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Associazione Culturale Riportiamo alla Luce

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HIKING IN SICILY
WALKING TO DISCOVER NATURE AND CULTURE
Western Sicily’s natural reserves: Maquis and damp zones.

Day 1

The group arrives at Palermo airport. Meeting with the guide and transfer by coach GT to the hotel or rural houses. Accommodation in the rooms. Dinner and overnight stay.

Day 2
Breakfast and departure for Natural Reserve “lo Zingaro”. foto

A short visit to the small naturalistic museum is an optimal introduction to the walk. Our path winds along the coastline where we can find the Trottoir a vermeti, that are “natural pavements” made by an endemic crustacean (Dendropoma petraeum). Among the Mediterranean essences in the Reserve we can find the carob, the Manna ash tree and the sumach. Visit to Uzzo Cave, in which prehistoric sepulchres have been discovered, and visit to the small museum of ”tonnare” (tunny-fishing nets).
Return to the hotel / rural houses for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 3
Breakfast and departure for Mount Inici (1.064 m.). Our path starts at 800 m. a.s.l. (above sea level) and arrives at the top of Pizzo delle Niviere, whose name originates from the presence of artificial hollows (Niviere) in which snow was collected and then used to prepare savoury water ices in the summer. We come down to the plain along the western side that brings us to Inici Castle, an ancient fortified hamlet.
Return to the hotel / rural houses for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 4
Breakfast and departure for Natural Reserve Monte Cofano, a wonderful promontory that rises above the sea; it has the widest expanse of Palmet (Chamaerops humilis) of the whole island. Our path is called Pilgrims’ Path: the believers pass through it and then they go to the small Christ Crucified chapel. Visit to Scurati cave, a deserted rocky village, and to the Shrine of Madonna Assunta di Custonaci; the painting that is guarded here was brought in procession to the top of Mount San Giuliano (751 m.) where is situated Erice, a delightful medieval town. We get there by coach and then we have a walk to visit town centre.
Return to the hotel / rural houses for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 5
Breakfast and departure for Marsala, an important centre for the production of the homonymous fortified wine.
Visit to Florio Cellars and Marsala tasting.

foto

Marsala archaeological museum, where we can find a Punic ship wreck, introduces us to the visit of this territory that was colonized by the Phoenicians in VIII century b.C.
Then the coach brings us to Natural Reserve “Stagnone”, made up of the coastal strip and the expanse of sea in which there is a little archipelago. The Phoenicians founded the town of Mozia on one of the islets. We get to the small island by a little motor boat; we go through it on foot and we visit its ruins. Once we come back to the Sicilian coast, we go by coach to Natural Reserve of Trapani and Paceco salinas. To get the salt from the sea, man has helped in creating a lagoon eco system where plants that are suited to brackish soils grow and several stilt-birds travel. The visit to Salt Museum is also interesting.
Return to the hotel / rural houses for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 6
Breakfast and departure for Partanna. Our walk takes place inside a gorge where we can find some plants that need shadowy and damp zones for their survival. Some environmentalist associations are now interested in setting up a natural reserve in this place. Since the ancient times the upland near the gorge has been used as a natural fortress; for this reason the site is known with the name of Castello della Pietra (Stone Castle). Then we go by coach to Natural Reserve of River Belice Mouth. The landscape is enriched by dunes and cane fields among which several species of aquatic birds nest. It is possible to have a walk in the archaeological zone of Selinunte, a town founded by the Greeks in VII century b.C.
Return to the hotel / rural houses for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 7
Breakfast and departure for the archaeological site of Segesta, an ancient town founded by the Elymians, exiles who came from the destroyed city of Troy. A path inside the archaeological zone takes us to the Shrine of Contrada Mango. From there we get to the top of Mount Barbaro (431 m.), where the ruins of the ancient town and the Greek theatre are situated. We come down to the plain to arrive at V century b.C. Doric temple.
Return to the hotel / rural houses for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 8
Breakfast and departure for Alcamo, the production centre of guaranteed quality wine (D.O.C.) “Bianco d’Alcamo”. Then we have a walk inside Natural Res Transfer to the airport and dispatching of boarding formalities. End of our services.

We put off having the right to possible changes to the program due to technical reasons.