25 March 2024 – The Alcantara Gorge

Miles driven today = 34

Total Miles to date = 2,746

I should have stayed quiet about how good the road going up to Etna was yesterday because the one we took to come back down again this morning was pretty dreadful with bone rattling surfaces, overhanging bushes and tight hairpins.  We eventually waggled our way through to the Autostrada, which we followed for 10km, costing us the grand sum of €0.60.  After a stop at Lidl’s in Fiumefreddo to top up supplies and admire Etna from a different angle, I took the poor decision to follow the SP81 up the Alcantara Valley rather than the much more sensible SS185 and very nearly got us stuck in the narrow streets of Calatabiano as a result, much to the obvious disgruntlement of some of the locals.

But we made it through and found our way to the Alcantara Gorge Sosta at Motta Camastra.  It’s a tiny family run concern, surrounded by glorious scenery, with room for no more than 8 vans.  The facilities are basic and outdated but its only €10 a night, collected by a lovely little old lady who shuffled out to greet us shortly after we arrived.

Directly across the road is the entrance for the Botanical and Geological Park of the Alcantara Gorge.  There are walking, cycling and golf buggy tours available so we paid up €11 each to walk and were wrist-banded and told to follow the orange arrows.

8,000 years is a mere nanosecond in geological terms but that relatively short time ago this valley was filled with lava following several eruptions of nearby Mount Moia.  Since then the river has carved a gorge through the basalt to leave a series of other-worldly rock formations.

The walking tour initially took us through some neatly laid out gardens with views of the surrounding countryside.

Mother and Baby Dwarf Goats.

Beautifully fragrant orange blossom with ripening fruit, all on the same tree.

We reached the “Venus Source” at the top of the Gorge.

Waterfall at the “Vulcan Tumult”

View of the Gorge from the “Venus Balcony”

Looking downriver through the Gorge.  Notice how narrow it is.  Incredible to think that this has all been carved out of the rock in just 8,000 years.

The pool at the end of the narrowest section of the Gorge taken from the top of the cliffs, 25 metres above.

Close up of some of the shapes in the rocks on the far side of the Gorge. 

Here you can see three separate layers of rock in the cliff resulting from the lava deposits of 3 different eruptions.  To the left is the rather ugly elevator which you can take from the top of the cliffs down to the riverbank.

The different formations are imaginatively referred to as “organ pipes”, “woodpiles” and “fans”.

I’m fairly certain I packed some beach shoes but they are probably buried in a box somewhere in the garage and I couldn’t find them without tearing everything apart.  Lisa’s were a little more readily available so she got to go for a paddle to explore the other side of the river.

The weather has been a lot more overcast today and we’ve even had a few unforecast spots of rain on a couple of occasions.  But not enough to prevent the Cadac from getting another airing to cook up a couple of Sea Bream we bought ourselves this morning.

We head back to the coast tomorrow for our final stopover before we wave cheerio to Sicily.  I’ve learnt my lesson, I’ll stick to the SS roads this time round.

26 March 2024 - Wash Day Blues