Marfa Ridge
For a map of the route click icon
The Red Tower.
Having arrived at the Armier Crossroad, courtesy of
a No. 45 Bus from St. Paul’s Bay, we decided to
have a look at the Red Tower before commencing our
eastwards walk of about a mile and a half to the
Madonna Statue. The Red Tower was built in the 17th
century as a pirate-warning lookout and, according
to all the guide books I've read, the admission is
free. However, having walked up the hill to reach
it we found that because there was an art
exhibition in the tower that a charge was being
made. As I was not interested in the exhibition, I
considered the £3.00 plus for the two of us to
climb to the top of the tower to be a bit steep.
And, as Anne considered the steps to the top of the
tower to also be a bit steep, we decided to give
this expenditure a miss. However, we did enjoy the
views from the base of the Tower over Mellieha Bay
and north west to Cirkewwa where you can "catch" a
ferry to Gozo.
Going down the hill back to the Armier Crossroads
we were surprised at the number of people about.
And then we realised it was Freedom Day, a Bank
Holiday to celebrate the withdrawal of British
Forces from Malta in 1979. There were going to be
more people about than we expected.
Looking across the Armier Crossroads and along the
Marfa Ridge Road,
which leads to the Madonna Statue
Normally we don’t like walking along roads but this
stretch, that went towards the Madonna Statue, was
not very busy. Car owners may have been reluctant
to use it because of all the potholes. However, we
found it very pleasant with the flowers on either
side of the road beginning to bloom in the spring
sunshine. Initially some of the adjacent land was
cultivated but as we neared Rdum il Hmar the land
on our right became more scrub-like and was being
well used by the locals who were enjoying Bank
Holiday BBQs and picnics. We moved off the road to
this area and followed coastal paths, which gave us
spectacular sea and coastline views.
Looking back from near the end of the Marfa Ridge
Road.
Picnickers, Coralline Limestone Cliffs and the Red
Tower in the distance.
Soon, having done a small amount of uphill work, we
came to the end of our north easterly route and
reached the Madonna Statue. It was smaller than I
expected but I certainly was not disappointed with
its windswept location and yet more superb views.
Despite the condition of the road to the statue the
number of vehicles about indicated that this was a
popular spot.
The Madonna Statute.
We now turned left and walked with the coast on our
right and experienced some of the most difficult
flat walking we had ever encountered. The coralline
limestone in this area is more or less totally
uncovered and it is like walking on hard, enlarged,
fractured honeycombs. As we walked, the cliffs
reduced in height and we saw a couple of fishermen
trying their luck with rod and line in the azure
sea. Both Anne and I fancied a sit down but we had
not got cushions with us and we certainly would
have needed some to make ourselves comfortable on
this part of the terrain. It really was a relief to
get to Ahrax Point at the end of this stretch of
the walk and on to a marginally less jagged
surface.
The White Tower at Ahrax Point.
Very close to Ahrax Point, which is the most
northerly place on the main island of Malta, there
is a very large hole in the rocks – about 80 foot
long and 45 foot wide. Needless to say I approach
this area with care as if I’d fallen in the only
way out would have been an "exciting" swim through
a limestone archway into the open sea. It certainly
was an impressive piece of erosion. We then walked
south west.
An impressive piece of erosion
By now we were getting hungry and thirsty and in
need of sustenance. We passed close to the White
Tower, another invader lookout point, and soon
arrived at Ramla tat-Torri, which I understand in
English means Slug Bay. Not a very nice name, and I
wasn’t impressed with the place; It was wall to
wall holiday homes, most of which resembled
expensive shacks. So we quickly continued on to the
Armier Bay where we discovered "Ray’s Lido"
situated right on the sea edge. The lady who looked
after us, Sandra, was very helpful. In no time at
all she had drinks in front of us and we sat
enjoying them overlooking the blue sea and the
Island of Comino in the distance. Yachts were out.
We could even see the Gozo Ferries steaming in and
out of Cirkewwa. We both agreed that this was what
a holiday should be like. So we had another drink
with our Pizza (we had been very good and this was
the only one we had all the time we were on Malta)
and were very reluctant to leave such a lovely
spot.
Anne enjoying the sun and a drink "Ray's Lido",
with Comino in the distance.
At the south end of Armier Bay we took the main
road for a 100 or so yards, and just as it did a
sharp left turn we carried straight on. By doing
this we were able to cut across the headland and
after passing through another small bay we came to
the Ramla Bay Hotel. It, and the adjacent hotel,
shared an impressive location with wonderful views
north westwards to Comino and Gozo. The Ramla Bay
also had its own private beach. However we did feel
these hotels were a little bit out of the way for
exploring the rest of the island and certainly
preferred our holiday base at St Paul’s Bay
Flowers - lots of them
along the path on the way to Ramla Bay.
Although we had originally intended to walk from
the hotels back to the Armier Crossroads we
realised that we only had to go a few yards further
along the coast and we would "hit" the road between
Cirkewwa and the rest of the Island. So we had an
easy stroll along the road to the bus stop and
waited for a "45". This meant we got back to the
our hotel earlier than planned which gave us time
for a cup of tea, or was it something a little bit
stronger, on our balcony.