One Last Week of Summer in Malta – Part 2

Malta is so incredible- I am so bummed we only had 4 days there, we could have easily spent another week or two exploring the islands. It is beautiful and warm and full of cool places to swim and explore. The buses were clean and air conditioned and went all over both islands. And, the best part, there were free restrooms all over the island and they had soap and paper, it was practically a miracle! Most signs and menus are in English and most people speak it well, which is nice for us lazy Americans who only speak English. We swam and snorkeled every day, except one. Oddly enough, that was the day that we got the most soaked while we were out and about. The day started sunny and bright and we decided to walk to the Azure Window and Blue Hole. It was a 9 km walk, long but not un-walkable and according to our map we would be on the coast almost the entire time, so we figured we could explore along the way. We packed our lunch (delicious veggie pizzas, thank you for asking), some water, our snorkel and towel and headed off to the Azure Window. It was a really lovely walk along the coast. We discovered a tiny cove right behind the village we were near with crystal clear waters and tons of snorkelers and scuba divers. We kept walking and the landscape became more bizarre, parts of Malta really look as though they are part of the moon, if the moon was incredibly beautiful and on the mediterranean. We came upon a flat expanse of coast full of square indents- knowing that Malta is full of ruins from almost the beginning of civilization, we assumed these square indents were ruins. However, we came upon a sign that explained that they were, in fact, salt pans. Every year at the beginning of the summer the pans are filled with sea water, then over the course of the summer they dry out in the sun and warm winds until nothing is left but salt. We also saw some chick washing her shoes in the salt pans, so don’t buy salt from Malta next year unless you want foot salt. Gross.

We kept walking and came upon a gorge with steps going down cut from from the rocks. We went about half way down the stairs and saw that part pf the gorge was full of seawater, the rest was a beach of sorts full of smooth rocks. We debated about swimming, but decided to try another day as we were still less than half way to our destination. We climbed back up the steps and continued on our way. About 10 steps in we looked up and saw a huge, black cloud moving towards us. It looked like rain. So, we decided to turn around and visit the Azure Window another day. We decided that we would try swimming in the gorge instead. However, the black cloud was coming closer and closer, and fast. We had just decided to go home and wait out the rain when the first drops fell. It went from dry and sunny to dark, stormy and pouring rain in a matter of seconds. We only walked about 100 yards before we were completely soaked and miserable and beginning to realize just how far from home we were. Fortunately, at the same moment Nick said “how do you feel about hitchhiking?” and stuck out his thumb, a young Maltese couple stopped to pick us up after explaining they had seen us walking and felt bad because it was raining so hard. They were very nice and we chatted while they drove us home. It stormed the rest of the day. The storms in Malta are something else entirely, I have never seen storms as crazy and violent as the ones they have here- lightening and thunder every couple of seconds, the thunder was often so loud that it shook the glass door. The wind was so strong, if we had the glass door to our balcony open even a crack everything in the room would blow around and the temperature would drop in the apartment by several degrees.  Even if we didn’t get to see the Azure Window we saw some very cool things we would not have discovered if we hadn’t walked and the storm was very entertaining in itself and we watched, fascinated, until it blew itself out several hours later.

We did make it out the Azure Window and the Blue Hole. While the Blue Hole is mostly for scuba divers, we did snorkel around in there for a while. If it hadn’t been for the plethora of divers beneath us, it would have been very creepy. It is this giant hole in the middle of a flat, shallow bit of land. There is a stone wall surrounding it which protects it from the crashing waves that are right outside the walls. The water in the hole is very calm, clear and blue and very, very deep. There are tons of fish swimming around on top, most are very small but you definitely get the feeling that there could be something big and scary below. Learning to scuba dive and coming back to the Blue Hole (and Malta in general) is definitely on the bucket list. The Azure Window is this incredible rock formation above the water. Surrounded by huge, sheer cliffs in a moon-like landscape, this  giant arch is absolutely breathtaking. After our visit to the Azure Window we took another bus a few kilometers then got off to walk to the gorge to swim. As we were walking we saw many beautiful small towns and incredible structures, including a very beautiful church from the early 1900’s.

The gorge was probably my favorite place to swim while we were in Malta. It was secluded as opposed to incredibly crowded and touristy like many of the other places we visited. The water was calm, although not particularly clear and the rocks that lined the shore were smooth instead of pokey and sharp. They were also good for skipping. We swam all the way from the small beach area out to the choppy, rough ocean and had incredible views of the walls of the gorge all the way out. We swam, snorkelers and soaked up some sun out there for hours. It was wonderful.

My least favorite place to swim was the blue lagoon. To get to the blue lagoon we took a ferry from Gozo to Comino Island. The blue lagoon is this stretch of clear, light blue water which is fairly shallow and crazy crowded. There were people everywhere in the water and sitting on the shore. October is very much the end of the tourist season, so I can only imagine how crowded it would be during the peak of the summer season. It was a short swim from the rock we were sitting on to a smaller, rockier island. So, of course, we had to swim over and check that out. On our way over, I hit my knee against a large rock that came out of nowhere! I scraped it hard enough to make it bleed and then worried I was attracting sharks. We climbed around on  the island for a while, looking over cliffs checking out boats and climbing to the top to check out the other side. When we had had all the fun the smaller island offered we set off back to have some lunch. As we were getting in the water, a giant, vicious fish came up and bit my still bleeding knee (at least, this is what it felt like), without thinking (and because I had sharks on the brain) I screamed. Nick looked up at me and asked if I was ok. I explained what had happened and he put on his snorkel mask and checked out the viscous fish that almost ate me. It was about an inch long, he explained, and capable, at most, of a nibble. Anyway, it freaked me out pretty good and I made him swim in front of me, scoping out a clear path and watching for man eating fish all the way back to Comino Island.

Malta really was one of my overall favorite places that we have visited and I am sorry to say goodbye. Although, I am excited to see Istanbul and my mom!