The end of our stay on Mallorca has arrived and we are in the process of packing for our short flight to Alicante. Our five-week stay flew by, as always, but we packed a lot of exploration into the trip and feel as though we know the island quite well by now. It's a beautiful spot and perfect for outdoor activities - we'd highly recommend it.
Although most of the kittens disappeared in the end, including Molly, we ended up with three adult cats who visited us daily and spent the evenings in our house, eating and lounging on the comfortable chairs. The one pictured below was named "Precious" by Elise, and the two of them would snuggle in the evening before bed, much to her delight. We'll all miss them.
As the final week drew near, we made a list prioritizing the hikes and areas we wanted to visit across the island. High on this list was a traverse of the rocky ridge pictured behind Pam and Elise. It featured a number of striking rock towers and looked like an exposed, adventurous objective. We waited for a nice day, packed our gear and headed out. Much to our surprise, the weather began to deteriorate as we neared the ridge and we could see a storm cell in the sea to the north. The forecast had been for perfect, stable weather so I didn't know what to make of this. We continued up onto the ridge where we watched, with horror, as the cell blew straight toward us, coming hard and fast. To make a long story short, we dashed for a cave and spent the next two hours huddled inside as it poured with rain, hammering the rock all around us. We made a small fire, which Elise found very exciting, but we eventually ran out of dry fuel.
When the rain finally stopped, we bee-lined it back to the valley bottom - a technical rock scramble along the rest of the ridge was out of the question on the rain slickened rock. The day turned out to be an adventure all right, but not the one we had bargained for. Regardless, it's these kind of experiences that seem to stick in our memories. The event-free days often fade...
Luckily, sunny days filled the gaps between the storms and we took full advantage to get into the water. Elise and I brought "shorty" wetsuits on the trip, which allowed us to swim and snorkel in colder waters. On one day, we returned to our favourite beach near Alcudia and found moderate storm swell making it's way into the bay. We had an inflatable air mattress and Elise "surfed" in the shore break for at least half an hour. She had an absolute blast riding the waves, and we all enjoyed watching her wipe out in the foamy water. Everyone was laughing by day's end and Elise now thinks she wants to try surfing!
Look closely for the arm...
As promised, Pam took Elise to the caves near our village and they both had a great time. The guide led them on a one-hour tour of an amazing underground cavern. Pam, who's been in quite a few limestone caves over the years, claimed it was the most amazing she'd ever seen. There were 20-foot long columns as thin as a pencil, amongst other amazing features. Elise couldn't stop chattering about it upon their return.
A few days later I took Elise to the Palma Aquarium and we, too, had a nice adventure. Elise enjoyed the company of a young girl who spoke English and the two looked at many tanks together before playing outside in the park afterward. The one exhibit that really stood out for me was the shark pool. It was huge and housed a number of massive nurse sharks that swam within inches of your face. Elise loved the touch pools and the stingray pond outside. The weather cooperated perfectly.
For our final week, I unearthed some information about a secret climbing spot on the island and managed to find it on a solo reconnaissance mission. The crag was very impressive and in a beautiful location. I was disappointed I'd not discovered this area earlier, but after chatting with the locals, it seems as though much of the climbing in Mallorca is on private land with very tenuous access. Understandably, they keep these cliffs to themselves. After the locals' surprise at seeing me at their secret cliff wore off, they gave me a grand tour which was greatly appreciated. After weeks of climbing in solitude, it was nice to finally meet some of the Mallorcan climbers and hear more about their local challenges. My only disappointment was that my body was not in better shape to fully take advantage of the amazing routes.
For one of our last major hiking excursions, we chose the highest accessible peak on Mallorca, Puig Massenella. The day was perfect - cool and windy - and we covered the 12 km of trail up and down the mountain in about 5 hours. It was a fantastic hike that awarded us with great views and a broad summit plateau that allowed us to choose our own route. We were all exhausted by day's end and relaxed at the cafe in the col near the trail head with some hot chocolate and sweet "churros" (deep fried dough covered with sugar).
Our final two days were very blustery. On the first, we asked Elise what she'd like to do and she chose to tour a restored castle on a hill above Palma. The lower level housed a museum dedicated to Palma's history and the upper level had restored castle rooms, much to Elise's delight. She's really into make believe right now and wandering the narrow hallways and huge rooms was very interesting for her. We all enjoyed the views of Palma from the upper level - they were magnificent.
Our final day dawned clear and cool. We had planned to do a hike to a small village and have lunch, but at the last moment changed our minds. Instead, we headed out to Cap Formentor, the most impressive part of the island, and climbed a small peak called El Fumat. The hike was relatively short, but provided incredible views of the sea and the northern tip of the island. We sat on the summit for about half an hour, soaking in the fall sunshine, munching on cookies and taking in the view. After hiking back down, we headed straight for the Formentor beach so Elise could have one final play in the sea before we left Mallorca. The water was cold, but we all braved it. Elise really loves the beach and the chilly conditions didn't seem to phase her.
We returned to our house for a casual dinner and then went to the town square for a final evening stroll. This turned out to be a noteworthy choice as we all joined in an impromptu soccer/football match with the local kids after dark. The exercise felt great and Elise had a grand time rushing around the square, however her ball handling skills leave much to be desired.
Adios Mallorca!
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