I headed over the cliffs on my way towards Dwejra Bay today. It's a minor challenge to get up the initial 100m or so cliff to start with, but once up there it's easy going enough. Or it was once I'd sat on a rock, caught my breath, smoked a roll-up, and told myself I had to give up smoking roll-ups.
I had no real intention of getting as far as Dwejra Bay, I was just meandering around on top of the cliffs, marvelling at the panoramic view of the sea and Xlendi Bay far below me. There's an abundance of wildlife up there, I saw buzzards gliding on the updrafts and a kestrel, also a glimpse of a black whip snake as it darted for cover amongst the rocks. Plenty of butterflies, swallowtails swooping around. I worked on a nature reserve back in England, one of the only spots in the country where swallowtails can be found, people would drive 200 miles just to see them. They're everywhere here. There's an orange butterfly I can't identify which I've now seen two days running, and the usual plethora of lizards valiantly trying to keep the flies down.
Little terraced fields up there, some still in use, mostly not. There's a semblance of a path, but in some places it's not
obvious so you just aim in a direction and stride off towards it. The countryside here is not marked out, denoting where you can and cannot walk, as it is in England. No 'Footpath' or National Trust signs here, no restrictions except common sense, i.e. don't walk on someone's farm land. If you fall off a cliff, it's probably your own fault. Health & safety, Gozo style.
4pm, 25 degrees