For
here the visitor will find Sardinia
at its most traditional and genuine.
This is a perfect place for hikers
in search of days on end of uninterrupted
stillness wandering through a
pristine wilderness.
The
cliffs of the Gennargentu abound with
cork oak, maquis and arbutus forests
that are home to wildlife such as Sardinian
deer, wild pigs, wildcats, falcons,
kites and black vultures.
Caves&Grottes
Caves
and GrottoesUnder Sardinia an extensive
labyrinth of intriguing caves extending
deep beneath the island’s mountains
and along its coast awaits discovery.
Guided tours of several of the over
300 known grottos and caves are available,
and during them visitors outfitted
with miner’s head lamps and rope explore
the caves in a rubber dinghy.Among
the most magnificent caves is Grotta
del Nettuno (Neptune’s grotto) which
contains a lake and pillar-like concretions
It
can be reached by boat from Alghero
or on foot from the top of Capo Caccia
promontory via the 656-step Escala del
Cabirol (“Deer’s staircase”). Visitors
who choose the latter route will need
to be as fleet-footed as a deer – as
the name of this rocky staircase suggests!The
east side of Capo Caccia harbors other
intriguing grottos including Grotta
Verde, whose name is derived from the
layer of green moss covering its stalagmites
The
grotto also contains stone age drawings
and a small Christian altar.One of Sardinia’s
most impressive grottoes is the 10 km-long
Grotta di Ispignoli, near Doralgi, whose
up to 38 meter stalactites are the longest
in the world and a truly breathtaking
sight. Guided tours are available.Another
noteworthy grotto is Grotta del Bue
Marino, which can be reached by boat
from Cala Ganone.
The
grotto is named after the nearly extinct
Mediterranean monk seal (“bue marino”)
which survives today only on the Sardinian
coast. About one kilometer of the
grotto is open to tourists for whom
the unearthly reflections of the stalactites
in the grotto’s pools of water are
an unforgettable sight.
