Ramblers awestruck by Comino

The Ramblers' Association entertained its members to a walk around Comino last Sunday to crown the programme of treks that incorporated some 20 walks since January.

And what a day it turned out to be! Alex Vella, association honorary secretary said.

It all started on the boat where the 65 members were dazzled by the resplendent turquoise lagoons fronting every cave on the west side of the island as the captain sailed his boat into every nook. Landing at Bejn il-Kmiemen, the group was given a brief account of the eccentric mystic Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia who in the 13th century tried to convert Pope Nicholas III to his mystic ways. It is recorded that he (Abulafia) was exiled to Comino where he wrote his best and last work before he died on the islet in 1291.

Divided into two groups, the ramblers started on the pleasant and highly scenic walk in opposite directions but with common highlights - The Comino Tower and the Santa Marija Gun Battery, better known as It-Trunċiera tal-Mixta - and were most interested in roaming around.

"The two sites are in excellent condition of maintenance , thanks to Din l-Art Ħelwa. The old dirt road that joins the two sites was built and cut into the rock by the Knights of St John to facilitate communication but is in a wary state in parts.

"During such walks, the panoramas constantly change but the view from above the Skalanova Valley is out of this world," Mr Vella said.