Maritemmo (Egadi Islands, Sicily, Italy)

I had never heard of the Egadi islands, but a couple we met in Villasimius on another American flagged boat said it’s a great stop on the way to Trapani. So we did, and what a treasure! Our timing was so good we managed to snag the last mooring available in Cala Mangione early afternoon. I passed out for a couple hours while Trip paid the park officials for the mooring (€31.50 is the most random amount for a daily charge, no?)

The water is the deepest blue we’ve ever experienced. The swimming off the boat is heavenly, as well as necessary, as the heat wave only feels like it is growing and the air and sun are absolutely oppressive mid afternoon to early evening. There’s plenty of small tour boats, but not nearly as many as what we saw in the Madalenna Islands, and they all disappear late afternoon as usual.

We realize we can see ‘town’ from where we are and decide to take the dinghy to go explore for dinner. We approach a small rocky beach inside a fisherman’s harbor. A man immediately comes up to help us land the dinghy. Trip goes off and asks someone if it’s ok to leave the dinghy (Italy is not good about providing dinghy docks), and he says yes and then proceeds to help us pull it all the way up the beach (Italian men are pretty old school and somewhat chauvinistic but I’m not going to complain in some circumstances).

Town is absolutely charming. Two minutes and you’ve walked through the entire place. It’s obviously touristy, but in a very laid back way. We wander out to the main harbor where there is a movie festival going on. They’re doing a Q&A with a film cast, but we understand no Italian so we wander over to a bar for drinks. During happy hour, bars may charge a little more for drinks, but you get snacks as well. Our beers included bruschetta with scraps of smoked fish – it must cost the bar owner almost nothing but was so incredibly tasty and wasted nothing of the fish!

I was disappointed to find that we couldn’t get into the slow food restaurant for dinner (all of 4 tables), but we find a local place with good beer, octopus salad, caponata, and red shrimp pasta. We wander back to the waterfront for coffee and pistachio ice cream (a Sicilian specialty), where we chat with the bar manager, who lives in North Carolina when he’s not in Italy helping his family for the summer season.

Back at the anchorage we sit and enjoy the star studded sky with a final drink. Out of the blue we heard crazy “wacka-wacka” sounds. I look at my watch – 10 pm. Sure enough, it’s Cory’s Shearwaters, returning from the sea to their nests. Though not as numerous at the groups we heard in the Azores, the sound of the birds is unmistakeable and we listen contentedly before heading off to bed.

The next day we got up early and we headed to shore to walk up to the Castello de Ponta Troia. With the heat and the sun, we’re making the 20 minute climb at 8 am and I’ve already got sweat pouring off my face and neck. The castle was built in 827 to guard over the town, and the huge cistern was used centuries later as a prison (guesome but effective). The view of the anchorage and island in general is stunning from that height.

After coming down, Trip rows while I paddle to the Grotto del Camello. Monk seals (an endangered species) are known to winter here. It’s still early and no one else is around, so we have it all to ourselves. The cave is enormous, and makes the most eery noises as the water hits the rock and echos around. Sunlight pours through a hole in the top of the rocks and highlights that crystalline blue water. Bliss.