Italy:

Sicily - The Wild West

April 1 - 8, 2008

Sicily is a composite of all the cultures that have left their footprints over the past 25 centuries-- Phoenician, Greek, Arab, and Norman… This same diversity is also found in the landscape-600 miles of aquamarine coastline, rolling hills laced with grapevines, island clusters, rocky escarpments. Less than one third the size of Tennessee, it is the largest island in the Mediterranean and is closer to Africa than to Rome

After meeting in Palermo, our group will head for the ruggedly beautiful northwest coast. Our home for the first part of the week will be the tiny village of Scopello.

From here our exploration will take us to the edge of the Tyhrrhean Sea where we will hike the Riserva Naturale dello Zingaro, a mountainside trail saved from road development a few years ago. This is home to the rare Bonelli eagle, yellow broom, flowering ash, red campion, carob trees and small hidden coves with sandy beaches. Another day will find us in the 5th century BC ruins of the town of Segesta admiring its 36 column Doric temple and the grand amphitheater of this abandoned city.

Atop a mountain at the most western edge of Sicily is the medieval town of Erice—our base for the second half of our week. From Erice we will get to explore the mountain that has been calling us during the week—Monte Cofano. Our walk begins at Grotta Mangiapane where we see remains of a village inhabitated from 1850 until World War II but the area dates back to the Paleolithic period. We circle Monte Cofano which rises above the sea to give long views to the sapphire waters of its Bay.

A boat will take us from the Trapani harbor to the island of Levanzo—you may think you have taken a wrong turn – this island looks to be a Greek isle. After landing we will walk to probably the oldest archeological site in Sicily-- the Grotta del Genovese. The cave drawings in this prehistoric sanctuary belong to two different periods ranging from 12-13 thousand to 7-8 thousand years ago when this island was still part of the mainland of Sicily. We will round out our week with a visit to the sea salt pans of Trapani and the lagoon island of Mozia, an 8th century BC trading post of the Phoenicians.

Our hikes while sometimes rocky underfoot are moderate in difficulty averaging 6-8 miles with less than 1500 ft in elevation gain and temperatures are 65-80 degrees. Our en suite accommodations are chosen because they are unique to the area and the menus are noted for a wide variety of fish, couscous, local wines and the famous Erice pukka pastries. This is a total Sicilian experience!