Asinara, the extraordinary path of granite

A genuine breeze and the sun, that hides away between the clouds, receive the tourist. From the small and picturesque port of Stintino (SS), you can set sail towards a mystery and uninhabited island. Its outline appears in the background, mixed up among the clouds. The sea is calm; it is deepest blue. Everything is ready for a different day, for a dive in the wildest nature. 

After being left, you coast Punta Negra, with its small coves. Not too far there is the Saracen Tower that overlooks the famous Stintino beach: the Pelosa, with its unique turquoise sea. A tiny islet insert itself between the Tower of Stintino and the docking of Fornelli in the Asinara. A short bare patch of land, with a burning yellow, presents its small tower, him too, laid down nearly on the sea, in that limit of the hill where the land loses itself between the waves that alternate magical colors. 

You can dock quickly to Fornelli. The Medieval ruin of Castellaccio dominates the cove, that stands out against a small promontory. The wind is familial, it is wilder and harder than that behind. Under the ruin, the prison gains the attention. It is a work made by man, who came until here for building. The famous prison of Asinara teems with tourists and where, previously, there were the prisoners, on the contrary, now, children scamper, run after themselves among the open prison cells, with continuous shutter clicks. Moreover, there is a court yard with a small despatch, the notorious cells where some prisoners were pented, the square of the hour of air with a roof made through a metallic net and the long hallways. If there were not that shouting, there would be only the wind that tunes that lament. What is not useful for the primary function for which it was built, anymore, it changes exactly its suit and it becomes tourist attraction, in a passage not always easy and not always less traumas in Sardinia. The mines are the emblem.

A random path, among those in hand: The Path of the Granite, that has a mild sound. You can access in a mule track, called Mule Track of the Granite. Then you can run along another prison, that of Santa Maria. Transported by the habitual wind, you can line the south-east coast. Sea colors are a dazzle. The cricket stops singing when man walks here, the hot weather is a lot, but, the sea breeze represents a big comfort. Every sense finds its satisfaction. A mouflon dominates undisturbed from a protuberance of granite. A small group of albino donkeys graze in the scrub. Shining Corsican seagull makes daring vaults on the waves. It is the apotheosis of the nature. Now the granite controls the environment and it alternates bizarre shapes with hard and rough rocks; other, beaten by the sea forces and by the winds, are sculpted proficiently.

The calm sea receives the rock that enters sweetly into the water. The path is easy. The cove of Li Giorri is a small uncontaminated, lost and lonely jewel of sand, embedded by two light rock promontories. Allowing oneself a bath here, in this enchanting water, far from chaotic chaos of La Pelosa, is a redress, a recapture. After almost three hours of walking, the park of Asinara appears with its splendor. The civilized world is far enough; everything is far enough and now it is easy to hear only the voice of nature.

You carry on to the path, that is harder, but, more beautiful. Next to the coast, now you perforate the granite. It is everywhere, with daring and powerful colors. The wind is a guide, the most faithful mate. The path is signaled by indications: a cave, through a disused tool adrift, advises that here there was the production of the precious stone. But, the surprises are not finished. Near the basin of Sant’Andrea, where sea birds swimm happy, you can glimpse a charm: a fairy tiny plot of sandy land, an incredible wonder of colors, a pearl that does not look true. The blinding sand, the shade of the sea that changes from the turquoise to the cobalt blue, and the perfumed scrub around build an extraordinary patch of idyllic beauty. You can admire from afar this corner of paradise, that is impossible to find elsewhere. Entering is forbidden; you can notice clearly the limit of the protected area. Here, man has to stay out. Some places have to be used in this way, uncontaminated, forgotten and alone with themselves. If the beauty could be represented through a place, certainly, that place would be this one. It is a wonderful union between the scrub, the sea and the next basin that proliferate with the fauna. An accentuate mix of movements, colors and perfumes.

Traversing the way to return that leads to the dock, this image stays still in your mind. After having left the island and the scum wake of the small boat, that looks white filaments that extend little by little you distance yourself from the coast, you travel through again the whole day and you are both amazed and gratified.

The exile elevation of the dock of Fornelli watch each other humbly. Beyond, to the north, there is the biggest upland of the island, Punta della Scomunica (408 m s.l.m.), that dominates over all. But, you can remember the image of the cove of Sant’Andrea, intact, whose never no photo will give justice, far and inviolable, winded up in the silence and in the charm, the sublime stage of one of the many extraordinary paths that only Asinara, island into the island, can offer.