![\"Lovely](\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Lovely-Day-for-it.jpg\")
<\/a>The Porto Conte regional park, founded in 1999, covers fifty thousand hectares of coast and hinterland of Alghero. Covered by a large pine forest and Mediterranean scrub it is an important area for both terrestrial and marine flora and fauna. Home to endemic species such as the dwarf palm tree the terrestrial park was extended in 2002 to inclde the Capo Caccia Marine area. The park is fundamental to the preservation of Sardinian biodiversity containing 35 identified species of mammals and 150 species of bird. The southern part of the Capa Caccia Peninsula is dominated by towering linestone cliffs. These fossil-rich rocks are pock-marked with caves, the most famous of which is Neptunes Grotto. We could see the cliffs in the distance as we drove there, and these would be our companions for the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We also passed a couple of large Nuraghe on the drive. Nuraghe are ancient megalithic edifices found exclusively on Sardinia. These truncated cone stone structures were built by the Nuragic civilization between 1900 and 730 BC. There are 7,000 nuraghes found on the island, but it is estimated that there were once more than 10,000 in total. While there is currently no consensus among the experts as to the function of nuraghes, it has been suggested that they were either the homes of rulers or military strongholds, or perhaps religious temples or meeting halls. We didn’t stop to see them but they look quite interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Into the land of Cliffs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
We soon arrived at Tramariglio Beach and got ourselves ready for another day of kayaking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>It wasn’t long before we were on the sparkling water and heading across the bay to the first headland. Here we paddled across the next bay heading towards a tower into a bit of headwind. As we did so, Griffin Vultures could be seen soaring on the thermals above the peninsula. They were quite a long way away so we had to take Clark’s word for it that they were indeed vultures. From this distance they could have been any large bird of prey. We also saw a Peregrine Falcon, and later in the day either an Osprey or a Marsh Harrier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From the next headland we headed southern under ever taller cliffs. All were undercut at the bottom and had small trees and palms clinging to their sides and seabirds nesting on them. We passed some divers and their RIB and continued south under ever taller cliffs. Looking up at them was veritgo inducing! From our vantage point in tiny little kayaks it was difficult to see the tops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a small rocky island for me to circumnavigate whilst waiting for the others to catch up at one point and then we headed around the end of the peninsula and into a little more head wind and chop. It was’t too bad though and everyone was paddling well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the end of the peninsula we headed NW towards Foradado Island, a huge piece of rock isolated from the rest of the peninsula. It was larger than we were expecting and as we approached it’s huge cliffs once again towered over us. I hugged the base of the cliffs playing a little on the surging waves as they rose an fell against the vertical sides<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we rounded the island a huge cave presented itself. Giovanno, Hannah and I paddled right intoiti and tried to take some photos. The far end of the cave had a hole in it’s roof through which sunlight streamed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We continued around the island and then headed back to the mainland and the rocky cove of Cala d’inferno. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Foradado Island<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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