Okay, I'm gonna be honest. This weekend was my favorite excursion so far. We traveled to the center of Sardinia, in the Supramonte mountain range. Our first stop was in the town of Mamoiada, where we visited the Museum of Mediterranean Masks. Last week we visited a festival in a rural town, where we saw a parade featuring traditional dress and dance. We saw men clad in sheep skin wearing bells and heavy wooden masks prancing through the town. I was completely unprepared for this, and had no idea who they were or what they were doing.
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| Mamuthones carrying heavy cow bells |
The museum explained that the Mamuthones ritual predates Christianity, originating around 2000 years ago. The dancers represent death, and are chased by men in brightly colored clothing and contrasting white masks. The ritual occurs in January and is intended to encourage the earth to grow crops in the coming spring. Different regions in Sardinia have variations on the mask, dress, and the ritual that goes along with it. The museum had examples of regional variations, as well as other mask rituals from around the Mediterranean.
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| The nice thing about the mask is it can cover up just how ugly you are. Guess I need one. |
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| Grabbed Krampus by the jingle balls. |
We ate lunch at a little farmstead, prepared by farmers. The highlight of the meal was boiled sheep and then roasted suckling pig. Scrumptious! We visited another nearby town, meandering around for an hour to check out the tourist shops and eat gelato. I caved and finally bought a knife for myself. Sardinia is renowned for its knife making, and the blades are sold in shops everywhere. I snagged a pretty knife with a straight blade and horn handle. Then we headed into the mountains! Our hotel was located right below the tallest peak in the Supramonte range, Mount Corrasi. We ascended at least a dozen switchbacks in our bus to reach the hotel. We watched the sunset and worked for the night, emerging for a few hours to get dinner. The best part was wild rabbit roasted in wine.
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| Golden sunlight bathes Mount Corrasi |
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| Sun sets over the valley. |
Determined to make the most of our time in the mountains, Scott, Harrison, Ted, and I woke up at 4:45 AM to hike up the mountain and see the sunrise. Starting out in the dark and with nothing but our phones, we stumbled our way through trails. Several poor decisions were made, but we ended up scrambling up an extremely steep slope covered in loose dirt and small chunks of limestone. Grip was terrible and I was worried we might start a landslide, but we managed to get above that zone. Realizing that we had spent too much time trudging our way up the slippery slopes and that we were going to miss the sunrise before we were on the other side of the peak, we were faced with the decision of whether to turn back and try to safely navigate down by breakfast or carry on. We chose to keep going up, and ran into a trail about 100 meters further on. We scrambled up and tried to see what we could. It was definitely worth it.
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| The only illumination needed |
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| Sun falls on the town |
We opted for the longer, friendlier way down and jogged back in time for breakfast. Then we boarded the bus and drove to Gorropu, the deepest canyon in all of Europe. 4X4 trucks carried us down switchbacks to get to the valley floor, and then we hiked 45 minutes to get to the mouth of the canyon. At the entrance we peered at massive white boulders piled in the streambed, with sheer cliffs rising on either side. Before heading in, a park ranger gave us an overview of the canyon's wildlife and features. Every year flash floods move the massive boulders in the wet season, reshaping the canyon landscape. It's home to many rare species, including a columbine flower that grows only in the mile long canyon. Then we headed in, crossing paths with Italian and German tourists to get over and around the boulders filling the streambed. After reaching the farthest passable part, we turned back and had lunch at the mouth of the canyon. Before climbing back in the 4X4s, we splashed around in the stream to cool off.
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| If you squint your eyes the boulders kinda look like a beluga whale |
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| Views from the drive out |
After an ice cream, we hopped back in the bus to Cagliari. Within minutes, I was passed out, blissfully unaware to the impending storm of blog, reflection paper, project, and assignments to come...
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