay on Gozo are in the distance.
Scarlet pimpernel (Lysimachia arvensis), blue form. A gorgeous macro of a scarlet pimpernel, taken by Clifford, was the only wildflower in my three blogs from 2018.
Rock Cut Observation Post, Il-Majjistral
View from the Rock Cut Observation Post. The white blobs are small islets far below
A Brown garden snail. They commonly emerge during wet weather in winter on Malta. Indeed, there were several days of some rain showers while I was there.
Castor oil plant (Ricinus communis), which is extremely allergenic. Castor beans contain ricin and are highly toxic.

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.

Castello Zamittello, immediately to the west of Mġarr
The Windrose Giant Cat Weathervane, Fomm ir-Riħ
Fomm ir-Riħ bay and headland

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.

Coast view towards Gozo
It-Torri l-Abjad. The path near here disappeared into sharp talus for several hundred meters before resuming.
A rural road/path on the southern portion of the L-Aħrax Peninsula. Some prickly pear cacti were almost as large as the shrubby trees.
A field of crown daisies and poppies.

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

Return to Lanzarote

First, I apologize for leading my loyal readers to believe that my next post would be on trekking in Oman. However, on reviewing my photos from 6 weeks this past January and February wintering on Lanzarote in the Islas Canarias, it became apparent that some were not all that bad. Furthermore, unlike my two previous Lanzarote posts, in December 2018 and 2019, I was able to spot (and identify) a number of plants and wildflowers, a couple of which are endemic to the Canary Islands. Enjoy!

From my base in Puerto del Carmen (PDC) to Puerto Calero and onward to Playa Quemada there is a fantastic coastal path that I walked numerous times. Here is a view of the promenade in PDC, with cat
Puerto Calero from the coastal path. A great hike and very convenient, considering that for most of the time I did not have a car.
View along the coastal path near Playa Quemada. Can you spot the two fishers?
Low tide along the coastal path adds a spot of color
Puerto Calero harbor. Every time I walked by here, the sailing boats reminded me of my dad.
With a rental car, I did a loop hike up Hacha Grande from the inland village of Femes. Here is a view up the Hacha Grande ascent route. Despite the ominous appearance, the rains stayed mostly at sea this day.
Echium pitardii on Hacha Grande. I’m aware of no common name for this plant in the borage family, endemic to the Canary Islands.
Tree of Baroda (Kleinia neriifolia), also endemic to the Canary Islands
In contrast, this erect prickly pear (Opuntia stricta) is considered an invasive in much of the world, including here. Fortunately, they’re not about to take over Lanzarote. The irrigation hose is not watering the cactus, however!
Hacha Grande summit vista northwest. Clouds add tremendously to landscape photos!
Hacha Grande summit vista towards Playa Blanca, on the southern tip of the island.
Along the Ruta Litoral in Parque Timanfaya on the west coast, another day hike facilitated by a rental car
A Balsam spurge (Euphorbia balsamifera) along the Ruta Litoral. Not much has established itself since the multitude of eruptions in the 1730’s covered this part of the island with lava.
A natural arch along the Ruta Litoral in Parque Timanfaya
Monte de la Pena de Santa Catalina summit view north. A great exercise hike, but I took only a handful of photos that day.
One of the most popular hikes, even during the week, is Caldera Blanca. I did a loop hike that started at this trailhead. Note the Unimog 500 Overlander expedition vehicle. There is an interesting article in Motortrend on a Unimog camper conversion for any gearheads reading this post.
Caldera Blanca summit loop hike trailhead landscape with scoria. Though admittedly redundant with the prior photo, I do like the strong horizontals here. One is advised to stay on the paths in this terrain!
Wavy heliotrope (Heliotropium ramosissimum)
A more robust Echium pitardii, flowering on Caldera Blanca
Caldera Blanca summit pano
False sow-thistle (Reichardia tingitana)
Bladder dock (Rumex vesicarius)

And finally, a couple of photos from my balcony. . .

A Eurasian collared dove. She visited me on my balcony most afternoons, once even deciding to briefly enter my apartment. To me she looks virtually identical to an African collared dove (seen occasionally on Lanzarote), but can easily be distinguished by her voice.
Balcony sunset view, enhanced further with a sundowner in hand!

I promise that my Oman Trekking post is in the not-too-distant future.

The Vagabond Hiker

Walks and wanders in Slovenia and the Azores

As I mentioned at the conclusion of my last blog, The Traverse of the Picos de Europa, my plan in late September was to embark on a one-week trek in Slovenia’s Julian Alps, including summitting the high point, Mount Triglav. Following this trek and some cultural explorations in Slovenia, in early October I was to travel to São Miguel Island in the Portuguese Azores for several day hikes.

Unfortunately, everything went pear-shaped from the start.

A fall walking in the Picos necessitated a midnight trip to Santander hospital to suture up a finger. This injury made a high-altitude trek in poor weather imprudent, so I contented myself in enjoying easy walks around Lakes Bled and Bohinj. After returning to Britain and continuing to the Azores, running through Madrid airport in street shoes on a very tight connection (due to the usual delays at Heathrow and the absolutely predictable effects of Brexit), subsequently hobbled me to such an extent that for several days I could barely walk. Meanwhile, my luggage didn’t make the connection in any event and was ultimately delayed 5 days on a 7-day trip. My time in the Azores thus became far more sedentary and my itinerary resembled that of a typical tourist. Nonetheless, I did manage to capture a few good photos and hope to return to both Slovenia and the Azores when I can do them more justice.

Slovenia, a small country bordering Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Croatia, is an ex-Yugoslav republic that always had more in common with Austria and Hungary than it did with its Balkan neighbors to the south. Not only is it far more developed, but the culture and architecture clearly owe much to the Austro-Hungarian empire. I spent three nights in the capital, Ljubljana, followed by about 10 days in Bled, on the east side of the eponymous lake.

Ljubljana old town street scene
Franciscan Church of the Annunciation, Prešeren Square, Ljubljana
View northeast from the Castle path, Ljubljana. My superb AirBnb was in a quiet wood near here.
River view in the medieval town of Škofja Loka, enroute to Bled
A panorama from my first Bled condo
St. Martin Parish Church at night from my Bled condo
An autumnal view from the balcony of my Bled condo. I had to book very early to get this basic but amazingly situated condo.
Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, seen through the trees, and located on an island in Lake Bled.
Bohinj path. Lake Bohinj was a 45-minute bus ride from Bled, and was MUCH less developed.
Nettle-leaved Bell-flower along Lake Bohinj. There weren’t many wildflowers this late in the season.
A colorful inlet stream (Sava Bohinjka) on the Lake Bohinj circuit path
Another view along the Lake Bohinj (Bohinjsko jezero) circuit path
Bled Lake with parish church and castle. I did the easy 6-mile circumambulation of the lake several times.
Bled Lake and Church of the Assumption view from Mala Osojnica. This was the only real hike I did, gaining several hundred feet up a steep and slick trail to this iconic viewpoint.

After my eventful flights to Ponta Delgada on São Miguel Island in the Azores, I rented a car and settled in to my amazing ocean front AirBnb, Casa da Rocha, in the village of Ponta Garça on the south coast. As mentioned, I did very little actual walking, but did capture several lovely landscape photos during three day road trips that encompassed the island.

Isle Vila Franca do Campo. Photo taken from along the promenade near my favorite seafood restaurant, the Atlântico Azorean.
Vista from my balcony at the AirBnb Casa da Rocha, in Ponta Garça. Note the Isle Vila Franca do Campo in the background.
Looking towards the Casa da Rocha. This was one of the best AirBnb’s I have stayed in yet.
Late day view from Casa da Rocha. In my hobbled state I spent much time on my spacious balcony.
Fumaroles at Caldeira das Furnas, in the center of the island.
Northeast (Nordeste) coastal vista with Hydrangeas. After visiting the fumaroles, I continued my first road trip around the eastern portion of the island.
Ribeira dos Caldeirões Natural Park, a very popular tourist attraction, particularly among the selfie-obsessed.
View south from Miradouro do Salto do Cavalo, high on a ridge. With generally southwest breezes, mist off the Atlantic was a frequent occurrence in October.
Finally, a sunny day at Vila Franca do Campo!
North coast in the mist with ubiquitous Easter lilies
Mosteiros coast in western-most Sao Miguel

Returning back to St. George Utah via London, I spent the remainder of the autumn exploring more of the amazing red rock landscape of which I never seem to grow tired. In reviewing some of my (and others’) photos, another blog post from southern Utah seems to be in order. . .

The Vagabond Hiker

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