Day 5: Capri Island
Friday 25 April 2014
70 °F
Today my family and I took a day tour of the beautiful Capri Island.
From our rental apartment, it was a short walk down to the quay in Sorrento where we grabbed a quick bite to eat.
Then, we quickly boarded a large hydrofoil boat that left promptly at 9:15am for the gorgeous nearby Capri Island.
As we approached the island, I came to realize that huge, magnificent cliffs and mountain peaks towering thousands of feet over the ocean guarded most of the perimeter of the island. The ship came into the one place where cliffs didn't meet ocean, at a nice little tourist town. It wasn't our favorite place because it was crowded with tourists, although we soon walked out of the main artery of the village.
Soon, we took a nice stroll up a road on the outskirts of the town that led up a beautiful hill. The view from the top was definitely worth the small grunt:
Here is a picture of the beautiful yet deadly Mt. Vesuvius from the top:
On the way back down I got my life bird EUROPEAN SERIN, a beautiful male specimen:
I also attained two more life birds that I didn't manage to photograph on the walk, EUROPEAN PIED FLYCATCHER and BLACK REDSTART.
I also saw this lizard:
After a lunch of very thick panini sandwiches I felt a bit sick to my stomach so my family and I relaxed on the bench, and soon I miraculously felt better!
Then, we purchased four tickets for a boat tour that circumnavigated the island, and we were soon on the boat. Most of the ride was admiring the cliffs and mountain peaks that towered above us, some of which were so high that they were covered in the clouds and mist only found at high elevations.
At one point I even spotted a fruiting cactus hanging on to a cliff. Who knew?!
Half-way through the boat ride it became unbearably hot and I was miserable because I forgot to bring my hat and sunglasses, and all of the shady spots on the boat were taken up! (The boat was scarcely any larger than a typical motor boat)
I was hot and sweaty, and my feeling of queasy-ness had returned thanks to the rocking motion of the boat. The second half of the boat ride was, for the most part, a negative experience for me.
Thankfully, a stop that broke up my nausea was when everyone got out of the main boat and we all boarded little row-boats with our own personal guide. We all headed towards the cliff and the guide instructed us the lay down on the floor of the boat
Suddenly, an ocean current picked us up, the boat was pushed through a narrow opening in the cliff, and we were soon in a marine cave. The water color was a beautiful greenish blue and it was a very special place, even with many tourists in with us.
The rest of the boat ride, the ferry back to Sorrento, and the remainder of the afternoon and evening was rather uneventful with the exception of another fantastic Italian pizza dinner (I got a four cheese pizza this time).
It was a good day and nice to cherish the outdoors because it looks like we have a rainy week ahead of us. Bird-of-the-day to the photographed life bird EUROPEAN SERIN and runners-up to the non-photographed lifer EUROPEAN PIED FLYCATCHER and BLACK REDSTART.
Good birding and stay tuned!
Henry
World Life List: (713 Species, 3 life birds today)
Life bird species:
European Serin
European Pied Flycatcher
Black Redstart
