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

Trekking in Oman

Long contemplated and in February finally realized, a 12 day trekking and cultural trip to Oman certainly met my expectations. Although KE Adventure’s offering was not a continuous trek – featuring a mid-trip cultural stop in the ancient capital of Nizwa as well as daily 4×4 transport for our luggage (and us) to each campsite – nonetheless, it was a fine experience of a location that for me was a Blank on the Map.

One does not usually think of the Arabian Peninsula as mountainous. Indeed, the Empty Quarter and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina more often come to mind. However, in the Hajar Mountains (translated as the Rocky Mountains or the Stone Mountains), Oman boasts one of the highest mountain ranges in the Arabian Peninsula*, shared with the United Arab Emirates. They separate the low coastal plain of Oman, including its Capital, Muscat, from the high desert plateau, and lie 50–100 km inland from the Gulf of Oman. We explored some of the most dramatic sections of the Al Hajar range. Unfortunately, the high point, Jebel Shams (3009m), is closed due to a military installation, and though its slightly lower South Summit (2997m) is accessible to trekkers, it was not on our itinerary.

* – pub trivia question: what is the highest mountain on the Arabian Peninsula? Answer, Jabal an Nabi Shu’ayb in Yemen, at 3666m.

Enjoy this often overlooked outdoor destination in a safe, very friendly country!

Oman and its neighbors on the Southeastern Arabian Peninsula
Muscat Grand Mosque. We visited this impressive complex before heading out on trek.
Day 1 consisted of a short hike up Wadi Bani Auf, a narrow gorge that is the entrance to the pretty village of Bilad Sait.
Bilad Sait village
On Day 2 we did the most popular hike in Oman, the balcony trail from Al Kateen Village though the “Grand Canyon of the Middle East”
An abandoned village along the balcony trail. Rockfall was a continuous problem for precarious villages built below the high plateau.
A pool at the terminus of the balcony trail. Spot the trekker in his yellow shirt.
A goatish siesta
Our Lebanese leader, Toufic, in lunchtime contemplation, en route to our 2nd night’s camp.
View from our 2nd camp. (Our 1st camp, which I termed the “generator camp,” is not to be recommended at all).
Day 3 trek vista in the Jebel Akhdar. Apart from the balcony trail, we saw virtually no other trekkers the entire time.
View during our Jebel Akhdar village walk. The first half of our trek consisted of fairly easy days, with some long drives between the trek and camp.
Sunset view with a fort from our 3rd camp
Day 4, the descent of Wadi Muyadeen, was more strenuous by far, and particularly hard on the knees!
Another view along the Wadi Muyadeen
Our Day 5 desert camp, one of our most scenic. (Note that on the previous night and day we had a cultural break at Nizwa with hot showers at our hotel. I was indisposed with GI issues and took no photos).
Day 6 was a very early start as we climbed the Selma Plateau. This is a trailhead view at dawn.
Morning view back towards the trailhead. We gradually ascended about 1650m this day over a distance of 17km, by far the toughest day’s trekking.
Our group along the Selma Plateau route. There were 11 clients along with our guide, Toufic. Keeping the group together was challenging for him.
Vista along the Selma Plateau. Our high point was about 2150m.
On Day 7 we continued our plateau traverse and then descended the Wadi Tiwi to the coast. Here are a couple feral burros we saw in the early morning.

Perhaps it was because of the early season, but the botanizing was disappointing on this trip. However, as we descended on Day 7 to more humid climes toward the Gulf of Oman, I finally had some limited success.

Morettia canescens. Another wildflower without an English common name.
Syrian oregano (Origanum syriacum)
Prunus scoparia, a wild almond primarily found in Iran and Turkmenistan, but perhaps seeds had blown across the Gulf
A not very good photo of Aerva javanica, the kapok bush or desert cotton
View towards the Gulf of Oman on Day 7.
Another vista on Day 7, with the Gulf in the background. Plenteous clouds (accompanied with a bit of rain!) made the light good for photography
View of Wadi Tiwi far below. This final day’s trek was a tough descent into the heat of the day.
Relaxing at our final camp on Wadi Shab beach.
View of the Gulf from our Wadi Shab beach camp. As it was the weekend, numerous Omanis were car camping along this beach.

On the last morning we enjoyed the highlight of the trip, a walk/swim up the Wadi Shab. The three pools and waterfall at the end of the last one were absolutely amazing. Cleansing ourselves of the dirt, sweat, and salt (for those of us who swam in the Gulf) before our 4 hour drive back to Muscat was an added bonus. I did not bring my camera, choosing to live completely in the moment. Sorry.

I am now in Hastings, East Sussex, after more than 2 weeks walking in Malta. I was not planning on sharing any photos from that trip, but the wildflowers were far better than I had expected, so I will work on that post as I enjoy lovely spring weather here in the UK.

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