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The Outdoors,
Nature and Active Majorca
Majorca is an ideal destination for active tourism, on both
water and dry land: walking, birdwatching, sailing, diving,
horseriding, windsurfing... It also boasts a number of famous
caves, particularly the Coves del Drac and Coves
dels Hams.
Birdwatching
S'Albufera
This nature reserve in the north of Mallorca should
not be confused with its namesake, L'Albufeira, south of Valencia.
They are both important wetlands, beloved by ornithologists,
and though you do not need to be one to enjoy them, binoculars
make a nice toy to take with you.
S'Albufera
de Mallorca
A very unsatisfactory site or set of web pages from the University
of the Balearic Islands.
S'Albufera,
from MallorcaWeb
Mallorquín only, can't be helped. Some great photos
of birds here,
for example.
Caves
Coves
del Drac
"Discovered" in 1896 by French scientist Edward
Alfred Martell, who gave his name to Lake Martell here, one
of the largest underground lakes in the world. I have to put
the word "discovered" in inverted commas because
the locals had, of course, known about them all the time,
giving them their evocative name, which means "the dragon's
caves." This is a very nice illustrated article from
an English company specialising in farmhouse holidays on Majorca.
Cuevas
dels Hams
Not as spectacular as the Drach Caves, at least in terms of
size, but well worth visiting. I learnt from Mallorca
Farmhouses that the word "hams" is Mallorcan
for "fish hooks," which the stalactites here look
like.
Walking
Sierra
de Tramuntana
This mountain range runs diagonally across
the north-west of the island and is the main attraction for
walkers, because of its variety of hikes and rambles and great
scenery, including spectacular views over the Mediterranean.
See also Alcudia, Banyabulfar,
Deià, Pollensa,
Sóller, and Valldemossa.
Mallorca
Walker, by Anthony Sattin
A particularly bucolic article from the admirable TravelIntelligence.net
about a climb over Massanella to the Lluc monastery: "Everyone
has a different idea of beauty. Some of us have several. One
of mine is this: a stream running through a grove of ancient
olive trees, on the side of a steep hill carpeted with grasses
and wildflowers..."
Serra
de Tramuntana.org
I think this is probably an excellent site, though my Mallorquín
is not good enough to be absolutely sure, and it is not available
in any other language, not even Spanish. In any case, it seems
to be more pedagogical than informative.
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