Exploring the area of Wied il-Bassasa in Zurrieq

I love exploring. It’s like my personal challenge to find places in Malta that I’ve never been before. This time I checked out the area of Wied il-Bassasa located in the outskirts of Zurrieq. Have you been to Zurrieq before? Did you know that the Xarolla Windmill in Zurrieq is the only windmill on the Maltese Islands that is functioning until today? It’s actually a very interesting attraction to visit.

Now let’s go and explore the outskirts of Zurrieq. This time I didn’t go alone, but with my friend Elena. We parked the car at the end of the street of ‘Wied Ganu’, just before the quarries. I never realised how many quarries are actually located in this area. I’m not a big fan of these places, but in a way they really fascinate me. The depth of the quarries, the size of the machinery used and the ‘architecture’ of the control buildings. There is something intriguing about them.

This natural or artificial but still beautiful arch connects two quarries. We left the car in front of them and decided to walk though a small path rather than taking the dusty road, which you can see in the top left corner of the above photo. We actually used this road to get back to our car as it was far more comfortable. The trek we chose turned out to be perfect for mountain goats! Very steep.

This was our beautiful view of Wied il-Bassasa from above. It doesn’t look as steep as it was. We didn’t find a better path so we were just ‘jumping’ from one stone / rock to another, avoiding the grass as that can be tricky and you could easily end up stuck in between stones. Now thinking about it, we should have walked along side the dry stone wall as that would have been probably more comfortable.

The weather wasn’t the best. It was cold, cloudy and windy, but that didn’t stop us from having a great time. And while walking down the hill we came across this cool cave. First it didn’t look big, but when we got closer it was actually a decent size. Can you spot me in the photo?

There was also a fire ring, which suggests that someone made a fire in that cave not long ago or even spent a night! I consider myself to be adventurous, but the days when I used to sleep outside without the tent are long gone.

Vincent Van Gogh once said ‘If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.’ I couldn’t have said it better. He expressed exactly how I feel each time I go trekking.

I mean look at these photos. Sometimes when I get lost in places like this I can hardly believe that I’m still in Malta. It’s beautiful, refreshing and recharging. It also gives me hope, that despite the over-development in some areas, Malta still have a chance of surviving this crazy boom.

Some say that ‘freedom is a state of mind’ and I truly believe it. And as Mark Aurelius once said ‘Our life is what our thoughts make it.’ Free your mind, free yourself.

This is the perfect place. Let the sea to take away all your worries and for a moment don’t think of anything and just enjoy this pure, simple moment. Only you and the elements. Feel the sea spray on your skin. The breeze in your hair. And just let go.

Continuing our little trekking adventure and taking this narrow path to discover even more beautiful natural creations. For me, this is the best time of year to go trekking or simply enjoy the greenery and blooming flowers. As winter in Malta is like another spring.

How cool is this limestone window? I love it! Really wonderful creation. We couldn’t resist to stop for a while and take numerous photos. Very photogenic area. And if you look behind me you can see Blue Grotto in the distance.

I’m sure that you can tell from our smile that we had absolutely amazing time hiking! Me and Elena are very similar and we love the simple things in life. Trekking for couple of hours fills us with this pleasant feeling lasting for couple of days. Do you feel the same?

I had to stop and take a picture of this quarry. The depth of it is mind-blowing and the cars and heavy machinery look like toys from up here! Really impressive! I just couldn’t figure out how the vehicles get in and get out. Didn’t have an obvious entrance. Does anyone know?

As usual, I’m sharing the exact location so you can easily explore the same beautiful places as we just did now. 🙂