Sunday 20th January 2007
The Maltese Cliff Orache - Endemic to Malta
Some twenty-two of those booked for this walk turned up in warm
sunny weather with temperatures hitting a high of 20 degrees -
surely the warmest day so far this year. Migra Ferha was the
starting point of this walk - the ravine there being the reputed
(fabled is probably the better word) landing place of Count
Roger around the year 1090.
More importantly this location houses one of the very few
populations of the very rare and endemic (i.e. existing only in
Malta) Maltese Cliff Orache (Cremnophyton lanfrancoi / Bjanka ta
l-Irdum) appropriately named after Malta's foremost living
botanist Edwin Lanfranco. Other important endemic flora in the
area include the Maltese Rock Centaury (Palaeocyanus
crassifolius / Widnet il-Bahar) as well as good populations of
the Maltese Salt Tree (Darniella Melitensis / Xebb or Sigra ta
l-Irmied)
More information on these and other species can be found at
www.maltawildplants.com/
General view of Rdum tal-Vigarju with the hilltop Qlejgha tal-Bahrija in the
distance
The small group made its way from Migra Ferha in a
northwesterly direction following the cliff edge path, which
initially is wide, and very easy walking. Once past the area
known as Rdum tas-Sarg however the path tends to get narrower
and trickier and ramblers had to pay much more attention to
their next step rather than take time to take in the incredible
views.
Say cheese - Ramblers demonstrate
an acceptable form of shooting...
After tackling the tricky Rdum tal-Vigarju path we took some
time off to regroup near the huge rock locally known as
iz-Zugraga ( the spinning top ). Then it was time to trek down
onto the large rock outcrop known as Il-Blata tal-Melh - a
fantastically remote place with abandoned salt pans and some
huge globigerina boulders thrown about for good measure.
Everyone seemed fascinated by the huge waves battering on the
rocks here and it looked like no one really wanted to move on.
Many cameras came out and a few feet got wet as well.....
Then it was time to start the steep incline up the rough path
leading up to Il-Qlejgha tal-Bahrija - arguably the Island's
most dramatic Bronze Age site that RAM visited twice in the
previous season. This time however we gave this site a miss,
instead taking a countryside lane with easy gradients (for a
change!), which led back to Migra Ferha.
Sun and sea-spray producing an unforgettable vista
It is difficult to do justice to this incredibly wild and
beautiful area in words alone so we will let the photos do the
rest. In any other country in the world this area would probably
be considered as first rate candidate for National Park status
but it seems that the Maltese idea of a National Park is to
morph a rubbish mountain into one...
Il-Blata tal-Melh
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