Post by pigeonpie on Sept 22, 2008 14:28:58 GMT
Barranc d'Algendar (Algendar Gorge)
A dramatic limestone gorge, buzzing with wildlife, which runs for 6km from Ferreries to the south coast.
Menorca's barrancs, or gorges, are wild and lonely places, deep clefts formed over tens of thousands of years by the gradual erosion of the limestone plateau in the south.
The gorges attract a huge variety of wildlife including birds, butterflies and flowers. Kestrels and kites nestle among the rushes, you may well see herons, buzzards and booted eagles. Lizards sun themselves on the rocks and tortoises wade through the marshes. The combination of rainfall, humidity and protection from the wind produces a richness of vegetation rarely seen elsewhere on he island.
Algender Gorge, is the most dramatic of all and one of the most challenging to explore. The stream flows throughout the year, opening out at Calla Santa Galdana into a wide river beside the beach. From here you can walk part of the way along its western side, where pine trees grow out of the cliffs at remarkable angles, but the path is often over grown.
There is a greater sense of peace at the northern end. Take the minor road off the Mao - Ciutadella highway 100m west of the Cala Santa Galdana exit, when the tarmac runs out (beside a signed footpath to Ferreries on the old Cami Reial) turn down the lane to your right. You can walk a short way along the gorge before finding your path blocked.
Buses run from Mahon, Ciutadella and Ferreries to Cala Santa Galdana in summer
A dramatic limestone gorge, buzzing with wildlife, which runs for 6km from Ferreries to the south coast.
Menorca's barrancs, or gorges, are wild and lonely places, deep clefts formed over tens of thousands of years by the gradual erosion of the limestone plateau in the south.
The gorges attract a huge variety of wildlife including birds, butterflies and flowers. Kestrels and kites nestle among the rushes, you may well see herons, buzzards and booted eagles. Lizards sun themselves on the rocks and tortoises wade through the marshes. The combination of rainfall, humidity and protection from the wind produces a richness of vegetation rarely seen elsewhere on he island.
Algender Gorge, is the most dramatic of all and one of the most challenging to explore. The stream flows throughout the year, opening out at Calla Santa Galdana into a wide river beside the beach. From here you can walk part of the way along its western side, where pine trees grow out of the cliffs at remarkable angles, but the path is often over grown.
There is a greater sense of peace at the northern end. Take the minor road off the Mao - Ciutadella highway 100m west of the Cala Santa Galdana exit, when the tarmac runs out (beside a signed footpath to Ferreries on the old Cami Reial) turn down the lane to your right. You can walk a short way along the gorge before finding your path blocked.
Buses run from Mahon, Ciutadella and Ferreries to Cala Santa Galdana in summer
