A Motorhome Tour of Sardinia

or

'Three Wheels on My Wagon'

Cynthia Webb

April 2008

Cindy has already contributed articles to this website on motorhome travel in the USA, in Iceland and in Turkey. Here she describes a tour of Sardinia, even as she and partner Martin are making it!

Hello from sunny Sardinia – arriving in Cagliari on the 19th March after a peaceful night crossing on an old heap of a ferry (yes, that old – although we had been warned it was still a shock to disembark slowly, very slowly, cross-wise as they raised and lowered the ramp to avoid our vehicle grounding!) We cycled around Cagliari exploring the old Castello and meeting up with chums Dave & Carol before heading south-west to start a long, long trail of archaeological sites. Nuraghic towers dating from the original Sardes (1500BC) abound, idyllic bays and friendly faces – even finding cars STOPPING to let us through. A novel experience indeed after Sicilian madcaps.

While no campsites are yet open, we have a book of 'sostas' (stopovers for campers) and although there are "No Camper" signs everywhere, even the local police and Carabinieri wave and smile wherever we have stayed – deserted beaches or hilltop stops, the views are always superb. While we have encountered some wet and blustery weather it has been mainly sunny and warm – different to the snow we are told about at home – especially at Buggaru.

Yes, we could not resist a few days there – (actually, the pronunciation is boojeroo) – an ex-mining community which still has a daily fish/meat market and local shops, so of course we enjoyed our standard fare of fish, fish and more fish before moving inland to La Giara di Gesturi where we felt (literally) on top of the world on an almost totally flat plateau of 42 sq km – mostly cork forest which was very interesting, especially when a wild boar strolled across the track in front of us! We also saw the local wild ponies (with foals), wild goats and black kites – a lovely few days before returning to the warmth of the coast to meander northwards.

Here we explored more archaeological sites and stopped at San Salvatore, a ghost town of one church surrounded by about 200 adobe houses for pilgrims who arrive for the annual opening of a mere 9 days – needless to say, not while we were there! We were able to visit the church (reputedly the oldest church in Sardinia, dating from the 4th century) and its underground crypt, where there was evidence of murals from that period as well as graffiti drawn by prisoners held there during the Spanish period. Our more geriatric pals may recognise it as a set from many spaghetti westerns in the 60s and 70s … no, you needn't own up! AND we saw ANOTHER wild boar in the road – female this time.

Travelling ever northwards, we continued to find excellent trattorias for fish lunches although so far we have avoided the traditional Sarde fare of roasted donkey and pig. We explored the north-west peninsula – again plenty of lovely bays and beaches to stopover – onyx sand and scenic drives … braved 650 steps down a cliff-face to visit the Cava di Netune, full of stalagmites and stalactites; and visited a mostly derelict ex-silver-mining town overlooking yet another beautiful bay (soon to become an up-market holiday village no doubt!) and ended up in the marina of Aghero to explore the old town.

In fact, I had found an abundance of sand flies, sand fleas and horse flies on the sandy beaches, all of which just love my fair skin, so was not sorry to once again head inland to the cool mountain air of Nuovo region. Bandit country!

This region was never conquered, not even by the Romans, since the tortuous terrain lends itself to guerrilla warfare – especially the Supramonte massif, famed as the haunt of bandits until relatively recent times.

First though we visited a sacred well and temple at Su Tempiesu. We knew it was a 5 km mostly unsurfaced narrow road but did not bargain for the "parking" which was up a 45 degree narrow incline of 200 metres culminating in us hanging by 3 wheels with one front (drive shaft) wheel spinning lazily in the air as we tried to manoeuvre round … NOT fun. Remember "3 Wheels on My Wagon"? Well, I did that day. My palpitations did not help, M's calmness did. Eventually parking, the 800 metre steeply descending path to the site gave further excitement when a wild cat strolled across our path … wow, what wildlife we have seen – so many wild pigs (as opposed to wild boar, although apparently the two are inter-breeding). The sacred well and temple were almost an anticlimax!

Well, M got us out of there and we drove on up into the mountains to visit Orgosolo - famed for its ancient banditry and vivid politicized murals. Graffiti seems to be a major problem throughout the Island but here it really was beautiful, covering building after building – even the Police Station! Absolutely superb, a lovely setting, nestling into the mountainside. Quiet now, although the early 20th century saw sheep rustlings and bloody vendettas – one virtually extinguishing 2 families. Between 1901 and 1954 Orgosolo (population 4,000) clocked up an average of 1 murder every 2 months! From 1953 to 1990 kidnapping was in vogue and the local "boss", freed from prison after 40 years in 2004, still lives in Orgosolo with his sister. So the legends live on. In fact, the locals oblige the few tourists who arrive hoping to find traces of its violent past by peppering name plates and signs with bullet holes! We found the narrow alleys and winding streets a delight to wander around.

And so we continue our meandering around this lovely Island – more news next time . Meanwhile, arrivederci from sunny, friendly Sardinia (special thanks to Pam for providing "inside knowledge" after her 2 year stay here).