2 Nights I want to Remember in Gozo

 As you probably know, I have two main reasons for keeping this blog of our travels.

1) People worry about us... and I think if they see we are just living a normal safe life, they might worry less.

2) I am notorious for forgetting some things... most things... and if I write down the things we do on our travels, I have a great way to be reminded of the wonderful things we get to do 😀

It's a bonus if you enjoy reading this too!

So... this blog is to help me remember two recent memorable evenings for me.

The first was a walk from our apartment in Victoria (which is the main city in Gozo) down to Xlendi which used to be a fishing village, but is now a seaside resort town. Imagine Victoria is the centre of a spider, and all the other villages can be reached by moving out in different directions like spider legs.

When we leave Victoria we head down through Fontana, through an agricultural area, and then finally we make it to Xlendi. Xlendi is WAY down a hill... so it was carefully calculated on my part that we would walk down for dinner and then take a cab back up. Gozo now has a company called Bolt that is like Uber, and we can often get a ride back to Victoria for less than 10 Euros. Bus tickets are 2 Euros each... or 3 each for night service... so why wouldn't I enjoy the comfort of a cab for a few extra Euros?!

Here's a glimpse into our walk that evening. I just wanted to give you a feel for what it looks like around here.

Here's a typical Gozitan house. This one is nicely taken care of

There are also many right now with construction permits on them... and also. many that look like they have been abandoned for many years. I always like to take a peek inside the abandoned ones if I can...

Here is a green grocer truck. They can be seen driving around the villages to sell to people in the streets outside their homes, but this one was parked in front of a little grocery store.

Of course every village has a large limestone cathedral, and this one was no exception. Interestingly I only saw one clock on this one, and most churches have two clocks set to two different times. Someone told me the first time we were here that the clocks were set like that to trick the devil. I feel like more information is needed here. I'm going to add that to my burning questions!

People on Gozo are very religious. One cab driver joked with us that everyone in Gozo is either named Mary or Joseph! Very many houses also have little shrines to Mary, Jesus or another saint outside their homes. Here is one we saw on our walk to Xlendi.

An interesting house at the fork of the road. Luckily there was a sign to tell us which way to go!

Apparently Fontana was settled because of the availability of fresh water. In the sixteenth century these archways were built over a spring. This little guy continues to enjoy the cold water five hundred years later. In the past people did their laundry in the stone tubs!

As you pass Fontana you walk down a surprisingly beautiful road. The springs have made this land fertile and many plants grow here.

You can also see examples here of the stone walls I've only ever seen in Malta. They don't use mortar, they carefully select each stone so that it is a perfect fit to build a strong wall!

Then there is this interesting building that looks like it might have touristy souvenirs and Gozitan products in it. We have never been inside, but have a vague recollection of seeing a Gozitan woman in traditional gear (which looks very witch like in my opinion) last time we were here. The statue was gone this time, but the building is still interesting.

Now if you are wondering what is happening underneath the window, you are not alone. We zoomed in and saw this. I literally have no explanation for this... These are not regular sized clothes hanging out to dry... they are doll sized and very unusual! Feel free to come up with your own theories... we had many ☺ None of which are probably accurate!

At this point we realized that Steve's phone only had 5% left and we would need it to order the Bolt to go home, so we turned it off and hoped for the best. The rest of the night I'll just have to remember in my head!

We had a lovely dinner in Xlendi down by the sea. The restaurant had been carved out of the rock wall in the cliffs that surround Xlendi. While we ate we eavesdropped on locals and tourists eating dinner, we watched fisherman coming back in for the day, and watched people enjoying a refreshing swim in the sea. It was a great night!

Night #2 

Night #2 I want to remember, was the night we did a shift at Ramla Bay for the "turtle watch". Our new friend Serena, volunteers on a regular basis for turtle watch and was super excited to be the one who found the nest a few weeks ago. Here is the link to the newspaper article about it and some photos of what it looked like when she discovered it. Gozo Turtle nest found She invited us to come with her on one of her shifts so we met her at Ramla Bay on a Sunday evening for a 9PM - Midnight shift.

Basically our job involved walking up and down the beach looking to see if any turtles were coming into nest, or if there were any threats to the current turtle nest. They don't get a lot of nests, so it is important to give them the best chance possible.

Loggerhead turtles are on the endangered list. There are currently around 50 000 left in the world, whereas their numbers were once several million. The female lays about 100 eggs into the nest and then heads out to see and doesn't return to the nest. Those babies are on their own! Because it is on a busy beach there is of course risk from human or animal disturbances. It is estimated that only 1 in 1000 will survive to adulthood. That is why they are trying to give them the best possible chance to at least make it out of the nest and into the sea.

Here is how the nest looks now that it has been protected by the Malta Nature Trust and the ERA.

You can see they also have sandbags in the front facing the ocean. The turtles incubate (is that the right word?) in their eggs for 60 days which brings us to mid-September, so the sandbags will hopefully protect the eggs from storms that bring waves us to the nesting area.

You may also notice that the nest seems to be bathed in red light. That was our flashlights (or torches as they call them here). You need to cover your light with red cellophane when you are doing your turtle shift as sea turtles are less disturbed by red lights, so if you do happen to come across one nesting your light won't frighten them away.

Obviously we didn't take many pictures because it was night time, but here is one more for me for the memory books. Chatting with the other volunteers on my turtle shift.

This was quite a memorable experience for me. I'm glad Serena invited us. Not only was it interesting, but now I know one of the many things I can look forward to in our retirement!

Only 8 more years... I can do it... right?!