The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Walking Malta, Part 1: The Island of Malta

In case you’re wondering, the country of Malta is located about 60 miles off the coast of Sicily, Italy, and consists of three main islands: Malta, Gozo, and Comino.  Among the 49 European countries, Malta is the 5th smallest.  (The smaller countries are all city-states). It also has the dubious distinction of being the third most densely populated country in Europe.

A map of the country of Malta, situated about 60 miles south of Sicily.

Despite its petite size, Malta boasts some particularly good walks, most all of which are either along the coast of the three islands or along rural (yes, there are rural areas) back roads.  The first of my almost 7 weeks here was spent on the island of Malta with my brother Mark and his wife Norma.  We stayed at an AirBNB apartment in il-Rabat, near the old capital of Medina. In the middle of the island and away from the east coast conurbation, it proved an ideal location for day hikes as well as archeological excursions in the rural areas of the island.  This post (one of three from Malta) highlights some of the walks we did on the island of Malta. In the next couple of weeks I will post blogs of my hikes on the islands of Gozo and Comino. Enjoy this often over-looked corner of Europe!

Terrain with walking paths in the Dingli Cliffs area of the west coast of Malta
Vista west from Dingli Cliffs. Tunisia is about 300 miles away.
Moorish Gecko on a rural rubble wall. One of two gecko species found on Malta (the other being the Turkish gecko), I only saw this one my entire time here.
Red Tower, Marfa Peninsula. Overlooking the north coast of Malta, it is the most photographed defensive watchtower in Malta.
Norma and Mark at our Marfa Peninsula lunch spot, on the north coast of Malta. The island of Gozo is in the background.
The Vagabond Hiker on a natural arch, Marfa Peninsula. Gozo is in the background here too.
A natural arch and the islet of Filfla.
Looking through some of the Mnajdra temple megaliths toward the islet of Filfla. Neolithic megaliths on Malta are the oldest free-standing structures in the world.
Coastal view near Qrendri
Marsaxlokk harbor, with some traditional fishing boats known as luzzu. Marsaxlokk is now more centered on tourism, but boasts many harbor-side seafood restaurants offering great value on fresh fish.

Next week: Walking Marta Part 2: The Island of Gozo.

The Vagabond Hiker

 

Walks and Wildlife of Sri Lanka

Chilling (literally – it’s about 90F outside!) in my hotel room on my last day in Sri Lanka before returning briefly to the frozen UK (and thence to the not-so-frozen Malta), I finally have taken the time to sort through some of my photos from several hikes and two wildlife safaris on our two week cultural and hiking  tour of Sri Lanka.  Our group of 10 clients with KE Adventure Travel, using the local company Walkers Tours, enjoyed a wide variety of hikes in several of the mountain ranges in central Sri Lanka, as well as safaris both in the northern wet zone and the southern dry zone.  Despite having only my Nikon point and shoot camera, I did manage a few respectable animal shots.  Enjoy!

A land monitor, Wilpattu National Park. Wilpattu is in the wet zone, and is the largest national park in Sri Lanka.
A painted stork, Wilpattu NP
A cattle egret, Wilpattu NP. These egrets are ubiquitous in Sri Lanka
Spotted deer, Wilpattu NP
Crested Serpent Eagle, Wilpattu National Park. He (she?) seemed to enjoy posing for us.
Cobra rock, Lion Rock Fortress, Polonnaruwa. The day was overcast so the hike up to the fortress provided little in the way of views, though it was a fine cardio workout nonetheless.
Carved Buddha, Polonnaruwa. I took many photos of Buddhas on the trip, but this huge one carved from granite was particularly impressive.
Part of the Royal Palace Complex, Polonnaruwa.
Central highlands view from our Bandarawela hotel. Ceylon Tea is grown throughout the highlands, but perhaps because of my strong preference for coffee I failed to get a good photo of a tea plantation.
Kandy Lake ducks, near the sacred Temple of the Tooth. Sadly, we didn’t have time to walk around the lake or the hill town of Kandy.
Vista with overcast, the Knuckles Range. On a clear day, this photo is of the main Knuckles Range (use your imagination!)
View from our deluxe Ecolodge, Knuckles Range. We were expecting a basic lodge, but recent electrification of the area has definitely resulted in improved tourist accommodations.
A stream on our first Knuckles Range hike, near where we had lunch.
Lunchtime swimming hole on our second Knuckles Range hike. Amazingly, only Maggie and I went swimming on this hot day.
Adam’s Peak at dusk from our Maskeliya guest house. The sacred Adam’s Peak is a major pilgrimage destination from November to May.  We left our guest house at 2 AM to reach the summit by sunrise.
Vista from Adam’s Peak just before sunrise, 2243 meters above sea level
A bold elk, Horton Plains National Park. The loop hike we did was wonderful and easily the most popular in this popular park.
Grasslands and montane forest, Horton Plains NP
World’s End view, Horton Plains NP
Baker’s Falls, Horton Plains NP. The lighting was horrible for photography, but the falls were impressive nonetheless.
A Namunukula Range hike vista. We did a long, though mostly downhill hike here, leaving the relatively cool highlands for the hot and humid plains to the south.
Waterfall, Namunukula Range
With Maggie at our local guide’s house for lunch, Namunukula Range. His wife’s cooking was a special treat in this remote location.
A stream view, Namunukula Range.
Namunukula Range hike flowers. They look like poinsettias to me, but I’m not certain.
Young Elephants at the transit home near Udawalawe National Park. Young orphans from all over Sri Lanka are raised here until they are 5 years old, when they are reintroduced into a herd (female) or alone (male) in one of several national parks. Sri Lanka has almost 6,000 Indian Elephants, with a goal of reaching 15,000 in the next decade.
An Indian Peacock, Udawalawe National Park, a popular park in the southern dry zone.
A white-bellied Sea-eagle perching in Udawalawe NP
A Jackal, Udawalawe NP. What a beautiful animal.  We followed him in our jeep for a while, until he tired of the attention and loped off.
An Elephant approaching our jeep, Udawalawe NP. Yes, we moved our jeep as he wasn’t about to stop for the obstruction.
A red-wattled lapwing, Udawalawe NP
An impressive ficus tree at Galle Fort Market. Not exactly a hike, but walking around this old Dutch colonial town was a pleasant diversion, definitely worth half a day (though we had but 2 hours).
Our hotel pool view near Mirissa on the south coast. It was a great place to spend our only day off during the trip, before returning to Colombo and our flights home.

My next post will be in April from Malta where there are some great day hikes to enjoy in the spring wildflower season.

Happy trails,

The Vagabond Hiker

 

 

Day hikes in New Zealand’s Nelson-Tasman area

While the Great Walks such as the Milford and Abel Tasman Coast tracks garner most of the acclaim, there are many shorter hikes in New Zealand that offer some of the same scenery without all the trampers and with the prospect of a hot shower at the end of the day.  The Nelson and Tasman districts in the north western portion of the South Island of New Zealand were on my doorstep, with a widely varied range of hikes and walks within an hour or so of my apartment.  Spending six weeks here gave me a great opportunity to experience much of what the area has to offer.

Cable Bay track looking back to the hamlet of Glenduan with Tasman Bay behind. Some of the Cable Bay Track meandered through old growth forest; the rest traversed pine plantations and ranch land.
Foxgloves along the Cable Bay track north of Nelson. Another attempt to get a good photo of these colorful flowers.
Cable Bay track view to Sentinel Lookout and the privately-owned Pepin Island, about 20 km north of Nelson.
Nelson as seen from the “Center of New Zealand,” a marker on a small hill near town that supposedly is the geographic center of the country. Nelson itself is a wonderful town, with many cultural amenities within a beautiful setting.
Patio view from my Garden apartment in Wakefield, about 30 km south of Nelson. Ewan and Valerie cultivate more than two acres of flower and vegetable gardens and fruit trees.
First view toward Mt Arthur from along the popular Mt Arthur track, Kahurangi National Park, about an hour west of Wakefield.
A bold Weka near Mt Arthur Hut. These native birds remind me of wild chickens.
View along the Mt Arthur track with the summit visible as the long ridge in the background. The track gains about 900 meters elevation in 9 km to the summit.
Sub-alpine wildflowers along the Mt Arthur track
Vista from Mt Arthur summit (1795 meters) towards Tasman Bay. The track is partially visible on the right side here.
Hacket track, Mt Richmond Forest Park.  This park is just to the east of where I have been staying in Wakefield. Although it offers some nice hiking, lots of logging and no real vistas detracted from the one hike I did here.
Lake Rotoiti from Paddy’s track, Nelson Lakes National Park. The village of St Arnaud is just past the lake, about 45 minutes’ drive from Wakefield.  It is considered to be the northern-most portion of the Southern Alps.
Fantail in flight, Pinchgut track, Nelson Lakes Park. Another of my series of blurry fantails. . .
St Arnaud Range track, Nelson Lakes Park. Much of the track climbed through beech forest, with Red Beech, Silver Beech (shown here), and Mountain Beech predominating at different elevations.
Lake Rotoiti view from Parachute Rocks, St Arnaud Range track, Nelson Lakes Park. I hiked this track on my second of two day hikes in the park.
St Arnaud Range vista, Nelson Lakes Park. I stitched together 9 photos for this (admittedly a bit distorted) panorama. . .
Lakeside track view of Lake Rotoiti, Nelson Lakes Park. The entire lakeside track is a very long day hike, one I did not do as I prefer hikes that get above treeline.
View along Motueka sandspit. About 45 minutes from Wakefield on the Tasman Bay, the sandspit is about 3 km long and very popular with migrants – birds, that is.
Horse Mussels, Motueka spit.  Along with other mulloscs, thousands of these mussels washed ashore here during the storm last week, much to the delight of the shorebirds.
A White faced heron seen at Motueka spit. Along with oystercatchers, terns, gulls, stilts, red knots, etc., I saw three dozen bar-tailed godwits.  They have the distinction of making the the longest non-stop migration in the world, a single flight of more than 7000 miles in September each year from Alaska to Motueka.
For my final hike in New Zealand, I chose the challenging Parapara Peak track in Kahurangi National Park.  It was deceptively easy at the start . . .
The Pariwhakaoho River. This was the first of many creek crossings along the Parapara Peak track.
The Parapara Peak track along the Copperstain Creek. Many landslides and washouts have disrupted the track, making for some slippery going in parts.
Golden Bay from Parapara Peak, Kahurangi National Park. After more than 1100 meters and several hours of often steep and slippery ascent, the track finally emerged into a sub-alpine zone with amazing vistas.
On top of Parapara Peak at about 1300 meters above sea level. The view was certainly worth the effort, and I only saw one other hiker all day.

It has been a great 11 weeks here in New Zealand. In 2009 when I visited I counted myself lucky to spend 8 days on the South Island!

Tomorrow I depart for Sri Lanka.  It is a country I have wanted to visit for many years.  I will spend two weeks on a group cultural/trekking trip and then the final 5 days scuba diving off the west coast. From there back to Europe for the spring.  My calendar is updated to reflect some planned trips between now and July, including trekking the Huayhuash Circuit in Peru.

Keep hiking!

The Vagabond Hiker

 

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