Abruzzo National Park

Lions and Tigers and Bears…Oh My!

Ok, perhaps not lions and tigers but Abruzzo National Park is home to bears, wolves and lynxes. So last week, with travel to that particular part of the country allowed we set off on a bear hunt!

Our destination was Lake Barrea on the edge of Abruzzo National Park, just a two hour drive from home. As we left the grime and chaos of the Naples area behind our moods lifted and excitement grew for our next little adventure. Before long we were winding our way up several hairpin bends past the town of Alfedena which marked the end of the flat valley roads and gave way to wild, rugged mountains. The road crested the hill where below lay a wonderful vista of Lake Barrea nestled in to mountains with the towns of Barrea at the east end of the lake and Villetta Barrea the far end. The latter of which was our destination; more specifically a campsite on the edge of town called Le Quite. Having established with the owner that we could park anywhere due to not needing electrical hook up, we drove past the handful of motorhomes and in to a meadow tucked away at the back of the vast site near a beautiful babbling brook. The evening was spent sipping wine, BBQing and watching the deer stroll through the meadow, munching on the long blades of grass before hopping over the fence and silently disappearing off in to the forest.

The last sound that night was the same as the first the following morning, a noise that I could never tire of. It is of course the chirping of little birds. A mix of high pitched chatter and serene melodies combining to beautifully announce the arrival of another day. Once we emerged from the van we could see why their cacophony held such a jubilant tone…it was a beautiful morning. The sun was already out and shining fiercely, belying the early hour of the day with its heat. The meadow itself had seemingly woken with a spring in its step too, with hundreds of pretty little daises and buttercups stood to attention to soak up the sun’s rays. We had company for breakfast in the form of a herd of horses who had come to munch on their lush meadow that we’d so rudely set up camp in! Peggy was very unimpressed with our breakfast guests!

After a sufficiently hearty start to the day we set off on our walk to explore this beautiful area. Due to the large numbers of wildlife, dogs are only allowed on certain footpaths within the National Park, so armed with a proper map and the information we needed we set off up the hill to the village of Civitella Alfedena from where we climbed up and along the hills that tower over the lake below. The footpath wound its way through the wild and vast woodland, past streams tumbling over rocks, through lebernum-lined little glades and woodland copse’s filled with moss covered rocks. The path was constantly dotted with beautiful wild flowers; little pops of colour in amongst the stone and dirt. Along the way the route gave us tantalising little glimpses of the valley below, where the bright green of the lake would just be visible through the trees until the vegetation gave way to a beautiful view of the lake with the town tumbling down the hillside to its shore.

Having already covered about six miles we dropped in to the town for a timely refreshment stop consisting of a cold drink and a boccanotto – a delicous local sweet delicacy of crumbly pastry crammed full with chocolate and ground almonds. By this point Peggy was tiring slightly so the return leg was spent half in the rucksack and half trotting along beside us. We arrived back in the small medieval town for a well earned beer and after, as we walked back to the campsite a huge stag stood proudly up on the hillside above us. He turned his huge antlered head towards us, stood still for a few moments, then slid off silently into the camouflage of the trees. A fitting end to a wonderful twelve mile walk.

Once back at the van we decided to make a spur of the moment change of location for that night and packed up and hit the road. We drove for about forty minutes along beautiful valley roads before climbing up and over to a neighbouring valley. The road took us through the most spectacular forest which was a canopy of the brightest green I’ve ever seen. The journey was spent looking for bears but sadly, to no avail. Our chosen location that night was a remote disused quarry, on the side of a hillside accessed only by a dirt track. This wild camping spot came with the most amazing view of the huge valley below, a scene of rolling hills flanked by mountains on one side and dotted with hillside towns and olive groves. We had this wonderful place to ourselves and were seemingly miles from anyone else. Before we settled down for the evening, we boiled some water for a much needed sink wash, stripped off and were merrily enjoying an alfresco freshen up. When blow me, all of a sudden we realised there was another camper van trundling down the track towards us!! Clothes and towels were quickly grabbed but I think the poor new arrivals had already witnessed more than they’d bargained for! A curt ciao was exchanged but there was a distinct lack of eye contact after that…I can’t say I blame them!

After dinner we watched darkness fall, slowly enveloping the valley, the mountain’s shadows became longer and longer until they were indistinguishable against the night sky. The twinkling of lights increased as the light fell and we watched with fascination as each distant town’s street lights flicked on. The accompanying soundtrack was one of tinkling cow bells far below, chirping crickets in the long grass and then the reassuring hoot of a nearby owl on his nightly patrol. A lovely way to end a lovely little trip.