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Extending westwards from the Golfe de St-Florent to the mouth of the Ostriconi River, the Desert des Agriates is a vast area of uninhabited land, dotted with clumps of cacti and scrub-covered hills. It may appear inhospitable now, but during the time of the Genoese this rocky moonscape was, as its name implies, a veritable bread basket ( agriates means "cultivated fields"). In fact, so much wheat was grown here that the Italian overlords levied a special tax on grain to prevent any build-up of funds that might have financed an insurrection. Fires and soil erosion eventually took their toll, however, and by the 1970s the area had become a total wilderness. Numerous crackpot schemes to redevelop the Desert have been mooted over the years - from atomic weapon test zones to concrete Club-Med-style resorts - but during the past two decades the government has gradually bought up the land from its various owners (among them the Rothschild family) and designated it as a protected nature reserve. Nevertheless, species such as the Agriates' rare wild boar remain under threat, mainly from trigger-happy hunters and bush fires. A couple of rough pistes wind into the desert, but without some kind of 4WD vehicle the only feasible way to explore the area and its rugged coastline, which includes two of the island's most beautiful beaches , is by foot. From St-Florent, a recently inaugurated pathway winds northwest to plage de Perajola, just off the main Calvi highway (N1197), in three easy stages. The first takes around 5hr 30min, and leads past the famous Martello tower and much-photographed plage de Loto to plage de Saleccia , a huge sweep of soft white sand and turquoise sea that was used a location for the invasion sequences in the film The Longest Day . There's a seasonal campsite here, U Paradisu (tel 04.95.37.82.51; closed Nov-April). From plage de Saleccia, it takes around three hours to reach the second night halt, plage de Ghignu , where a simple gite d'etape (tel 04.95.37.09.86) provides basic facilities for 50F/?7.60 per night. The last stretch to Perajola can be covered in under six hours. Note that the only water sources along the route are at Saleccia and Ghignu, so take plenty with you. It's also worth knowing that between May and October, excursion boats , leaving throughout the day from the jetty in St-Florent marina (50F/?7.60), ferry passengers across the gulf to plage de Loto. If you time your walk well, you can pick one up for the return leg back to town.
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