A walk in the hills from Na Burguesa to Costa d’en Blanes.
From here we all climbed into Robin’s van for the drive up to the spectacular monument hovering over Genova with arms outstretched to welcome us. This saved the weaker of us what could have been a hell of a climb. The sun shone whilst we all took in the view of the cosmopolitan city of Palma and the Mediterranean 400 or so metres below us. From immediately below the monument of Our Lady the walk began passing through the concrete posts into what was yet another piece of military land now thankfully opened to the public. Immediately we were enclosed in the pine woods that are so prolific in Mallorca with the wonderful fresh smell that only they can bring. The party quickly settled into small groups with the more active leading the way up along the well marked stone path, passing flowers of white, purple and yellow and a freshness of greenery that only spring can supply.
After about half an hour of easy but uphill walking we cleared the woods to find ourselves at a junction with impressive views towards the Tramuntana Mountains. It shows the complete contrast of this beautiful island, as within that very short distance we had gone from looking over ½ million people to seeing just pristine scenery with not a building in sight. At this point one of our party had a problem with shoes that had decided they didn’t want to come this far so had been deserting her bit by bit from the start of the walk. A pair of shoes that had not seen the light of day for some time and had decided to disintegrate, giving us all a lesson on check before you leave. Sadly it made more sense for her to return as we had not yet reached the halfway mark and we must thank her for returning the van to Costa d’en Blanes and commiserate with her missing the rest of the walk.
From this first major junction we headed left and then right in a southerly direction and slowly started to glimpse the water of the Mediterranean, sadly a bit too hazy to view the distant island of Cabrera but still a spectacular view from this ridge of mountains that would carry on and spill us back at our starting point before dipping its toes in the water. The vistas were spectacular including the distant refuge on the next mountain to the peak sof the Tramuntanas in the distance. As we progressed along the ridge we were than exposed to the bay of Palmanova and Magaluf beyond, which from this distance looked incredibly inviting and shortly after this appeared the motor yachty paradise of Portals with its thousands of metres of fibre glass brazenly on display. From our position though all we could hear was the sound of the gentle wind and the odd baaa from the wild mountain goats hidden in the shrubbery giving it all a surreal feeling.
After a brief stop for oranges to boost us all we started to descend into civilisation, looking down on the Bendinat tunnel giving it a Scalextrix perspective rather than the one we are all used to. The walk finished on the back roads of Costa d’en Blanes, through streets of houses and apartments that all seem to have at least one dog that barks. It would appear that all these caged in dogs were jealous of our two companions who had been free to roam in the backhills and were letting us know. We finished back where we started at the French Coffee House for a well earned seat and a caña having enjoyed a three hour round trip that was not too exertive but you knew you had completed a walk in the hills.
Thanks to www.mallorcawalker.com and www.lacenetwork.com for organising what I hope will be the first of many more ambles through Mallorca.
No comments:
Post a Comment