It seems to me I am trying to tell you a dream-making a vain attempt, because no relation of a dream can convey the dream-sensation, that commingling of absurdity, surprise, and bewilderment in a tremor of struggling revolt, that notion of being captured by the incredible which is of the very essence of dreams..
(Joseph Conrad)
Written and translated by Stefano Vascotto
The dolphins
I had always a dream: I wanted to celebrate my birthday at sea. Never achieved, because the clichés of usual parties with cake and candles at the end is always more attractable than a hard paddling day. One day I finally decided and my gift would have been the famous Cala Coticcio, the Thaiti of Giuseppe Garibaldi. On Caprera, the “hero of two worlds” perhaps forgot his restlessness as a man always roaming in searching for other revolutions.
It was a cool morning, even if we were at the end of October, and another time, Sardinia was started poking holes in everything I thought about the seasons. It was giving a second summer to us islanders.
The kayak glided on the water of the bay, a greeting to a foreigner and, once again, a look to the beautiful Cala Portese. Now I was alone with myself. A sea, as flat as a table, opened to my sight, my heartbeats slowed down and a feeling of peace began to surround me. Everything seemed so romantic, but I was there only to rebuild a life fell apart.
I chose that place because it is so familiar to me, it has always welcomed me with the embrace of its amazing nature. I knew every corner along the coast and, in fact, my goal was different. I was looking for that positive solitude that the blue sea could offer me. Without troubles, without tormented thoughts, I was coming to a state of mind sharpened by paddling; Looking for a bit of enthusiasm unreachable elsewhere. Watching the bow of the kayak, I kept the right route, sometimes having a look to the rocky coastline slowly running on my left.
At one point I felt somebody else was there, in that desolate part of Caprera. A breath behind my kayak, almost a whisper, was taking me away from my lonely brooding about my last disastrous months. I looked around but my eyes could see nothing, except the wake of my Seabird. Only another whisper, this time stronger, finally made me turn around for the last time. It was at that exact moment I saw those lovely creatures jumping out of the water, and they took my breath away. Happy as a child, I started to scream to the sky thinking to myself: here you are Stefano, it didn’t take so long to give you back the reason why you are down here. Leave everything behind you – said that voice – because life is still amazing, even with simple things, and nothing is really lost. At the very moment when you think you have a heart of stone, it only takes a moment to fall in love with life again.
A window by the sea
I think it’s not possible to leave Caprera without a visit to Garibaldi’s house. It is a must, of course, for those italians who have a patriotic spirit. For those who are interested in history, for the admirers of the Hero, or people who are curious. The guided tour, within the hidden corners of the rooms, may be a boring experience for many of the visitors. But for others, the most emotional moment spent in the Archipelago of La Maddalena.
My experience has been evolved over the time, years after years. Every time I have been there, slowly, my attention has focused on details that I had not noticed before. The guided tour starts from the granite courtyard where you can admire the pine tree planted by the Hero in the early years of his time on Caprera. Then it continues, explained by the custodians, with an iconographic path on the life of the sailor Garibaldi, the warrior, the revolutionary. But above all on the private details of his eventful life. His stuff is everything: his passions, his lovers, his family.
In recent years, I focused my attention on the end of the tour when I entered inside the bedroom, the room he died in. He spent there the last moments of his life. On the wall, a clock stopped at 6:20 pm, a canopy bed, and that window open to the sea, facing the north with the view of Corse beyond the haze. I’ve never seen that image as sad. Romantic but not sad. For him, perhaps, the icon of hope, a desire of peace, the last will to see his Nice again. Or maybe just the desire to stay alone for the last time, to imagine himself on the waves of the ocean, looking for a new adventure.
And that sea, the beloved element that made him know the world, friends and enemies, is there, framed in that window. It means a collective unconscious connecting all those who have passed through that bedroom door. And, above all, the image of those who still believe in a sea that unites and never divides human beings.
A sore point
It is true, Cala Coticcio is so famous to have been abused on different social media. Pictures created with the aim of saying: “I have been there, me too”. Above all they show a paradise with an inappropriate number of bathers. The question is: what’s so great about pictures showing a fascinating place filled with boats, big yachts and girls who take photos with their new bikini, instead of capture the amazing nature? Nothing, I say. I am sure, my Caprera is different. There’s no room for the banality of modern times. No place for this “hit and run” tourism.
I have visited these places for a long time. Sometimes in summer, but many times in another season, but now it’s time for me to think about my island from other points of view. And this is my chance to get a little something of my chest.
I mean, Caprera doesn’t benefit from the expansion in tourism during the summer. Yes, it’s a good thing for La Maddalena people and their economy, but we are stepping on a National Park, and the unchecked rise of attendance on the island, risks compromising that fragile ecosystem. Tourism in Sardinia should not be strictly business, and it is our duty to take step forward in this direction: we have to legistate rules – never too restrictive but clear for everyone – which allow a constant monitoring the access to the protected areas. In fact today, it is anachronistic when we see traffic jams on the roads that lead to the beaches. It is harmful and dangerous for visitors themselves.
Maybe we need to dust off certain plans about public transport services including electric traction systems, rental of e-bikes that allow everybody to move quickly on such a small island.
Despite the granite rocks can make them invincible, Caprera and the entire Archipelago need protection can also start with a few simple things. Visitors will thank to find a place of another era, wild and heavenly. In the meantime I will visit my island in off season, as always admiring its beautiful nature.