Friday 21 September 2012

Mallorca: S'Albufera

S'Albufera de Mallorca is the Catalan name of the largest nature reserve on the Balearic islands, and we were just across the road from it, which had been one of the reasons why we had chosen the hotel: the beach on one side, the nature reserve on the other, that was surely going to keep us happy for a week!

So on the first full day of our holiday, after a delicious and rather opulent breakfast, we left the hotel. Our first stop was the tourist information, where two very friendly people didn't quite understand what we wanted, in spite of speaking English - all we wanted was a little map of the surrounding area, so that in any case we wouldn't get lost on our walks. No matter with what simple words and how clearly we explained that we did not want a rental car or a bus tour, but really just to WALK on our own feet straight from where we were standing now, they seemed confused and offered all sorts of maps showing the whole island, being no use to us. Finally, a doubtful looking lady handed me a colourful map of Playa de Muro, showing all the hotels and restaurants along the beach - plus the roads and streets leading along and from the beach, with the nature reserve showing well on one side. Exactly what we wanted!
Another bit of confusion arose when we asked whether this (pointing at the corresponding dot on the map) was the only entrance to the reserve or could we reach it also by walking down the road the tourist information was on; the helpful colleague of the map lady nodded enthusiastically, which we took to mean "yes"... but it wasn't; we ended up at a dead end in a residential area, only being able to look at the park through the fence:
The residential area was nice enough to walk through, and so we didn't complain and simply walked between the quiet villas and gardens, with almost nobody else in sight, until we reached the gate to the nature park.
Everyone who enters the park has to get a (free) visitor's permit at the information centre, where they also hand out a useful leaflet; you can look at the leaflet here. It is in English and gives information about the many species of birds, fish and plants as well as general info about the reserve, as well as a map with various walking routes well marked. The longest walking route was stated to be a bit over 11 km long; we wanted to save that for another day (but never got round to do it, for reasons you will see in future posts). Instead, we went on the mid-length walk of about 5 km, which nicely covered the most interesting parts of the area.
The park was very quiet, only a handful of people walking in there; we saw and heard many birds, observed the fish, met the buffalos (but not the Camargue horses that are also roaming the park) and enjoyed the whole day very much.

In the afternoon, we went back to the hotel for a little rest, then changed into our swimming clothes and had a first dip in the Mediterranean before we showered and changed for dinner, which was just as delicious and opulent as breakfast had been.
After that, a cocktail at the outdoors bar, a romantic little walk to the now empty beach under the starry sky, and our first day was over.

7 comments:

  1. Hello Meike:
    Having clicked on your link to the brochure, we are able to see how very extensive this Nature Park actually is. What puzzles us is why, when admission is free, it is necessary to obtain a permit. But no matter for, judging from what you write and show, it looks to be a wonderful place and well worth a visit. And how very different from the 'Costa too Much' scene with which we associate Majorca. Indeed it it really refreshing to know such protected places exist.

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    1. Hello Jane and Lance, we were wondering about that, too. But then we saw that the man who handed us our permit kept a record of the number of visitors in a book; maybe they need that for their statistics to keep the park going, or they want to make sure no large, noisy hordes of tourists beset the park, frightening the animals and destroying the plants.

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    2. You planned well to have the sea on one side and the nature park on the other, even though the entrance was not immediate. It looks lovely, but drier than I realized it would be. I live near a National Park and appreciate so much the protected places in our world.

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    3. Yes, Kristi, we were lucky to find a room and flights available there for the time we wanted to have our holiday, weren't we!
      Outside the nature reserve and away from the wetland, the landscape is much drier than this. Water is very precious.

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  2. Had I only seen the pictures without knowing where they were from, Mallorca would probably have been far from my mind. (As I've never been, I only have the typical tourist beach pictures in my head!)

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    1. Of course, Monica, those typical tourist beaches are very real there, too, but we never spent much time on the beach; and when we went there, it was in the hour before dinner, when most people had already gone back to their hotels to shower and change.

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  3. I've never been to Mallorca but, Like Monica, I would never have expected this.

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