A walk in the park: no cycling

April 22, 2013

Walked about 8 km

Weather: mixed and coolish

We had wanted to return to the nearby wetlands park on foot when the sun wasn't beating down, so today took a break from cycling after eleven straight days on the bikes. The Parc Natural de S'Albufera covers 2000 acres and is all that is left of the wetland that used to extend around much of the Baia d'Alcudia. The drainage of the low-lying area began in the nineteenth century to help eradicate malaria, and most of the remaining wetland was drained in the 1960s during the hotel-building boom. By 1988 the government had recognized the ecological importance of the wetland and established a park to protect what remains. It's considered the largest and most important wetland area in the Balearic Islands and is known for the best birdwatching on Mallorca—over 200 different species of birds have been spotted there.

We walked on back streets past undistinguished apartment blocks to reach the park entrance, and then another kilometre to the reception area where we picked up a map and list of birds we might see. From here we ambled along the gravel footpaths and wooden boardwalks in reedy, watery surroundings. We brought along modest binoculars and our simple cameras, but many other visitors carried elaborate birding scopes and tripods for their long-lensed cameras. People of all ages were on the trails, and it was refreshing to see groups of enthusiastic German teenagers very serious about their birdwatching. Definitely a different demographic from the cycling crowd, and no one was wearing lycra.

As we walked, we were passed by cyclists in small, medium, and large groups

The start of the trail system near the small museum

On top of one of the viewing platforms. Not many cyclists used the somewhat bumpy trails in the park

There were ten hides situated along the trails, each holding about twenty people. We opened the doors to several of them and found them crammed full of keen birdwatchers sitting with scopes focused on the view through the narrow slotted opening. There were also a few high platforms from which we could survey the scene. There weren't as many birds as we expected to see, but it was late in the morning when we arrived, and we did get a good look at a couple of red-crested coots, quite rare and recently re-introduced to this part of the world. We spent several hours in the park and then crossed the main road to the waterfront with its view of Port Alcudia's resort area strung out along the sandy beach.

One of the hides for birders on the edge of a series of pools

A view from a platform across the wetlands to Campanet and the mountains beyond

Part of the shorline at the start of Port d'Alcudia from near the park

We headed back to the hotel and after a pleasant lunch outside at the pool bar, enjoyed a quiet afternoon reading on the balcony. It felt a bit strange to not be cycling somewhere, but also good to have a day off the bikes. The dining room that evening was very crowded, and we were told that the hotel was moving into higher season and would be full starting tomorrow. Excellent timing for us, since we're leaving for Palma in two days. Even with the crowds, dinner was very good, featuring seafood salad, duck with raspberry sauce and green beans with the yummy picada sauce.

Eva on the balcony of our room in the hotel taken from the pool bar.

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0