Tuši

Tuši's blog

Monday, December 31, 2018

14473

Malta: Day 11: Marsaskala, St. Peter's Pool, Delimara point, Marsaxlokk and New Year in Valletta


The fishing boats of Malta are instantly recognisable by their colours: a deep marine blue, a terracotta red and a pastel yellow interspersed with streaks of white and green. All natural colours reminiscent of the land, the sea, the sun and the green fields. Since Nada and me stayed in the area around the biggest largest fishing village, we decided to explore it with the surrounding area.

Previous days of our trip to Malta: Day 10Day 9Day 8Day 7Day 6Day 5Day 4Day 3,  Day 2 and Day 1.

Marsaskala Parish Church

Marsaskala’s bay

 
Saltpan system, still being used today

Saint Thomas Tower is a large bastioned watchtower, built in 1614. Saint Thomas Tower is the largest watchtower in Malta.

  
Graffiti on the largest hotel in southern MaltaJerma Palace Hotel. The hotel closed its doors in 2007 and the building was subsequently abandoned. The former hotel is now in a derelict state, with parts of it having collapsed and others being in danger of collapsing. Its interior has been stripped of everything of value, with carpets, marble floors, doors, tiles and even bricks being stolen. Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi had a presidential suite within the hotel.

Wallking from North to South of St. Thomas Bay

 
Coastal erosion

Along the Munxar Path

Long cliffs and windows

Is there a big port nearby? There was a lot of traffic on the water.

Il-Ħofra l-Kbira

Another window

 
Garbage in Saint Paul's Battery and entrance to Fort Tas-Silġ, which is now a refuge for dogs.

View to Marsaxlokk

South of the village is a Malta Freeport, the first transhipment hub in the Mediterranean region.

Delimara Power Station with total combined nominal installed capacity of 537.8 MW

 
Il-Ħofra ż-Żgħira cove

Coastal rocks

 
Approaching St. Peter's Pool

The sea at St. Peters Pool is crystal clear with an amazing azure and light green colors and offers excellent snorkeling opportunities.

 
Due to its secluded position, it is rarely crowded and you can easily find a spot for yourself.

 
Soft rock

Climbing with the camera

Slowly disappearing lonely rocks

 
Multi-purpose chair

Continuing South

 
Salt pans and Malta Freeport with a trade volume of 3.06 million TEUs (in 2015).

 
The restored 19th century Delimara lighthouse

Fort Delimara, built between 1876 and 1888 by the British, has no public access to the interior. 

Malta has no domestic resource of fossil fuels and no gas distribution network. Energy import dependency was 100% in 2004. In 2005 100% of electricity was from oil and in 2017 it was natural gas with oil as backup.

 
Inhabited and well-known since antiquity, Marsaxlokk was used as a port by Phoenicians, Carthaginians and also has the remains of a Roman-era harbour.

 
Traditional Fishing Boats, Luzzus and smaller kajjiks. The luzzu is the foremost traditional fishing vessel. It is pointed at both ends and is painted in characteristic bright colours. Before the introduction of modern registration, the colour of the prow used to indicate the home port of each particular boat. They are brightly painted in shades of yellow, red, green and blue, and the bows normally pointed with a pair of eyes. These eyes may be the modern survival of an ancient Phoenician custom (also practiced by the ancient Greeks); they are sometimes (and probably inaccurately) referred to as the Eye of Horus or of Osiris.

From Marsaskala over St.Peter's Pool to Marsaxlokk

We decided to spend the New Year's Eve in the capital of Malta, VallettaIra Losco and her band performed on St. George's Square and w

Is-sena t-tajba / Srečno novo leto / Happy New Year

 
After dinner we took the bus to Valletta

 
Tuši and Nada on Republic Street

 
Yeah, free gifts

Ira Losco represented Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "7th Wonder". She placed second in the competition, Malta's best ever result.

Valletta for NY

Ira Losco & Band Performing LIVE at NYE 2019 Celebrations

GeoCaches found (all received a visit by trackable items "Bryan 2014 Tag", TB6PQA1, "2008 Groundspeak Volunteer Geocoin - sponsored by GC-KNECHT", TB20DYH, "Proving Trail Geocoin", TB2GZV8, La licorne montoise", TB7J5G7, "Der Kleine Maulwurf", TB61FZ4, "gran san bernardo", TB84C9J, "De reiziger", TB6R4VV and "FarmtagZ klompendans", TB6BAG2):
- ST. PETER’S POOL, EarthCache, GC63B1V
- a nice spot along the seashore, EarthCache, GC7WNP8
- Fort Delimara Ditch, GC48D88

Some statistics for 2018 (Tuši, Angie, GeoCaching):

Countries visited: AustriaHungaryGeorgiaItalyGermanyCroatiaSerbia, UkraineBosnia and Herzegovina and Malta. Together GPS recorded 53212 kilometers.
811 geocaches found in 2018
More paragliding and road biking as previous year, but on the other hand much less kick scootering.

  • Too much driving each year