October 5, 2022
“Peaceful and solitary, this walk traverses a veritable garden of herbs and unusual Mediterranean plants…”.
The line above, from the guide book, “Walking on the Amalfi Coast” by Gillian Price, basically “had me at hello”. So, on my second day in Capri, I set off early to walk the Sentiero dei Fortini, a 5 km trail along the west side of the island that travels past a series of forts that date to the early 1800s when, during the Napoleonic Wars, the French and the English fought each other and took turns seizing control of the strategically-placed isle of Capri.
From Anacapri, I took a local bus to Faro where the trail begins. Faro means “lighthouse” in Italian, and the trail started at this beautiful lighthouse at Punta Carena, with a view northwards from there in my direction of travel.
The path rose steeply at first in order to rise above and traverse the deeply indented coastline, and then it reached the first fort, the Fortino dei Tombosiello, with great views back to the lighthouse. I had not met or seen anyone else on the trail, so this walk was definitely “peaceful and solitary.”
It was a fresh cool morning, and the trail alternated between travelling in the shade of trees and shrubs and out in the open, often with somewhat alarming views down.
The next fort, Fortino del Pino, was very near by,
and then the trail became really fun! Narrow, rocky, twisty, precarious – it required my full attention, but then so did the views so I had to stop time and time again, quite happily.
Also fun was the series of ceramic plaques attached to the rocks all along the route that provided illustrations and information about the local flora and fauna. The botanist who provided the text for the flora seems to be a very passionate person who describes plants in the most flowery (excuse the pun) and poetic language. Here are just two examples, please read!
The zoologist, on the other hand, seem to be a much more straightforward person that sticks to simple matters of fact rather than romantic and whimsical notions. The fauna plaques described birds, land animals and insects as well as creatures to be found in the sea to my left like various fishes, crustaceans, octopi, and marine mammals (dolphins, fin whales, sperm whales). I will share two plaques – the lizard, because I have seen so many lizards (first in Naples, but especially at Pompei and at the Roman ruins at the Bagni di Regina Giovanni) but I keep forgetting to mention them (they are shy and fast and hard to photograph), and the Kestrel because I saw one on this hike, shortly before reaching this plaque, soaring high above the cliffs.
I did not photograph one of the first plaques that I passed on the trail which named the one species of snake that lives on Capri, but I do remember that, “it can grow up to 2 metres”, and “it is not venomous but is prone to biting”! In the next photo, you can see several of the plaques alongside a series of stone steps that lead up through the rough terrain. A few plaques also described some of the geology of the area and the kinds of fossils that can be found in these limestone rocks. What an educational trail!
The trail continued to be tricky but fun and included some sections where extra care with my footing was needed. At one point, I looked back and saw a couple coming along behind me. At first I felt disappointed to no longer be completely alone on the trail, but then I reasoned that if I were to stumble and fall down the cliff there would be someone to call out to!
This next section consisted of a zigzagging set of stairs on a near-vertical wall, followed by a wooden bridge that traversed a gorge.
Looking back, it didn’t look too scary,
until I had travelled a tiny bit further and had this view back!
As well as the couple behind me, I began to pass several couples that were walking the trail from the opposite direction, and the sea began to be busy with the tour boats that circle the island, but mostly, peace and solitude still reigned.
And, stopping to photograph the flowers and shrubs continued to provide an opportunity to be still for a moment and to appreciate the plants that are adapted to live in this harsh environment of rocky soil, baking sun, wind, salt spray, and little rain.
The next fort, Fortino di Mesola, blended well into the rocks of the cliff,
and later, a detour around another small inlet provided this more verdant view looking inland towards Mount Solaro.
The trail passed these impressive plants that were taller than me,
and then passed alongside a stone fence, past an olive orchard, and then into a small forest of oaks and pines, with lovely cyclamens dotting the forest floor and their poetic descriptive plaque located nearby.
The trail returned to the rocky coast and I soon reached the last fort on this hike, the Fortino di Orrico which was retaken from the British by the French in a battle here in 1808.
Then, all too soon, the trail rose up to this road,
and it was only a few hundred metres more to reach the trail’s end and the bus stop above the Grotta Azurra (The Blue Grotto). There, while I waited for the bus, I was able to watch passengers from the tour boats being loaded into small row boats in order to enter the famous Blue Grotto.
What a wonderful morning and a wonderful walk! I am so glad that I hiked Capri’s Sentiero dei Fortino.
I returned to Anacapri for lunch and a rest out of the sun until the late afternoon when I caught a very crowded bus to Capri town, my first visit there. What a crush! I couldn’t believe how many people were crowded into the town’s main square and on all of the nearby streets which are lined with exclusive shops and expensive restaurants and cafes. Not my scene at all. Yikes! I wove my way through the mass of people as quickly as I could towards my first sightseeing goal, the Giardini di Augusta, a public garden with amazing views. But of course it was very crowded there as well. I waited patiently for my turn to take a few quick snaps, first of the Faraglioni Rocks,
and then straight down to the beautiful blue sea,
and then of this amazing view of the Via Krupp, an impossibly steep, switchbacking path that was built onto the cliffside in the early 1900s by the German industrialist Friedrich Alfred Krupp.
I had intended to explore Capri town a little more but the crush of people was just too much for me so I returned to the bus stop in order to get to my next destination, Marina Piccola where I had planned to take a swim. The ticket line up was long (only one window was open – grrr), and the bus line up was longer (grrr again), but I ended up chatting with a young couple from Chile which helped to pass the time. Finally, it was our turn to cram ourselves onto the small bus, but at least we were on our way, whisked by the fearless driver down the switchbacking road that led to Marina Piccola where there is a small public beach.
Marina Piccola is in shade in the afternoon so the beach was relatively empty and my swim out to and around those rocks, again and again, was divine.
My good humour restored, I walked out onto the small Marina Piccola dock to take this last photo of the day. Yes, it’s the Faraglioni Rocks again, but this time from sea level and lit by the lowering sun. A fine way to end my second day on Capri.
