Barbagia & Ogliatra

Just when I thought I had started to become accustomed to the natural beauty resplendent in Sardinia, it took my breath again once more. The weekend started in Barbagia, home to the "bandits" of Sardinia, a people who have resisted any sort of rule over the centuries, whether it be Roman or the central Italian or Sardinian governments. Bandits is too narrow and cruel of a definition, though: they have been shepherds, partisans, siblings, parents, and children. Their own stories are told through the murals of Orgosolo, shouted in sprawls of bright paint across façades and whispered in fading words tucked against doorframes and around corners. A multitude of causes is represented, railing against everything from the attempt to install a military base in Barbagia in the 1960s to the assault on the Twin Towers to the imprisonment of Julian Assange to the suppression of Palestine and many more stories of oppression both local and global.

Anti-facist mural in Orgosolo.

One of the iconic murals of Orgosolo.

We took a "shepherds lunch" Marghine Ruja in the mountains, eating typical Sardinian shepherds' fare while overlooking a breathtaking view of Supramonte, limestone mountains rising above a sea of trees painted in every shade from emerald to olive. Those limestone mountains form a massive karst system riddled with caves and tunnels where water has slowly bored through rock over thousands of years. The water that falls on them soaks through the rock like a sponge until it hits the basalt plateau far below and erupts in the form of natural springs that provide water to the arid region. Their water is clear and tastes of the minerals that comprise the landscape.

 

Supramonte viewed from Marghine Ruja.
 
We spent the night at the EcoPark Neule overlooking a section of the Lago del Cedrino, which is fed by one of those spring. The lushness of the river valley dries up the steep slopes of the basalt plateau that underlies Supramonte into an arid beauty that surrounded us. Scrub grass, trees, prickly pears, and donkeys were our accompaniment as we explored a mostly intact nuraghe and surrounding huts and walls near the agriturismo. The prickly pears were ripe and a perfect balance of sweet and tart, well worth the spines.

 

Nuraghic hut foundation near EcoPark Neule.

A friendly donkey at EcoPark Neule.

Dinner at the EcoPark Neule.
 
The next morning, we were able to experience the Lago del Cedrino up close, kayaking more than 5 miles round trip through the flooded valley, which the nearby villages swear had the most fertile land and best olives and wine. The interplay between steep cliffs of basalt columns only sprinkled with greenery and shallow slopes of lush vegetation, all set above the blue water, was beautiful.

Il Lago del Cedrino.

In the afternoon, we delved into Supramonte, exploring the Grotta di Ispingoli. It is home to a variety of mineral formations: classic stalactites and stalagmites, flaps of stone like tissue paper or elephant ears, organic formations reminiscent of cauliflower florets and the growth of Cordyceps mushrooms, and one that even looked like a shark's maw.

The largest column formation in Europe.

Monday was dedicated entirely to the coastline between Dorgali and Baunei, where the Supramonte drops off sharply into the cerulean sea, blue in part because of where the karst system releases water below sea level. The caves that dot the coastline are the corpses of other rivers, now dry as the water finds alternate routes. One of the caves went deep into the rock face until the only light was from phone flashlights winking through clouds of fluttering gnats. The red clay was moist and sticky underfoot. A few of us went as deep as we dared go before having to return to the boat, but there is yet more to explore in the future.
Where the Supramonte meets the sea.

The rest of Monday could not be done justice by any language I could employ. It was a mosaic of blue waters, variegated stone cliffs, smooth sand and pebbles beaches, and the feel of wind and salt spray on sun-warmed skin. It was a day that somehow held more beauty than any day before.

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