My boots were definitely made for walking
Last month journalist & editor of Active Magazine, Mary Bremner visited the wonderful island of Mallorca on her first Involved Holidays trip and kindly wrote an article/review on her experiences as a first time walker & solo traveller. Read her article and see how she got on in magical Mallorca.
When I‘m away I still like to go on a walk every day to stretch the legs and see the sights. If I’m in a city I really enjoy guided city walks where you learn about the history and architecture. But sometimes you want to go a bit further afield and slightly off the beaten track. So that means you have to invest in maps, find footpaths and, in my case, quite often get lost. And if you’re alone that can be a bit scary. So, I have always fancied the idea of a walking holiday but not one where you walk 20 miles a day at a super-fast pace carrying your belongings on your back.
That just sounds like a hard slog to me. I want to enjoy my surroundings, take in the views and have time to relax as well as have a good walk. And travelling alone if you join a group you will meet fellow walkers. When I interviewed Steve West owner of Involved Holidays in Market Harborough his walking holidays sounded perfect; guided walks of about eight miles led by a local guide with a day off between each walk to do your own thing. That’s just the sort of holiday I had in mind so when Steve invited me to join one of his groups I jumped at the chance. Steve suggested Mallorca as this is one of their most popular holidays, no single room supplements, so many solos, and mid March when it would be warm but not too hot. Sign me up please.
Involved Holiday’s mantra is that once you arrive at the airport they look after you until they drop you back there so I duly arrived at Palma and headed to the meeting point. The Edinburgh flight had arrived a few minutes before me so we were then driven for about an hour across the island to Cala Ratjada where we were staying. We arrived at the Bella Playa hotel after the restaurant had shut so cold meat and cheese platters had been left prepared for us, which was very welcome.
The following morning I had been told to meet at 9.15 where I would meet my fellow walkers, the guide and learn a bit more about the hotel, the area and the walks. But first of all it was time to sample the breakfast buffet.
And then it was time to head off on our first walk. I hadn’t thought too much about what the other guests would be like other than I expected them to be mainly retired and probably more women than men, which was correct but there were a few of us still working and all were definitely young at heart. I had also wondered if walking speed might be too slow, or then again, too fast. I was about to find out.
This walk was going to take us up to the working Capdepera lighthouse which is on the island’s most eastern point. We would walk through the town towards the pine forests then through the dunes of Cala Agulla, round the peninsula of Cala Ratjada via Cala Lliteras back to the port where we would finish, about nine nautical miles.
We set off and left the town heading upwards through walled rural properties, olive trees galore, sheep and dogs. The properties we were walking past were pretty remote and each one had at least one dog who announced our presence very noisily. There’d be no sneaking up on properties for a spot of burglary here! We were all setting a good steady pace, strung out pretty well and starting to chat. Most of the group were seasoned walking holiday stalwarts. Many were on their third, fourth or even fifth trip with Involved ‘if anything goes wrong they really look after you,’ whilst others had been on others as well. I think I was the only walking holiday virgin. The couple from Caithness did tell me that the lack of men was quite unusual in their experience (four trips and counting). Julio was an excellent guide stopping frequently to allow us a breather and to impart local knowledge. We learnt that Mallorcan pork is so delicious as the pigs are fed on the fig trees which were in abundant supply rather than acorns (it’s what makes Mallorcans so sweet apparently). We walked past the artist Gustavo’s house, heard a Sardinian warbler (courtesy of a bird watching app) and learnt more about Juan March a local businessman, banker, arms’ smuggler and Franco supporter who acquired great wealth and power and whose palace we could see.
Once we got to the lighthouse the views were stunning, including looking towards Menorca which is only 24 nautical miles away. The lighthouse was built in 1861 and used to operate an olive oil lamp. Now rather less romantically, it’s using wifi. We sat here taking in the views, enjoying the sunshine and a snack before we headed back down towards the sea again. Julio was a great guide, informative, full of fun, and made sure that no one got left behind. The whole group got to rest and interestingly those at the front always changed so the pace was pretty accurate, no stragglers or rushers.
‘Julio was an excellent guide stopping frequently to allow us a breather and to impact local knowledge.’
We walked around the peninsula past some beautiful beaches and ended up in the port where our walk finished. Some of us headed back to the hotel with Julio, others went for ice cream and the rest of us headed to a bar to sit in the sun and enjoy a well deserved beer or glass of wine; a happy bunch of walkers.
That evening for another delicious buffet dinner the hotel had put tables together so that we could all eat together which worked really well. The next day was a day off so I was planning to walk to Cala Ajulla beach for a paddle about 700m from the hotel and then to the Port for a spot of sightseeing. Then I was going to make the most of the fabulous sunshine and the pool. The hotel has a spa including sauna, Turkish bath and treatments on offer including massages. But I decided that the warm March sunshine was much more tempting than a sauna full of naked Germans (I had been warned).
We all met for another excellent dinner and those I hadn’t seen around the pool filled me in on what they had been up to. The food was so delicious and plentiful it was a very good thing that I would be walking again the next day. We had an earlier start for walk number two as we were heading to the interior of the island to Petra and a climb up to a monastery. This was going to be more demanding as it was rougher underfoot and a longer climb. And it was a new walk so we were effectively Julio’s guinea pigs.
On the bus Julio pointed out the sites. We passed through Manacor, one of the main cities and famous for its pearl factories and home to Rafa Nadal. The bus dropped us off and up we went, and up and up. Today was hotter and as we were inland there was no sea breeze. We walked through some beautiful countryside, met a couple of donkeys and found out more from Julio about the island, saw wild olive trees, carob trees ‘one seed is the size of a gold carat.’ By now we could see the monastery and it looked a long way up. The monastery was built in the 1700s and was beautiful. We were all puffing and panting when we got to the top and enjoyed the cool interior and fabulous crypt. We were all then very surprised that we had only completed about a third of the walk; that long, long pull uphill had felt like 20 miles but the views from the monastery were worth the effort. You could see the sea in one direction and the flat plains in the other which we all took in whilst having a snack and a rest.
The walk back towards Petra was rough underfoot, full of chat and companionship and then we reached Petra which is a pretty pastoral village with a strong religious history. And a very pretty square where we all sat and enjoyed another well earned beer or glass of wine surrounded by lycra clad cyclists who had shot passed us earlier.
For me this was the end of my walking trip but the others still had another guided walk to look forward to and an extra voluntary day in Soller too where they could either enjoy another walk or a day in the resort. I was quite envious to be missing out. I nipped into the Port once we got back to the hotel and as I was strolling back in the warm sunshine I realised how good I felt; revelling in the warmth of the sun, nicely weary from some fresh air and exercise, completely relaxed and having enjoyed some excellent company. Life doesn’t get much better. I would thoroughly recommend a walking holiday with Involved Holidays. You really are well looked after, meet interesting people, enjoy some excellent walking, delicious food and don’t worry about being a solo traveller, you will meet lots of like minded people in the same circumstances; I certainly did and can’t wait to go again.
Sign up to our newsletter
Be the first to hear about our latest news & offers
