Like many Mediterranean areas, Menorca consists of fairly rough terrain, mostly covered in scrub, and not generally easy going if you stray from defined paths. Most of the land is undeveloped and sparsely populated. Although rough and undulating, there is no real mountain terrain, the highest point being Mount Toro, at 352 - 358 metres (about 1,160 ft) depending on which guidebook you read. Sitting on the top, as with Winter Hill, are a number of communication masts, but also a chapel, a cafe bar and gift shop and a large car park; quite crowded really. Due again to the scrub cover, there is no apparent route up, other than by road, and I ran up this, from the nearest car park in an adjacent town in 28 minutes.
This was taken from the summit car park, facing in a northerly direction.
The island benefits from the Cami de Cavalls,which is an ancient bridle path, currently being re-established after possibly centuries of neglect. The path is well marked and generally follows the coast. Whilst it would make a wonderful circular route, but with its meanderings and given that Menorca is about 30 miles long, it probably offers a 150 mile circuit, so you'd be doing well to cover it in less than several days. This means that it's not ideal for running, unless you have road support, as the roads all seem to radiate from the centre, so it generally only offers out and back routes. On the first day when I ran along it from our base at Es Canutells, I was met by a mountain bike event involving several hundred riders that severely impeded my progress. All wall crossings are similarly marked with the type of rustic gate and stoops shown below, and in between, the route is marked with the short posts that can be seen just through it.
The island seems to be largely made up of limestone with large stretches of the coast consisting of severely eroded limestone pavements, giving rise to spectacular cliffs and sea caves.
The bird life was a little disappointing, mostly house sparrows, herring gulls and collared doves, although I did get a couple of glimpses of what I thought were hoopoes: perhaps JtE could say whether that is likely.
We did see several of the wild tortoises, although on one of my wearier runs, I found it difficult to catch up and pass a particularly lively specimen on the road. Apparently now naturalised, they are not indigenous, but were introduced by the Moors. Not sure if that's Mr and Mrs Moor, or some ancient Mediterranean people. This one was helping to keep the grass down in the garden of our villa:-
On a different note, for anyone wanting to develop their all over tan, there is a very relaxed attitude to nudity on the beaches, although gentlemen are expected to cover their chests when purchasing drinks at a bar.
No comments:
Post a Comment