Spectacular Sardinia

-excerpt from a writing assignment

I prayed all the photos of Sardinia I had ever seen were not PhotoShopped.

As we headed out of the lagoon area, Lauren gunned the engine and we rounded the peninsula.  I truly gasped at the dazzling brilliance that lay in front of me.  Miles and miles in front of me.  There was a long minute of speechlessness, and then I heard the first, “This is totally amazing.”

The creamy white cliffs stretched the entire coastline out to the distant horizon. The uniquely beautiful rock vanished into the dazzling, sapphire-blue Mediterranean Sea.  From a distance, the rock surface looked smooth and rounded, but as we got closer, we could see yellowish orange tints, black streaks, jagged edges and deep clefts.  The rock went on and on and only the occasional black, yawning cavern broke the cliff lines.  Deep green vegetation crawled upwards upon the cliffs, into crevices and onto ledges.

No one spoke much for those first 15 minutes of bliss.  It was us and nature.  The awesome majesty of millions of years of nature.  You could just feel it.  Trolling slowly, 400 meters out and no other boats in sight, we were lucky.  Everywhere we looked we saw blue and white:  dazzling blue water, white rocky cliffs, clear turquoise blue sky and a rare white, puffy cloud.

As we decided where to beach, the water changed from sapphire to azure to turquoise blue and the visibility easily was 30 feet.  A white, sandy bottom showed through the pristine waters.  As we passed several beaches, we could tell each was different from the next.  Oversized boulders surrounded some, making them more like lagoons, while others stretched out in horizontal lines.  Tourists and activity were scarce.  White sailboats and other small boats were anchored, but showed virtually no signs of life. 

Even the beach gave me a feeling of being honored to see a spectacular sight.  The stones and small seashells were pristine or creamy white, some with dull edges and some worn smooth.  We were seeing hundreds of years of the breakdown process from seashell to sand.  And still the creamy cliffs vaulted up into the turquoise sky.  Striated and colored with greys and blacks and taupes, they were sculpted and huge and spectacular.  Geological

formations that also exist elsewhere in the world, but are uniquely dazzling in Sardinia, next to the shimmering and gently lapping azure waters.

We spent the entire afternoon swimming in the warm waters and jumping off the boat like crazy school kids.  We were relaxed and high on the taste of seawater and the clean fresh smell of the air.  We dozed off and on and had hours to play all by ourselves. 

The next day was just as amazing.  We rented a boat with a captain and made friends with five other people from other countries.  Our toughest decision was whether to drop anchor in deep water or swim at the beach.  We ate fresh sea urchin the captain caught and we celebrated the wedding vows of two of our fellow passengers.  We found a deserted beach that was postcard perfect - from the pale turquoise blue waters and white smooth sand, to the solitary giant boulders we climbed on.  We anchored and swam at another spot that had the most gorgeous azure blue water. We all passed the goggles around since it was hard to believe the water beneath the surface could glow such a  brilliantly celestial blue.

Our time in Sardinia was wonderful.  Truly a memorable adventure.  No wonder Sardinia is a secret place that is filled with extraordinary beauty and majesty.  Peacefulness and joy.  We seven girls will forever treasure our spectacular Sardinia memory.