[attach id=603263 size="medium" align="right"]The front cover of Malta Treasure Hunts.[/attach]
The third edition of Malta Treasure Hunts by Island Publications has been launched.
Devised, written and illustrated by veteran journalist Terence Mirabelli, the 64-page booklet contains a series of themed hunts that will take tourists and residents on a self-guided journey of discovery around the Maltese islands.
“Malta Treasure Hunts is a fun way to discover and tour the islands and see what they have to offer,” says Mirabelli, managing director of Island Publications and originator of the hunts.
“The booklet is not intended solely for tourists but also for locals. And hunts can be enjoyed singly, with friends, as a family or as a team-building exercise at whatever time of year.
“It is also the perfect tool for language students as they can be used as an exercise in English comprehension.”
Among the trails, Gozitan Odyssey is a 45-kilometre-long treasure hunt that takes in the principal and offbeat sights of the island. The tour can be undertaken by car or bicycle.
Other shorter pedestrian hunts lead one to discover Victoria, Valletta, Mdina (aimed at children), Vittoriosa, Żejtun, Żabbar, Rabat, St Julian’s as well as Buġibba and Qawra (dubbed ‘Bugiwra’).
For ‘techies’, Sliema – Smart Therapy is a pedestrian hunt that requires a smartphone. Clues come as QR codes and geographic coordinates.
All treasure hunts are colour-coded, denoting levels of difficulty: green hunts are easy, yellow ones are slightly harder and red ones require some thinking and deduction.
Each hunt has a set of questions that sometimes lead to a landmark or require an answer to find a hidden password. Hunts are either circular or linear, meaning they either end where they start or not.
A map is recommended for car and cycle hunts, otherwise it is not necessary for the pedestrian treasure hunts.
Unlike previous editions, where hunters had to go online, answers are now available in the book – but it does require a bit of working out to figure them out. The treasure hunts also do not require the payment of any entrance fees. Some hunts do go past sites, museums and landmarks that may require payment to visit but entering these sites is at the discretion of the hunter.
A fourth edition of the booklet is on the cards.
Malta Treasure Hunts is available from Agenda bookshops and other leading book retailers and stationers. The hunts will also be available for download as pdf files from www.maltatreasurehunts.com from October. For more information, send an e-mail to tmirabelli@travelmalta.com or call 2143 1864/9999 5201.