Cabrera Island National Park

On Friday the 20th of May, we all got up bright and early to see Tom, Joan and Clare off. We had a cup of tea together and then waved goodbye. It was nice to get to see them once more before we parted ways.
All the facilities in the house were shortly made use of—showers were had and laundry was cleaned— before we went back to the boat to embark on the usual tasks. Mom whipped out the sewing machine an hour before we left the marina, and I was roped into some mosquito net making!
We motored out of Sa Rapita marina at quarter to four that day with our sights set on Cabrera island, a national park off the southernmost tip of Mallorca. There were some high seas as we motor sailed to the island, with Margaret chained below cleaning toilets.
A Castle perched on the rocks, overseeing the harbour entrance, was an incredible welcoming view as we pottered into Port de Cabrera. The mooring lines were prepared and we tied on to the buoy . We had a swim in the deep, deep cerulean water and ate dinner. It was certainly shaping up to be a wonderful stay.
• • •
We all enjoyed having a -much needed- slow start on our first morning at Cabrera Island. Later in the day we all got into the dinghy and went in to the tiny port, which was run by the park rangers. These rangers run the national park and were the people we had to apply to for our mooring permit!
The island seemed a lovely place as we walked up to the castle on the headland. However, only one thing stopped us from completely appreciating the islands beauty — the heat! It was about 30 degrees as we climbed up the hill, making us all extremely grateful for the wind blowing strongly at the top. We sadly couldn’t go into the castle itself as it was closed for the time being, but there were some amazing panoramic views out over the bay.
As we had brought a picnic ashore with us, we sat down in the shade of a pine tree and munched away happily. We had ice-cream and coffee in the little cafe afterwards (the only place to get food on the entire island!) got back into the dingy and away we went.
After a few hours of chilling on the boat, we prepared to go on our next venture. We went in to the little beach nearby, with all our gear heaped in with us as we were determined to test the truth of the said-to-be-fantastic snorkelling in Cabrera. We were quickly proven right a hundred times over. All the fish in the Baleraric islands so far seem quite tame ……. but these ones really take the biscuit.
In the shoulder-deep water, we saw mullet, hermit crabs, saddled sea bream, shoals of tiny sprat and so much more. The fish were all un afraid and almost fascinated by us, so much so that you would have several following you, only a metre behind, the entire time. It was definitely one of the best snorkelling experiences that we had ever had.
• • •
At about noon on Sunday we went in to the beach. Mom and Dad swam in, leaving Colm and I to steer the dinghy. Whilst the parents powered in, we set up a tarp to go over our picnic mat. The tarp was tied between a fence and several sticks with multiple pieces of twine, and I thought that it definitely showcased our potential at camping!
A swim was much needed after such sweaty work, and the ever-curious fish certainly helped in refreshing our tired minds! We had a little picnic lunch on the beach and our sandwich crumbs attracted a new visitor. Balearic lizards! The hungry little creatures kept scurrying across the sand towards us, with hand-waving and stick-prodding doing little to slow them down. They were both extremely endearing and extremely frustrating at the same time.
While the others hung around the beach, swimming, reading and trying to keep the incessant lizards at bay, I decided to go on a walk. The trail took me to the lighthouse on a peninsula at the bottom of the island, but sadly I couldn’t get out to it as the path was closed for the foreseeable future. (Something that I was secretly glad of, as the 32 degree heat was exhausting to walk in)
We had one more short swim at the beach before loading up into the dinghy once more and blasting off back to the boat. The usual pre-departure tasks were undertaken and we left the harbour at about four. We had a beautiful sail through the other Islands in the Cabreran archipelago as we waved goodbye to a truly wonderful place.

Notes: this chapter was brought to you by Ruby =]Read more