Born to be Wild

Yep, we are getting wilder be the day. I must point out that we are still
having a shower every morning, so we may be wild but we aren't smelly, well
not very.
After leaving San Vito we headed down the west coast past Trapani as we
didn't feel the urge to pop in to the city. The guidebook doesn't exactly
rave, and other people we have spoken to on our travels said it was not
really worth a visit. So, we decided to skip it and head for Marsala
instead. However we didn't manage to find anywhere suitable to park and
leave the van for a while so we just stopped for 30 minutes by the harbour
and had some lunch.
Our next stop was Mazara del Vallo reputed to be the largest fishing port on
the island. Again we only found temporary parking, at the harbour. We could
have stayed the night there but as there we no other campers we didn't
really feel safe, so we decided to push on and try and find an alternative
safe haven for the night. Fortunately we came across the small town of
Granitola Torretta not much further down the coast. There was a small
parking area right above the beach (rocky and covered with sea grass) and
also 2 Italian campers already parked up so we felt ok to stop. We stayed
there 2 nights and it was very pleasant. The town was mostly deserted which
meant it was nice and quiet.
We then ventured further along the coast via Castelvetrano (to stop at the
Lidl there, yes we are a bit pikey) and ended up at the small port of Porto
Palo just a few km from Menfi. We had a great spot there just off the beach
for 5 nights doing not much else than reading and enjoying the sunshine,
when the cold wind wasn't blowing. Steve and Anne were also there, they must
think we are stalking them, and also David and Bernadette another very nice
English couple in a large converted Iveco truck.
Apart from reading etc. we were also on Puppy watch! A local stray dog had
recently had a litter of eight and they were sleeping under the beach bar
shack right by us on the beach. The mother was a lovely dog and the puppies,
too sweet. We don't hold out much hope for them and fear they will end up
being culled sooner or later. For the moment there is a German couple there
keeping an eye on them, and they seem to think that their lazy old Retriever
is the proud dad. He most certainly isn't as we have seen the real dad who
has the same white mark on his head and tail as all the puppies do. At least
while the Germans are there the poor puppies might just stand a chance for a
while longer.
This morning we hit the road again, without any Puppy stowaways although it
was very tempting. Stopping at Sciacca for lunch and watching all the
fishing boats come in with their catch for the day, mostly anchovies and
some swordfish. After trying and failing to locate another Lidl at Ribera,
the home of the orange, we have ended up on another sandy beach at Siculiana
Marina. I think a couple of days here will be nice before we eventually hit
Agrigento this weekend and possibly a campsite for a few days. Well we need
to get some washing done!
Ciao
M&S