Vam anar a Mallorca, Day 6: Cap de Formentor, Cala Figuera, Coll Baix, Playa S'illot, Es Guix, and Port Valldemossa

November 10, 2019

This was a long day and will therefore be a long post. That's going to be a continuing trend for this trip. But it was a great day, and so should be a great post!

One of the biggest natural tourist attractions on Mallorca is Cap de Formentor, a long peninsula terminating in switchbacks leading to a lighthouse. I had seen quite a few of the same photos of the lighthouse, and wanted to find a less common viewpoint. Ted and Calla also said that it wasn't worth fighting the crowds to see it. Busloads of people kind of crowds. So, I did what any good tourist who is trying to see less tourists does: I planned to go early. That plan works especially well in Mallorca, as most places don't even start seeing the beginnings of crowds until maybe 10am.

Not long before I departed on this adventure, maybe a day or two prior, I discovered that the road to the lighthouse, and along much of the peninsula, closes to non-bus traffic 10am-7pm. Whoa, good catch! So, I tweaked the plan from get in early to get in very early, tour around, get out by 10am. That last part proved to be tricky; more on that later in this post.

I had previously been disappointed when I realized that most of the trip to Mallorca would be during a partial or full moon, negating all but a slight opportunity to photograph the Milky Way. Well, I found that sliver of a chance as I drove out to Cap Formentor before daylight. The moon had just set and the sun wasn't quite illuminating the horizon yet. I had about 20-30 minutes where it was dark enough, so I stopped at the first pull-off I could find on the otherwise shoulderless road and got this rushed 2 frame x 2 frame panorama shot. I started to capture some additional frames but they were washed out because the closest star to us was already permeating the night sky.

Don't let the brightness of the Milky Way shot fool you. That photo is bright because of the camera settings and a 20" long exposure. When I say I got out there early, I mean it. Here was my view five minutes later as I scrambled up a rocky hill to get a view of the Cap:

I nailed it! I was so excited cresting the hill to find out that my planning had come together. I sat alone on a hill, mere feet from the cliff's edge, and watched the sun rise over the lighthouse. In the meantime, I saw only a handful of cars and every single one of them went to the lighthouse proper.

After the warm glow of the sunrise turned to another bright, blue day, I turned my focus to the noises that I kept hearing flying by the cliffs. There were Eleonora's falcons roosted in these steep cliffs, right under me!

A real bonus was seeing both the regular form and the dark morph! I watched them soar, dive, and swoop along the cliffs. I even managed to catch a shot of one mid-dive!

Don't worry mom, I was sitting down!

Here's what the road out was like. So much fun driving these roads when there wasn't any traffic. A bit nerve-racking later on when there was traffic though, especially bus traffic!

I had a bit of time until the deadline to drive out, so I headed to Cala Figuera. The hike down was nice, but did have some washouts and such near the base.

I did a short snorkel, checking out the cool rocks on the SW side of the cove and swimming into a tiny cave.

I, of course, stayed too long and had about 10-15 minutes to get out beyond the road closure point before 10am. I was moving briskly up the trail in the hot sun when I realized that there were dozens of trails, most of which were made by goats and that the one I was on was a dead end. I ended up having to just scramble straight up the hill through the brush and trees to get to the car. Threw everything in and hauled butt out. Made it out with about 30 seconds to spare. In fact, someone was kind enough to move the barricade as I raced up so that I could get out. I parked and took a few deep breaths. I don't know if there really would have been any consequences, but I read somewhere that there was a camera at the closure point and that tickets are administered, so I'm glad I didn't have to find out.

I headed into Port de Pollença to park in the shade, get some water, and plot my next move. I decided to head up to Coll Baix. The last bit of the road was quite rough, but I made it to the parking lot to find it filled with other compact cars. I started the hike in, but it was very steep and I was still gassed from my latest scramble. It would have had to head back to the car as soon as I got to the bottom anyway, as I had a prized lunch reservation at Es Guix soon. So, instead, I enjoyed the view from part-way down and moved along to the next stop.

Because I didn't do the full hike and swim at Coll Baix, I was still a bit early for lunch at Es Guix, so I stopped at Playa de S'illot to take some photos of the gorgeous water.

It was finally time to eat at Es Guix! Located near the Monastery in Lluc (from latin for "sacred forest"), this restaurant was renowned for its delicious local dishes and for its spring-fed swimming pool. It was the other "must-do" on my list.

Any negative reviews of the restaurant are almost exclusively related to being turned away without a reservation, so I booked a slot for a late (by U.S. standards) lunch and made sure to show up on time. They did not have their pig specialty on the day that I was able to book, but I enjoyed a deliciously tender, slow-cooked goat lunch. I ate Mallorca-style, enjoying the view and not being in any rush. After lunch, I took a refreshing dip in the pool and under the small waterfall before stopping to photograph the gardens on the way out.

Every night, Laura had to endure my ramblings about the amazing sights and flavors that I had enjoyed around the island while she had been in a conference. I recognized that with the sun setting so late, she could actually come out on a dinner trip with me one night. One of the most romantic towns that I had seen on my various routes had been Valldemossa, but I hadn't stopped there. I looked at a few restaurant options there, but realized she would likely want to see the sea, so found the restaurant Es Port in Port Valldemossa. We would still get to drive through the town proper, and would also get the bonus of descending the steep road to the port town. Laura had plans to go to dinner with Ash Hood, so we invited her to come with. Ash was glad to get out and see some more of Mallorca than just the conference at the aquarium.

Did I say "steep"? I meant to say "steep and narrow and winding"!

Having Ash along was really nice. I have a hard time putting the camera down, but I didn't have to quit taking pictures because the ladies had lots to talk about and look at.