Spring in Sardinia
by Jackie Coe
Early evening sitting outside on a mountain hotel terrace with an icy Ichnusa beer - looking across the valley at another mountain range - the scent of Mediterranean herbs wafting up from below - a pleasant feeling of tiredness in your legs from having had a great day's walking. Those are some of my lasting memories of our recent AAC holiday in Sardinia, organised by Ann Clark.
In fact we stayed in two different lovely mountain hotels, selected for us by a company called 'Hooked on Walking'. If you want to go walking in Sardinia I would recommend this company, because they organised the itinerary well. The hotels were friendly and comfortable, our luggage was transported from one to another with no fuss, and there was a detailed itinerary to follow to get us from A to B to C with deviations up mountains and down gorges for those who wanted extra exertion. They also provided us with entertainment in the form of some dodgy translations from the German. By the end of the holiday everyone was calling cairns 'stone men'!
We had two mountain walking days. The first one was the ascent of Monte Corrasi which was just a bit higher than Ben Nevis at 1463m above sea level. It could not be more different though. The Supramonte mountain range, in which Monte Corrasi is situated, consists of sharp limestone cliffs with rocky paths. They would have been a bit slippery in the wet, but we were blessed with sunshine throughout our stay and the whole walk, including a wonderful ridge with views in both directions, was nothing but a pleasure. The second one, to Punta Cusidore, was a bit harder going because of having to climb up a steep scree slope. It was jolly fast coming down though!
Punta Cusidore - through the gap in the middle
Some days had alternative itineraries, and as I really like walking in gorges, I picked this option on two occasions. The first one was the Gola di Goroppu which is where the River Flumineddu emerges in a bubbly spring from its underground limestone journey. We were hot and tired by the time we arrived so we were happy to enjoy our picnic lunches with our feet immered in the pools. We then set off up the gorge, climbing over giant boulders and squeezing through little gaps. We managed about 1½ km before getting stuck and turning back. It was cool and dark inside as the sun could not reach down. A great atmosphere! On the last day we had another gorge opportunity, this time near the coast. My favourite kind of gorge is where you walk down to the sea, go for a swim and then get rescued by boat, and the Codula di Luna filled all of these exacting criteria!
Another day that I really enjoyed was when we walked from the town of Dorgali, to its port and seaside resort of Cala Gonone. Cala Gonone was created in 1860 when a tunnel was hollowed out through the hills to link Dorgali to the coast. The old tunnel has now been replaced by a modern car-friendly version, but the old road through the original tunnel, high up on the hillside, makes a lovely footpath. From the point where we emerged on the seaward side, our path led us along a spiky limestone ridge with spectacular views inland to the left and out to sea on the right. At the end of the ridge, after two minor peaks, we joined a winding tarmac road and were able to walk all the way down to our third and final hotel, which was situated right on the bustling little harbour.
There were other things to enjoy on this holiday, as well as the walking. One of them was the spring flowers. We saw six different kinds of orchid, lilies, hellebores, asphodel and many others beside.
Because it was a limestone area, there were also caves to explore. We visited two contrasting and spectacular show caves, a dry one high up on the mountain and a wet one that you had to access by boat. It is also difficult to visit Sardinia without learning a bit about its ancient history. The Nuragic people lived in village communities until their civilization was wiped out by the Romans in the 2nd century AD. We had the opportunity to visit one of their temples, and were surprised to see how sophisticated it had been in its day.
I was sad to leave Sardinia and I am already thinking about going back there for more walking. Cala Gonone is a good place to stay for a mixed group of walkers and rock climbers. I saw a copy of the climbing guide: it was extensive and had English descriptions as well as Italian. We also saw groups of cyclists enjoying the mountain tracks and canoeists exploring the coast. Thank you Ann for introducing us to this interesting and varied island!
Cala di Luna at the end of the Codula de Luna
Photos by Jackie Coe
Return to the top of this page, or to the complete Index, or to this section's Index.
