Today is the first time there isn't much to report on, which is good because we're pretty beat. After breakfast we got in the car to check out the Gola Su Gorruppu (the Gorruppu Gorge), known as the Grand Canyon of Europe. We drove for about an hour to get the trail head, and then hiked for about an hour and a half to get to the mouth of the gorge. It was a great hike - with the Flumineddu River full of large rocks and boulders on one side and the huge cliffs on the other. We saw two rams fighting in the woods, a snake, and some natural springs. We also got lucky - even though the weather report said there would be rain all day, it was just cloudy and misty.
Finally, we arrived at the mouth of the gorge. The river flows underground at this point and the steep canyon walls begin. Its a pretty unbelievable place - the gorge is about 5 meters wide, with 400 meter high walls. (Although, I have to admit - the most amazing thing that we saw when we arrived was a group of about 20 mountain bikers. I have no idea how they could have gotten here or how they were climbing around on the slippery rocks with their clip pedals!)
At this point, there was a small kiosk where we had to pay an entrance fee. Normally the fee also includes a guided tour of the gorge, but because it was so misty the rocks and boulders were all slippery and they deemed it too dangerous to provided the guided tours (entrance was at our own risk). But given our river/rock hiking experience with Joe and Becky, we felt this was pretty doable. First, we got a quick overview of the area. Some points of interest include: - the gorge was caused by the shifting of tectonic plates and then the years of the river flowing through the area.
- there is one point in the gorge where there is water seeping from the walls, and here there is a flower that grows. This is the only place in the world that it grows.
- you can "easily" hike about 500 meters into the gorge. After that, it is a little more difficult but you can hike an additional 200 meters in. After the 700 meter mark, you will see a siphon - from this point you need special climbing gear to get around the siphon and to negotiate the much larger boulders.
- you can't yell or shout because this might scare the animals in the area, and when they run away they might cause rocks to fall.
We hiked nearly to the 700 meter mark, but didn't get to see the siphon because the rocks were getting way to big and were just to slippery. It was really fun navingating our way and checking out the cliffs in either side of us. Then we hiked back to the mouth of the gorge and got back on the trail. It was about five hours of hiking and we didn't bring much food with us so we drove back to Cala Gonone and looked desparately for some place that was open. At 5 PM the options are limited, but we finally found a panineria and sucked down some sandwiches.
We spent the next two hours trying to find a laudromat that was open and also functioning, so we could wash some clothes. It was a serious failure, so we hope to find one tomorrow before flying back to the mainland.
Gelato Gusti per il Giorno:
None. We had creme caramel for dessert instead. Still good...
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