Archaeological walks, cooking classes, birdwatching … All very pleasant activities, which in Sicily can be done in special settings. But if you want something different, here are five tips for a more unusual escape from everyday life.
Swim with the mermaids
From myth to reality, mermaids accompany anyone who wants to swim with them in the crystal clear waters of the Egadi Islands. Mermaiding is an aquatic discipline that reproduces the swimming of mermaids.
Wearing a particular sheath that ends with a monofin, you dive with an instructor to learn the movements and secrets of this very particular swimming, not tiring and quite useful to strengthen dorsal and lumbosacral muscles as well as to tone legs and buttocks and acquire fluidity in the movements even out of the water.
Mermaiding in Sicily with Aquamarine allows you to enjoy the sea and the depths of the Egadi Islands, if you book a mini-cruise on a sailing boat with mermainding course included.
Walk with an alpaca
Are diving activities not for you? Well, then let’s go to high altitudes for a relaxing walk with the alpacas. Luciano Domanti has brought these animals to Sicily, on Etna, in 2016, when he started his small breeding. You can book a very pleasant walk through the woods and lava flows at 1500 meters above sea level, along simple panoramic paths, also suitable for children.
Walking with the animal next to you, you assume a slow and calm pace, perfect for resting your body and mind. Once back at the base you can watch the demonstration of how alpaca wool is processed, a very soft and hypoallergenic material.
Fly over the mountains
After the sea and the land, I propose the sky. The San Mauro Castelverde zipline has been inaugurated in 2020 and allows you to see the Madonie peaks and valleys from a height of 170 meters.
You fly, firmly attached to a rope, for over a kilometer and a half, reaching a speed of 130 km / h. Starting from a height of almost a thousand meters (it is the only Italian zipline with a departure station so high), the panorama is vast, from the mountains to the sea with the Aeolian Islands on one side and Ustica on the other. A truly breathtaking flight.
Get back in shape on the thyme
The next activity I propose is inside a greenhouse. Enrico Russino and his family have been cultivating aromatic and medicinal plants for fifteen years in their company Gli Aromi in Scicli, and here they also offer sensory and emotional paths among the herbs.
Doesn’t that seem unusual enough to you? Well, then book your yoga or pilates class on a TappeTimo, a soft Thymus ciliatus carpet on which every movement is lighter… and fragrant. Inside the greenhouses, Enrico arranges wedding parties, tastings and more. You can also book a desk at the coworking Amandula Hub or simply relax. Everything with a sea view.
Collect the salt
At last, we move to Marsala, more precisely on the banks of the Stagnone lagoon where, for centuries, the salt pans have been active. The system of coastal tanks in which seawater is allowed to enter and evaporate, to finally collect the purest salt, is of medieval origin and has changed very little over time. It is still largely manual work – and it is possible to give it a try.
Equipped with a special shovel and boots, you enter the tanks to collect the fleur de sel, under the guidance of an expert salt worker. Afterward, you can visit the museum and also taste the different types of salt (no, there is not only one!).
