Capraia ... volcanic getaway
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The fact that the town of Capraia is rather small is, to the right traveler, one of the island's attractions. But there is much to the overall package. The island itself is not that small and would take a full day of hiking to walk from one end to the other and back. A large section of the island and the sea bordering its' coast is an Italian wildlife preserve. You are not allowed to drive a boat through the protected area of the sea and are not allowed to hike around within the preserve itself. But there are no trails inside the preserve area and one of the most impressive trails does provide great views down to the sea in that area.

Hiking is definitely one of the best things to do on Capraia. There are trails dating back to the Etruscans, which I am told, were used for logging the island to feed the copper smelting furnaces on Elba. If that is true, the deforestation of centuries past remains since few large trees grow in the island's rocky soils today. The oldest trails are actually paved with large stones. Starting from the town they gradually ascend into the mountains, the tallest being Mt. Castello at 445 meters. Thanks to the major trails being made on rather gentle inclines, the hiking is not very rigorous ... until the trail disappears! To us it is a courtesy that the Italians have a generally open attitude about inherent risk. It's your choice to do what ever you want and if you fall off of that cliff ... maybe you shouldn't have been doing that. When hiking, you get a map of the island showing the trails and off you go, confident in your ability to follow the map. Apparently we chose to take a circular route that most people do not and the trail just plain vanished. From the top of a hill we could clearly see the road where the trail was supposed to take us. Hunting back and forth to locate the trail only tired us out and consumed the last of our water as the sun rose to high noon. I should note here that the flora on a dry rocky island like Capraia is anything but soft and definitely not as sparse as it looks. A decision to bushwhack was made and several hours later we emerged from the hillside bruised, bleeding and covered with a layer of sweat-soaked bright red pollen from some type of bush. Of course, we could have backtracked but it did prove to be a memorable adventure.

And then there is the sea, which is very clean and beautiful around Capraia. But the coast is largely made up of steep, rocky cliffs and there is only one true coastal beach on the island that appears and disappears with the tides and the whims of the sea gods (don't ask ... it's Italy). You can only get to it by boat and there are two options, unless you travel with your own boat. Pay a small fee and a guy that looks like a Saracen pirate drives you a short distance along the coast in a zodiac and picks you up later in the day. Or rent a small boat and head out on the high seas yourself. Remember that coming back alive is your problem. They gave us a very small map, and when we asked if there were any shoals to be aware of all they said was "just watch out for that rock near the harbor". We asked if there would be enough gas to go all the way around the island (including staying well off the coast by the preserve) and the answer was "should be". I don't know where the current would take you if you ran out of gas, or broke down. Corsica is only 16 kilometers to the east but it's a long way to Africa. We hugged the coast to be safe, and the ride down to see the remnants of the volcano at the other end of the island was well worth it. We were also able to choose some great coves to swim in along the way. There is also a decent public place to swim from the rocks below the town and those who are so inclined can rent a chair and umbrella while pretending they are in Capri.

But for our money, Capraia was a fun exploration and a little out of the ordinary.

Don't forget to check out the links to specific Capraia details in the left column below the main NotAMall categories.