Walking in the Forest

We have managed to get out to the countryside to do some walking over the past couple of weeks. We joined up with some other liveaboards and followed a trail through the forest near Grammichele.

It started off reasonably easy, but after we stopped for lunch the challenge began with a steep walk up the hill. It was a very scenic route through the trees with the spring flowers just coming out.

We were spotted by some horses who wanted to protect their territory and came over to check us out.

Unfortunately it was a little too cloudy to see Mount Etna in the distance on the day we visited.

Some friends did the same walk 2 days previous and this was their view without the clouds.

In the evening Mount Etna obviously decided that she wanted to be noticed and apparently ‘blew her top’. Lava fountains soared to 1,500 metres, she has been erupting regularly in recent weeks but this was described as “one of the most striking in the last few decades”. There are lots of photos on the internet and here’s a couple of our favourites, it certainly looks spectacular.

According to experts, it was the strongest explosion since 1971 but the fireworks show is normal activity for the volcano which is more than 3,300 metres high.

Having successfully completed and enjoyed the previous hike, we headed out again this week for a walk along a valley just to the north of the nearby town of Scicli.

We thought that we would be walking along the valley and that it should not be too demanding, however we were very wrong with this assumption! We walked down into the valley, up the other side and back down and up again.

First we headed off on a steep downhill trail, unfortunately we soon realised that we had taken the wrong route and had to walk back up the hill, this was hard work! The whole walk was hilly, there were no flat sections on this trail.

No worries of health and safety here, lucky we spotted this before it was too late!

Lovely spot for a picnic.

The scenery was again spectacular with views of the surrounding countryside, dry stone walls, spring flowers, and into the valley with the road and train lines running through and the sea in the far distance.

With tired legs we headed back to the Marina and had a well deserved celebratory drink with our fellow walkers.