Sat 1st Feb: to San Vito Lo Capo

We moved about 100 miles to the north-western side of the island. The site is large but quiet as it’s out of season and is also in the middle of nowhere, on the seashore with cliffs behind. It’s the cliffs that seem to generate the customers, i.e. lots of climbers. We have now got used to seeing them swinging from impossible angles on the cliff face.

 

There appear to be a number of pre-prepared routes that have bolts already hammered in. The climbers attach their clips to these bolts through which they feed their ropes so if they fall, they only drop as far as their last clip. Just hope those bolts are in tight.........  well of course they........

 

 

Being on the coast, you’d expect this place to be a swimmer’s paradise. Unfortunately not, as a plaque explains on the nature trail. The seashore fringe, or pavement as it is called, is made from a kind of shell material not unlike a coral reef. It’s between 20 and 50 metres wide most of the way around the big bay and is hard and sharp. You don’t walk here without stout shoes never mind swim. This is the general appearance of the seashore with me well camouflaged on the left. Stick with rock climbing, it’s safer!

 

 

The landscape is certainly beautiful as we are on the edge of the Zingaro Natural Reserve. It’s also part of the state-owned forest. This can’t be too difficult to administer as there don’t seem to be many trees on it. This is a view looking inland towards the Reserve.

 

 

At dusk, a chain of islands becomes visible silhouetted across the far side of the bay, to the right of the headland, looking like the humps on the Loch Ness monster. 

The nearest town is San Vito about 3 miles away. It’s small, pleasant enough with no special features (it does have a sandy beach!!), but as in many parts of western Sicily shows influences of Arab occupation just like southern Spain. This next photo is the church, followed by the flat-topped buildings of the main street; it reminded us of Morocco.