One for the kids...

Kokopelli for the kids?  Not a market we've expected, considered or even courted, but one that is most very welcome!  Indeed, the more we think about it, the more we realise why we are being contacted by, and enjoying the company of, more and more families.

Abruzzo is perfect.  It is a wonderful natural playground.  We have woods and wilderness, open plains and shady plunge pools.  We have mountains, and wolves and bears and chamois.  We have natural beaches, blue flag beaches, sandy beaches, rocky coves.  We even have woodland fairies!

And Abruzzo, like the rest of Italy, absolutely loves children.  You'll be welcomed wherever you go.

And as for Kokopelli itself?  My own children spent their summers in the natural playground of Scottish Grampians, free and safe to run around, explore, play make-believe, build and discover.  No TV, no internet.  In other words, just to be children as children should be.  This is what we have at Kokopelli.  Freedom and space.

If you do happen to fancy something a little more "laid on" then the following, all within the Majella National Park, should keep your children (the big and the little) more than happy, the adults too!

The Majella National Park 
(ie our home and playground)


Festa of the Gnome!  Three days of woodland fairies, picnics, storytelling, theatre and games    http://www.abruzzotucur.com/festanazionaledeglignomi.html

Treetop adventure park with walkways, bridges and tunnels in a Tyrolean scenery:  http://www.parconaturalemajella.it/parco-avventura-majella

Another treetop adventure park:  http://www.majagreen.it/Home.html

Excursions into the Majella, hiking, mountain biking, summer camps, environmental education, visitor centres, nature and wildlife museums, acheological sites, botanical gardens, these guys have it all.  The emphasis, of course, on the environment and sustainable tourism:  http://www.majambiente.it/



Whitewater rafting on the Aventino river:  http://www.rafting.abruzzo.it/


A little bit further afield

Kayaking, and other active adventures on the Tirino and within the Tirino valley:  http://www.ilbosso.com/

Aqualand!  Needs no explanation, waterslide fun for everyone:  http://www.aqualandvasto.com/

Falconry in L'Aquila.  Monthly walks with falcons, buzzards and a wolf!  http://www.falcong.it/#

...and then, of course, there are the beaches:

Abruzzo summer - Kokopelli Style:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhQWCyhtxLo

Planting by the Moon & Stars

With help from my friend and neighbour, Paola Pomilio, I've been reading and learning about planting by the phases of the moon and the stars.  With its roots in folklore and superstition, yes, you're right to be sceptical but, and it's a big but, following the rhythms of Mother Nature has got to be good, right?

So, I learn and I try.  And today is a good day to start.  A new moon.

Full moon at Kokopelli

The new & full moons:  when the sun and the moon are lined up with the earth, at the time of the new and full moon, the tides are at their highest.  Just as the moon pulls the tides, so it also pulls upon the water in the earth causing moisture to rise in the soil, and hence stimulate growth.  Makes sense?  Tests have even proven that seeds will absorb the most water at the time of the full moon.  So more than just folklore.

Mother Nature knows best.

Increasing moonlight (a waxing moon): the increasing moonlight, that follows the new moon, combines with the high moisture content of the earth to create optimum conditions for balanced root and leaf growth.  As such, this is the time to plant above ground crops that produce their seeds outside the fruit:  lettuce, spinach, celery, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, sweetcorn, cucumber and so on.

Kokopelli tomatoes

Decreasing moonlight (a waning moon): after the full moon, although the moisture content of the soil is high, the moonlight is decreasing.  The focus of energy therefore goes from the leaves to the roots.  A good time for your root crops: beets, carrots, onions, potatoes, etc.

So far, so good.  Couple the phases of the moon with the constellations of the stars and you start to fine tune.

Working with nature.  Beautiful.

The Zodiac constellations:  the moon cycles through all the constellations that make up the zodiac during a lunar month.  Each sign of the zodiac is considered to be an earth, air, fire or water sign and, as the moon passes through each, a window of opportunity is given for various gardening tasks.

Earth signs (Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo):  The best time for below ground growth, so perfect for root crops, planting and transplanting seedlings.

Air signs (Libra, Aquarius, Gemini):  when the moon is in an air sign, this is a good time to harvest, cultivate and preserve.

Kokopelli Figs

Fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius):  harvesting during a fire sign, a barren and dry period, will help to prevent spoilage, it's a good time to weed, till the soil and to prune; but it is also still a good time to plant crops grown for their seeds.

Kokopelli herb garden

Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces): the best time for the healthy growth and planting of above ground leafy annuals.

So there you have it.  Moon planting in a nutshell.  If you'd like to explore further, most of the information was pulled from the following sites, who go into fabulous but simple detail:
http://www.gardeningbythemoon.com/lunarfacts.html
http://www.the-gardeners-calendar.co.uk/Moon_Planting.asp#

Happy planting!

Off-road to the Volto Santo

Distance:  17km

Elevation: Min - 241m, Max - 451m

Total ascent:  685m

Mode: Mountain Bike, but would be rather nice to walk too, particularly if going via the Abbazia di San Liberatore (see separate guide)

Grade: Moderate (steep & rocky in places)

Turn left out of Kokopelli, descend to the bottom of the lane and turn left to go the short distance into Serramonacesca.

The road from Kokopelli into Serra

Continue through the village, staying on the main road all the way down to the river and then up for 1.5 km until you reach Colle Serra on your left.  Take this turning.

There’s now a long climb up Colle Serra.  Take your time, you've got a lot of climbing to do!

Over to your right you’ll get a rather glorious view of the Volto Santo which looks tantalisingly close.  But you’re not going direct, you’re going up the mountain!

The Volto Santo - not that far is it?

Renovation projects anyone?

You’ll go past a rather lovely derelict house screaming out of a bit of TLC and renovation and the tarmac eventually becomes a dirt track.  

Not long after the road becomes a dirt track you’ll see a fork off to the left, ignore this and continue on past another very charming derelict cottage.  

The track does start to get a lot steeper and rugged enough to challenge the most hardy of bikers.  But any walking and pushing you may have to do, although harsh, will be short lived and well worth the effort, particularly when the descents begin.  

You do, eventually, get to go down hill too!

You will reach a junction with a sharp right that takes you down the hill, or left to continue up.  Despite what your legs are telling you, continue up.  Eventually, some 3km from when you first turned into Colle Serra you will reach tarmac once more.  

Down hill all the way now :-)

Turn right here and enjoy the long sweep all the way down to the Basilica di Volto Santo.

The Volto Santo

Do go in (covering bare legs & shoulders) to pay your respects to the veil of Christ (http://www.voltosanto.it/Inglese/index.php).  Don’t miss out on the museum upstairs either, it’s full of fascinating artifacts of times gone by.  

If your ride has built up a hunger, don’t be put off by the basic frontage of the wooden shack outside selling arrosticini and pizza. The food is superb and supplied by local gastronomer “Lu Gattone” (http://www.lugattone.it/index.asp)

On the way back, it is possible to put in a couple of slightly different routes to ring the changes and save back tracking the same route all the way:

From the Volto Santo, start heading back up the hill the way you came but after about 200m you’ll see a small road (Contrada Baccigno) on your left sign posted “Pescara”.  Take this and continue for about 600m until you reach another small junction, turn right and stay on this road, continuing to climb, for about 1km. 

Take the left fork down

There’s a small track off to the left here that you need to take.  If you get to the stone mason’s plot, you’ve gone too far.

This track (steep in places) takes you nicely back to the rough track you came in on at the top of Colle Serra.

...and enjoy the views over to Manoppello

Enjoy the well-earned long sweep down Colle Serra (and the views across to Manoppelo) until you reach the junction at the bottom.  Instead of turning right here to head back towards Serra, turn left then immediate right and right again.  

Not a bad watering hole before the
final ascent back up to Garifoli

This road winds all the way down to the fiume Alento before climbing up to Serra coming into the village under the arch via the centro storico (the old, and very charming, historic centre).  Low & behold, right by the arch, is a bar.  Nice one.  Cold beer awaits :-)

Enjoy your beer, remembering to keep enough in the tank for the final 100m “sting in the tail” climb back up to Kokopelli!

Walking Guide: Up to the Montepiano

GARIFOLI - MONTEPIANO

Start: Kokopelli

Distance:  8.5 km

Time: 2 hours

Grade:  Easy, but with some pretty steep ups & downs

Turn right out of Kokopelli and take the first left into Contrada San Martino and after 500m take the gravel track on the right.  Continue up the hill for another 500m and you’ll go past a derelict house on your right, keep following the main track onwards and upwards, taking in the stunning views across the valley.  

Eventually the track reaches a tarmac road towards the top of the hill (although there is still a bit more climbing to do!).  Turn right here and follow the tarmac road past a few houses.  Try not to deviate here down anyone’s drive but continue along the main pathway up and into the woods.

The terrain will slowly change as you come out of the woods and become very volcanic.  Here it becomes absolutely fascinating.  It’s its own little micro climate with an abundance of wild flowers and ferns growing in and around the large volcanic boulders.

After about another 1km you’ll reach a junction, take the right track.  Here you can either stay on the main path, taking the right hand track (when you reach it), which will take you all the way up until it ends at the cliff face at the very top of the Montepiano.  If you take this route, continue your walk back into Garifoli from *** below.

The other option you have is to explore in and around the volcanic boulders.  If you keep your eye out to the left you will see a small path amongst the rocks.  Follow this and you’ll have a real treat!  The volcanic boulders form its own amazing natural rock garden, full of flowers and butterflies.  Just beautiful.  

Eventually, you’ll reach a small tarmac road with a house in front of you.  Turn left here, go down the hill past a large building with a chapel attached and, just on the bend, look out for a small track on your right with a couple of little stone steps.  This will take you back into the woods and follows a long stone wall

At the end of the track, you’ll see a wire fence facing you.  Turn right here.  

After a short distance the main track goes to the left, but look out for and take a small track on your right.  Keep following this track, it opens out, gets a bit wider and you will pass a large pole route marked in red and yellow with the number 10.

You are now on an official trail!

Turn right and head on up the tarmac road until you reach the flag pole, turn right here.

This track takes you all the way to the top of the Montepiano which, even though the track finishes at the cliff edge, it is well worth following for the fabulous views across the valley.

*** Make your way back down the track the way you came and look out for a track on your right marked by two trees, one with white baler twine and one with a piece of plastic.  

This track will eventually come out of the woods and you’ll get a fabulous view all the way down our Alento valley with the Torre Polegra in the distance in front of you.  

Drop down the hill until you hit the track at the bottom, turn right here and follow the pathway until it returns to Garifoli and Kokopelli.

Into the Calanchi by MTB

We got into "Calanchi land" through the arch way by Fatseo's bar that takes you through old Serra, down to the river, onto a dirt track and up and up and up towards the peaks of the calanchi.

Finally, after a long old slog where pushing the bikes was the only option, and even then I was almost beaten by the almost vertical climb, we could see the track unfolding in front of us.

But we still continued to climb, down for a bit, which was heavenly relief, and then up and up and up again we went.  Up for over 100m.  But the views were spectacular, and not a soul to be seen, apart from the shepherd with his sheep, goats and dogs.

Serra, as always, looking so pretty in the valley.

The weird clay formations of the calanchi, with the sea on the horizon, never fail to fascinate.

When, at long last, we reached the road and the long, long sweep down, the freedom and the joy of our descent was temporarily broken by an enforced puncture pitstop.  Not a bad place for a puncture though.

Although the storm clouds where looking pretty dramatic over the mountains of the Majella in the distance, we had a glorious day of bright, hot, sunshine, empty roads and superb views.

Our ride took a very different turn altogether as we descended into the valley and picked up the river bed of the Alento, which we followed almost all the way back, criss-crossing our way in and out of the river.

At one point, we came across some off-roaders having as much fun on the river bed as we were - I'm not sure who was more surprised to find they were not alone, us or them!

Finally our fun in the cooling river was over, and we were climbing back up the calanchi under the hot hot sun.

But it was worth it.

Great fun we had, skidding and sliding our way back down...

Until we were back were we started, in the bar with a very very welcome ice-cold beer!

25km, with probably more bike pushing than bike riding, but what a great route and what a great day.