Last week, I spent a sunny December day on Malta‘s west coast, hiking through Il-Majjistral Nature and History Park and along Anchor Bay. I set out at Għajn Tuffieħa / Golden Bay and made my way north through this barren landscape:
There is more vegetation than first meets the eye, and even some dwellings where you could seek shelter if you got lost and had to spend a night.
All the colours found in this nature reserve are represented in this photo:
I was drawn to the rugged coastline which I walked along dangerously close to the edge of the cliffs.
This is me, only a few feet away from falling down into the Mediterranean Sea:
By the way, just because this area is a nature reserve apparently doesn’t mean that there is no hunting, as these bullet casings demonstrate:
Towards the northern end of Il-Majjistral Nature and History Park, I made my way down to Anchor Bay where I wanted to get as close as possible to the powerful waves.
Both the wind and the waves were ferocious and I enjoyed watching and feeling these forces of nature, before I stumbled – on the other side of Anchor Bay – upon the cute village of Sweethaven, also known as Popeye Village. (A separate blog post about this will follow soon.)
(C) for all photos: Andreas Moser
The Happy Hermit 
Beautiful – and scary – we’d never have these to enjoy if you’d toppled over a cliff. But many thanks for sharing.
Lovely pictures! My “must-visit” list keeps growing :)
fantastic shots, love them!
Great shots. I love the small house built into the stone wall! What stories that small structure could tell, I bet.
And I love the fact you enjoy the pounding surf and spray! Now you know why I miss Lake Michigan so badly, here in the land-locked wilds of SE Ohio.
Ever consider a career as a tour guide? ;)
“I love the small house built into the stone wall!”
That is called a ‘Girna’ and it was used in the past so that farmers can store their tools and to shelter from the sun.
http://schoolnet.gov.mt/history/F5/Kampanja/Karat/girna.htm
Hope you’re enjoying your stay in Malta :)
Thanks for that info, Reader. Me, with my military history background, would have misidentified it as a watch post along a defensive wall. Thanks for setting me straight! :)
I’m sure that today it is being used by a hunter to watch out for birds to shoot at during (and not during) the hunting period, so John, in reality you were not so far off ;)
Andreas, I wouldn’t spend the night in that dwelling if you don’t want to risk being shot at early morning :)
Hi Andreas,
it sounds as if you would have great fun on our rambles through the Maltese countryside. The difficulty ranges from easy to very hard. Your walk through the national park would classify as easy, a walk among the boulders underneath the cliffs is moderate to hard but really nice. If you want to join in just email me for details. I got to your blog through Ilene’s blog.
I live in MELLIEHA bay,visit the little church at the centre of Mellieha,you will take gorgeus photos.
Hi !!!
I see you are enjoying the island.
I read “Last week, I spent a sunny December day on Malta‘s west coast” Does it mean that you miss the winter in London ?
Friday we enjoyed the snow !!!!
By the way you are an excellent photograher !
Best regards,
Isabel
These are gorgeous!
Yes it’s a beautiful part of the country – West is Best when it comes to getting back to nature.
And it’s perfect for watching the sunset.
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Thank you Andreas for introducing me to The Majjistral Park. It’s up there in my list of places to visit when I’m next in Malta. Cheers.