Encounter with a colony of bees

            I was always a curious one - and all our walks are planned to the last degree. For me, a walk is a treat - a one time ticket to track a route, and track it right. We never roam around, we take a path which I know for certain leads to some other path that leads to yet another path which ends up at the starting point. Circular routes give me such pleasure!

            I remember this path near my grandmother's field. Down that hill is a lane to your left, and a few metres in it is a narrow country lane going uphill. It's barely even a lane where nature has been growing as much as it could. Intrigued, I immediately checked it on Google Maps upon arriving back home and discovered that it leads to San Andrea and San Anton school. Great, we would track that down next time, I informed my father.

            So we went and were doing fine when all of a sudden the sound of buzzing began to fill the air - first distantly and then growing louder. Bees! I thought, and said so. As per usual my father brushed off this alarming observation without much thought. We walked a bit more, and then...Bees! I shrieked more hysterically. We must have been threading on their territory. We pulled as much clothing over our heads as we could and hurried back. It was awful trying to rush because the terrain was all uneven rocks but after a while the buzzing sound couldn't be heard any more. Phew. 

         Now anyone would have thought that after an episode like that and given my great fear of anything that stings, we would have let that path be. But no, my stubborn mind was already looking for some loophole. I went on Google Maps and concluded that the next time, we would go from the other side. After all, those bees could have been farmed ones - the farmer just happened to let them out for some air that time. So we went.

           The path was already looking very sketchy and we were expecting to see a private sign any second but nonetheless we trudged off. We passed the school ground, passed their green-house hall and continued a few metres, then ... scampering back to our car. Our friends had come to see us off and wave us good riddance for the last time. I was still running long after my father had stopped. 

            And yes, this time I 'got' it and decided to let that path be. One path left half-way unexplored strikes me as a bit of a failure, especially since it is in my favourite area - where my grandmother's field is and we had so many happy family outings there. Yet it's better that than have to face those bees again!

P.S don't you be expecting any more photographs...as if I'm going to pause to take a selfie with some irritated bee!

Joining the Malta Geographical Society for a walk

         This time I decided to take a walk from a different perspective, so my father and I joined the Malta Geographical Society for one of their weekly walks around the island. Today’s walk was around Buskett and Had-Dingli. 

            Everyone was welcome to join and we took the opportunity to renew our membership, having already joined some of their ramblings last year. We set off in the afternoon from Buskett Winery and walked towards the cliffs. 

           The huge majority were elderly, and this sadly made me realise how much the younger generation is missing out from! Of course there were some dogs too... 

Above: The Verdala Palace in the distance. This is the President's summer residence.

               Leaders led the way and guided the walk in a nice and leisurely manner with ample time to take photographs or have a sip of water along the way – something much approved of by members, especially my father who couldn’t walk too fast due to back injuries dating from last year (a slipped disc resulting from a hike taken last year with a different rambling group who rushed too much). 

                Once at Dingli we walked alongside the cliff and it was really windy so I only to happy to walk back inland after a while and back to the cart ruts. At times we walked along country lanes or in the open land and others we had to squeeze through bushes hiding secret paths I surely never would have discovered on my own! 

                For me, it was a lovely experience. To my surprise, we were a very big number of over 70 keen and friendly hikers, which encouraged me to go out of my comfort zone and do a bit of socializing. I made friends with a very nice girl and got to widen my knowledge about the historical sites around, such as l-Ghar il-Kbir and the cart ruts at Clapham Junction (no, not the train station 😌)

Above: Filfla island seen from the cliffs near Dingli

                Not only were the leaders and the elders eager to share information, everyone was so kind and helpful! Whenever we reached a tricky part some one would always wait and offer a hand to help us down, and when we were walking through an overgrown path with branches sticking out everywhere each person would carefully hold back that branch for the person behind her and so on. It was a community of people. 

                The walk appeared smoothly planned but the leaders explained how that very week they had to unexpectedly re-route the walk as they found  a mountain of rubble in the way! The quarry nearby had placed an enormous amount of limestone where the walk had intended to go. It’s not everyday that a flat path becomes a sand dune, I’ll be bound to say! Maybe even more surprisingly, it didn’t blow all away in all that wind...  

Above: Group photo!!

Letter to the Editor 15/10/2021: Times of Malta

        Well...not really my first post, but about 2 years ago I had written a letter to the Times of Malta and just remembered about it. I won't be using my website to gloat over the charming sceneries of Malta, but also to raise some awareness about the useless, and excess construction going on. 

        Pretty as the Mediterranian sea may look from Dingli, and lovely as the hills may look from Bingemma, it's not all sunshine and laughter. From the Laferla Cross, the growing population of concrete buildings seem to be taking over the green land you had seen when you had visited some year prior.  

        Unfortunately in my country, the building industry is prioritised over nature, which as a result, isn't getting the respect and importance it deserves. 

                          ___________________________________________________

A plea to save Malta

        I am only a child and I cannot change the world by myself. I have so little power and authority but I have been told that I have a talent for writing, so I am using it for a good cause.

        I am writing about all the beautiful qualities Malta has and how we are destroying our culture for greed. We do not seem to be proud of the lovely Maltese architecture. Do you see a skyscraper instead of the stone-built towers in Tuscany, Italy? Can you imagine a five-storey building set among the picturesque cottages in the Cotswolds, England?

        We have lovely traditional houses, like, for example, our traditional farmhouse with colourful Maltese balconies, shutter windows and great doors with a unique brass knocker on each side. It seems we are not aware what a jewel of a country we have.

        Do you realise that by building plain flats or modern villas, we are just getting a reputation of a colourless and ordinary country? We are losing our unique Maltese mark. Tourists will no longer come to see our charming villages, even though we have a lovely coastline. They will probably go to the French Riviera instead.

        “Why should I fly all the way to that island to see nothing but construction? I could easily pop into the next town to see huge rectangles of building ruining the skyline.”

        On another note, it feels so proper to see a row of houses in the same style! Thought for some, it is much nicer to own a house with a completely different design than the others, I suspect that building more and more floors is plain greed.

        In most European countries, buying a home is not as expensive as it is in Malta. While I am well aware that in big cities, such as London, an apartment would cost quite a lot, I know that, out in the country, one can find cottages for sale from £70,000. That’s much cheaper when compared to Malta. I would really like the prices to go down.

        The greedy people among us will eventually realise that a nice view of birds singing, animals in their happy habitat, lovely sea views and a walk in the non-destroyed fields are much more rewarding that stacks of money.

        Money is not all, especially if all we can see is a wall outside of our windows. You can only earn true happiness by appreciating life and living it as Jesus would like us to.

A small introduction

             First of all, a big welcome to all! For those wondering, I am a Maltese girl who is very, very fond of the countryside. The name 'An Island of Adventure' was inspired by Enid Blyton's very first famous five book - which she named 'The Island of Adventure'. The story is about some children who go exploring a little island off the coast and end up finding gold. Indeed, quite an adventure!

Above: Dingli cliffs on a very windy day!

                         ________________________________________________ 

            At the risk of going out of point, I feel that Malta herself is a little 'island of adventure'. There are so many secret paths that people don't know about. Some are rather far-off and at first glance one wouldn't even think they could lead to anywhere. But they obviously do!

Above: On one of the many walks around Ghajn Tuffieha - Lippija tower area with my father.

            I have started many blogs and websites using Wix, Webador and Weebly (coincidence they all start with a 'w', no?) but never managed to make it a regular habit of posting, so I hope to change that with this one...

            The aim of this one is more for a personal experience. I'm going to do my best to collect and share interesting information about the history, geography and culture of Malta, but ultimately my main aim is to share with you the secret paths of Malta, as Alfred Wainwright did with the Fells of the Lake District in the North of England.

Below: Alfred Wainwright in the Lake District. Photo from 'Visit Lake District' website.

            Anyway, that's all for now. Here's to 2024 - wishing everyone a happy New Year!

P.S Some of the entries might be back-dated. Previously I journaled with pen and paper.