In Search of Zingaro

You find wonderful places in Sicily when you're lost. And Zingaro Nature Reserve is one of our most beloved discoveries on this island.

By the afternoon of day 2, I turned to Rob at the Lido on San Vito Beach and whispered..."if I lay here like sedentary seal for another minute and shove another triscuit in my mouth I'm going to be very cranky." He, too, was ready for a change of scenery....so off we went to Zingaro for a little adventure.



Just about 10 miles out of San Vito about 5 miles of coast has been protected since 1981 as a nature reserve for native birds, flora and fauna. There's a 3 euro admission but the park's people are happy to extend Sigonellans the same one-euro discount that they extend to Italian Military.

On our first visit, we only ventured to this first cove for sun, snorkeling and a swim.

The day later we returned with The Arnold's and ventured on a two-mile hike (in my flip flops) to the second beach, the cave and museum houses --- as I whined and complained every step of the way...But along the hike there were a number of irresistible inlets and crazy beautiful coves!




It is believed that the reserve area had been inhabited since the prehistoric period as they've found human remains in caves from the Paleolithic period.

And the area has been known since ancient times for the abundance of tuna, so much that the Greeks called it "Cetaria" - earth of the tunas.

Zingaro, which means 'gypsy' according to Christine, seems like an appropriate name for this reserve considering its history.

The Arabs built a country house here, which was inhabited by fishermen and shepherds and, in 1235, Frederic II the Swabian, after having annexed it with all the feud to the city Mounte San Giuliano, granted the property to a group of settlers of Piacenza, who soon left because of the continuous pirate incursions. In those centuries, in fact, the pirates who infested the low Mediterranean sea, used the bay of Scopello as a base for their raids: mooring the ships behind the stacks, they were practically invisible from the open sea.