Malta, Part 3: Falconry Centre!

I'm skipping ahead in the Malta timeline because this was the best day of the entire vacation and I just can't wait any more to talk about it! Or maybe just post a bunch of really fun pictures of me and Tony hanging out with the birds and grinning like idiots. I cannot recommend this experience enough if you ever venture to Malta!

We booked the full day falconry course/experience (for 80 Euro/person; a splurge but so worth it) at the Malta Falconry Centre, which began at 0930. Since we weren't quite sure the best way to navigate there via bus from our hotel, we also went ahead a booked a taxi ride there in the morning, with a plan to bus to Valletta afterwards. We asked the taxi driver to show up at 0830 because I am paranoid about being late to things, and we weren't sure what traffic would be like on a Tuesday morning. Turns out, I needn't have worried and we didn't have to leave so early after all, because we arrived at the center just before 0900; fortunately, they were open.

We walked into the welcome area, which also doubles as a little coffee shop, and introduced ourselves. They weren't quite ready for us, so we were just about to order some coffee and tuck in for a little wait when the owner, Doreen, strolled in. She instantly made us feel at home and volunteered to take us on a tour of the center while we waited for class time to start. We started up a slight incline past the parking area, and started with the eagles. I'm not sure what we envisioned for the day, but everything pretty much surpassed our expectations. Doreen opened the center 7 years ago, though she's been taking care of birds of prey for 9 years, if I remember correctly. Most of the birds were born in Malta, or at least Europe, though she had birds native to many parts of the world. I thought it was more a rehabilitation center, but it's more to introduce birds of prey and the art of falconry to the island, though of course she cares for whatever birds they have. She has also bought birds who were being abused by their owners, so in that sense she is a rescuer and rehabilitator; it may only take a week or two for birds to learn how to fly for a human.

Doreen had some very tall, fenced or netted enclosures like what you'd see in a zoo. In those, she had three or four different kinds of eagles, some vultures, and some Peregrine falcons. There were a couple of other large birds that I can't recall at the moment. While all of the smaller birds had names, Doreen does not name the larger birds; I think primarily because they don't really handle or fly them, and so don't really get attached to them. And boy, was she attached to the other birds. After we saw the big ones, we went through a tour of the yard, which consisted of two rows of partial enclosures, with a cable run to a perch or stoop out front. The birds were tethered to this cable so they could take only short, low flights. She had owls, many Harris Hawks, and at least one more vulture. Probably other kinds of birds as well, but those are the ones I remember. Each of these birds had a name, often for some physical feature or personality characteristic. Doreen also admitted that she sometimes changes the names of the birds if she thinks of something funny or they remind her of, say, a cartoon character.

This is Lurch. I don't know why he was named and kept with the smaller birds, but he is a handsome fellow.

By this time, it was 0930 and we met Warren, who would be our primary teacher/guide/bird sherpa throughout the day. We started out with some introductions and he gave us a brief history on the art of falconry, and brought us into the workshop. There were two Little Owls and two types of kestrels being cared for in there, and the place did not smell good. Like bird poop, mostly. I suppose that comes with the territory, but it took me a few uncomfortable minutes to get used to it. Warren then explained that most of the birds they fly on a regular basis (not for hunting, just for demonstration and exercise) have a healthy or safe weight range for flying. If the weight is too low or too high, it's not good for the birds. They get weighed every day, unless the centre is closed. So we jumped right in with gloves and set out to fetch the birds for weighing. Warren showed us how to hold the jess, or tether, in safety position so the bird couldn't get away from us, and also how to position our hands (gloved, of course) so the bird would step on and off its perch. Our first bird was Dexter, and Tony fetched him off the perch and brought him back to the workshop to be weighed. I think his flying range was something like 680-750 grams - bird bones are essentially hollow and feathers don't weigh too much. Warren was really fantastic about letting us take pictures, and insisting that we took turns handling the birds and trading off the camera. He really took his time and patiently answered all eleventy million of our questions. Did you know much of the falconry equipment is made of kangaroo leather? It's tougher than cowhide. After handling Dexter, we weighed a few owls and another hawk, then took a coffee break.

Some of the birds really like to be petted or scratched, just like a dog!

The Malta Falconry Centre is a family enterprise. Doreen is the owner, and her daughter works in the coffee shop/gift center. Her son, a contractor in his regular job, also comes in to work with the birds and help with grounds upkeep. Her husband is also a contractor and apparently a lot of the family money goes right into the centre; Doreen says it is a labor of love and isn't fully self-sustainable. You can really tell she cares about these creatures. After our coffee break, we went to a field near the top of the hill on which the centre is built to observe a public demonstration. I think those happen daily from 1130-1300 or something like that. The day we were there, a few days before Christmas, the public show had an audience of less than a dozen people. Doreen and Warren came out with owls and pointed out some distinctive characteristics about the way they fly, and then went down the line so people could pet, hold, and otherwise interact with the owls. Apparently in the summer time their crowds can be upwards of 200 people, and they often have school groups come to visit, so I felt special in getting all the one-on-one attention. They even called Tony up to help with a flying demonstration, and to pull a lure across the field for one of the birds. After finishing with the owls, Warren brought out two of the Harris Hawks, which are some of the only birds to hunt in teams. They further explained the anatomy of the birds, and in particular pointed out the white tips on the birds' tail feathers, which are used for communicating while flying and hunting.We also got to see first hand the difference between how owls fly and how the hawks fly. Warren directed the birds to various perches throughout the field, and demonstrated how they are alert and answer when their names are called. The birds are definitely treat-motivated; while they are often used to hunt other birds (the owls had to be put away before the hawks were brought out, as they are natural prey for the hawks), these guys got a special reward of part of a dead chick every time they did something the handler wanted. To get a bird's attention, Warren would hold up his hand and tap his glove while calling the bird's name. He also had a whistle to which the birds responded; one call to get their attention and one alert to let the bird know it had just done something favorable. Not too different from clicker-training a dog, I guess.

A distinct resemblance

Finally, Doreen and Warren dismissed the general public and it was time for Tony and I to have our flying lesson! Warren brought out one of the hawks (alas, not a falcon) and sent us to opposite ends of the field. He kindly used my camera to take a couple hundred photos of the two of us with the birds. Toward the end, you could tell the bird was getting less interested in flying, which meant his craw was getting pretty full. You could definitely see his craw was extended from the throat, and quite full. Interestingly, owls are some of the only birds that do not have craws, so you have to be careful how much and how quickly you feed them, as they digest food a little differently from other birds. Not only did we get to fly the bird back and forth between us, but we also got to throw the food or bait into the air for him to catch mid-flight! Have I mentioned what an amazing experience it was?

One of my top favorite pictures of me, ever.

After the flying lesson, we went back to the workshop. While Doreen fed the little owls and kestrels, Warren showed us how to tie a falconer's knot, which is used to connect the bird's lead to the glove. I'm pleased to say that Tony and I were very quick learners, and that to the best of Warren and Doreen's recollection only one other person learned as quickly as the two of us. Thanks, Girl Scouts and Coast Guard! (Tony's just naturally good at everything. He obviously was never a Girl Scout or in the Coast Guard.) I could rave on and on about how nice Warren and Doreen were - giving us restaurant and tourist information, patiently answering all of our questions, etc - but I will close with one more story which illustrates their kindness.

When we went to the coffee shop to pay for the experience, Doreen's daughter presented us with training certificates and a little booklet of information, so we wouldn't forget the things we learned that day. I pulled out my credit card, and their faces fell. Apparently I didn't read the fine print closely enough, because they don't have a processing machine. And unfortunately, Tony and I didn't quite have enough cash to pay. I asked if they would take a personal check to cover the difference, but Doreen said no. However, she told us there was an ATM in her town just a few minutes away, and offered to drive us. So we piled in her little car and zipped over to the ATM, and then back to the shop. Then, after we paid and she learned we were going to catch a bus to the capitol, she insisted on driving us BACK to town and dropping us off at the correct bus stop! Talk about good customer service. Two thumbs up, five stars, 10/10!

Here's the link to their website:
http://www.maltafalconrycentre.com/

Malta, Part 2

We got up very early on the Friday before Christmas to head to the Venice airport. We parked in the garage on post and hitched a ride on the military shuttle, which was quite convenient. Since we were so early, our counter at the airport wasn't open yet and we spent a few minutes just hanging out. Check-in went smoothly and we had time to grab coffee (hot chocolate for me!) and a bite to eat as well as wander around all the shops. Our flight to Rome was just under an hour, and from there it was about an hour and a half to Malta.

Once we landed, Tony's luggage came out pretty quickly but mine never appeared. After waiting in line practically forever at the baggage counter, I was told it would be delivered the next day and the lady handed me a nice overnight kit. At that point, we were about two hours later than I thought, and I was worried our fancy-pants driver would have left us, but he was still waiting out front with my name on a sign, as promised. He had gotten concerned and called our hotel to make sure we didn't find alternate transportation, but in the end all was well. We hopped in his not-so-fancy car and headed out. The weather was sunny and clear and glorious and warm, and we enjoyed the drive - on the wrong side of the road - out to our hotel. We stayed at the Radisson on the West side of the island. On the way out, we picked our driver's brain for restaurant and sightseeing suggestions, and he also pointed out some neat landmarks. I will never forget rounding a bend and seeing our hotel for the first time. The Radisson is built into a hill on a bay, overlooking a beach and some more of the coastline, as well as one of the famous watchtowers scattered throughout Malta.

I left off the last post halfway through our hop-on/hop-off tour. I had to borrow a shirt and socks from Tony, and was wearing my black boots which are both stylish and comfortable. However, the next stop on our bus tour was the Blue Grotto caves; since it was so late in the afternoon we decided not to hire a boat but instead climb out on the cliffs for a better view. This means my boots were really not appropriate footwear for hiking; we may have been better served walking up the road to a scenic overlook, but it was really gorgeous. We followed a family with a few kids over the limestone non-path; I figured if the five-year old could do it, so could I. The Blue Grotto is a series of caverns on the South side of the island, and even though it was somewhat protected, it was a bit windy and choppy, so hiking was definitely more fun for me than a boat ride would have been. The water was really gorgeous and it looked like a great spot for scuba diving. 

This island is now a bird sanctuary

We were there not long before sunset

Looking East toward the caves, before we started hiking out

  

Me and the cute but inappropriate footwear

Malta, Part 1

When Tony and I were looking into possibilities for our winter vacation, we were almost overwhelmed with options. I know, whine whine first world problems, poor us. One of the first decisions we made was to narrow it down to places we could trade and use a timeshare week. Honestly though, that still left tons of options! We debated finding some place in the mountains, maybe Switzerland or Austria, but quickly ruled that out because they tend to be a little more expensive, Tony isn't a skier or snowboarder, and neither of us necessarily wanted a snow vacation. We talked about EuroDisney, but thought that might also be a little cold for us.

Some of the next options we batted around were Croatia and Slovenia, but the locations there were slim pickings, and tended to also be in the mountains. We also considered the South Coast of Spain, Thailand, and Sicily. Thailand quickly came off the list for travel reasons and language barrier. We thought the Coast of Spain was going to be our top choice, as there were many options for lodging, and we even considered making a road trip and stopping off at a few different fun halfway points. But...our car is still broken and that wasn't a good option. Travel would be cost prohibitive even if we flew into Barcelona and rented a car or took a bus or train, so we ultimately decided to table that idea and focus on Sicily. Believe it or not, it would be easier to get to the South Coast of Spain than to Sicily! We are talking 12 hours on not-so-reliable trains, or a grueling combo of driving and ferries and with the car and our timeline, that was out, too.

We were on the bring of "just" hitting a few cities in Italy, when we realized we hadn't done a lot of research on Malta. Tony found some cheap plane tickets, so we decided to seriously consider it. Then we realized they use the Euro and speak English! Malta was looking better and better. I double-checked timeshare availability and booked a room with a kitchen. (By that time plane tickets had nearly doubled, but were still very reasonable. Shop early, people!) Now the second-best part of vacation: planning!

I started searching on TripAdvisor and ye olde Google, and learned that Malta is home to some very old ruins, historic harbors, beautiful churches, and parks with cliffs and beaches. I was intrigued by the Segway tour options, and Tony and I decided we definitely wanted to do some traditional touristy things and that sounded fun! There were also a lot of fun Christmas events going on, and when we learned temperatures were predicted to be in the 60s, we started to get even more excited. Malta is comprised of two main islands, Malta and Goza, with several smaller ones, about 90km from Sicily. There were a few things we wanted to do on the island of Goza, but we never quite got around to it. One of the other things I stumbled upon during my research was the Malta Falconry Centre, where you get to learn about and fly birds of prey. That quickly moved to the top of the list of must-dos for us, and was the first thing I reserved in the way of events. Ultimately we decided to play Segway by ear, and booked a Hop-On/Hop-Off bus tour for our first full day in Malta.

Normally I turn my nose up at those kinds of tours, but in Malta it was a really smart choice. There were three options, and we chose the route on the Eastern and Central parts of the island. For 17 Euro each, we got an amazing tour of the island and hopped off to do some exploring on our own. We arranged for transport from our hotel, and got to drive through some of the bigger cities, including the capitol of Valletta. We met the bus at the main bus terminal, and set out on our adventure. We passed some beautiful castles, churches, and harbors, and got off in the town of Paola. We were about 45 minutes early for the next tour, so we bought a meat pie from a local vendor to split and wandered around a bit. Actually, the dude accidentally gave us an apple pie, which was quite tasty. Anyway, the Hypogeum is an underground tomb system that was discovered in the late 1800s when construction workers digging a cistern accidentally broke through to some of the chambers. It is the only known prehistoric underground burial chamber in the world.

The Hypogeum is very well-protected, and custodians monitor the levels of light, heat, and moisture in the chambers. Because of this, only ten people are allowed to enter each hour and a total of 60 people per day. In our group, there were only five of us. The tour lady gave everyone audio guides so we could follow along with the narration as we stopped at pre-approved locations in the caverns. We weren't allowed to take pictures, so the photos below were scavenged from other places on the internet. The Hypogeum was carved out before the Bronze Age, when men didn't have metal tools yet! I can't imagine them crawling into the caves and using bone and stone to carve them out by hand, especially among all of the decomposing bodies in various states of decay. Ugh, the stench. They say more than 7,000 people were buried there over the years. There are three levels to the tombs, with caverns of varying sizes. In some places you can still see the painted decorations, which are traditional scrolls and swirls found all over Malta. One of the neat things we learned and got to experience is the natural resonance of one of the main spaces called the Oracle Room; when people talk or hum into a certain corner of the room, the whole placers resonates and echoes and it sound spooky and amazing! They Hypogeum is also known for a collection of carved figures that were collected there, especially its corpulents. There's a picture of the most famous one, the sleeping lady, below.

Main Chamber of the Hypogeum

Decorative Painted Spirals

The Sleeping Lady

After our tour of the Hypogeum, we had some time until our bus came around, so we walked around a bit more and wound up at the Tarxien Temples. These temples are a are UNESCO World Heritage Site and date back to 3100BC. At this location, tourists can walk around the perimeter on an elevated walkway, and then through the center of the temples before exiting. It's a self-paced tour and there are several informative signs posted along the way. I think it cost something like 7 Euro a person and since we were rushed we did it in about 30 minutes, but I can't imagine spending much  more than an hour there even if we had all the time in the world. We learned these temples were discovered when local farmers kept complaining of finding and running into large rocks when plowing their fields sometime in the early 1900s. It's very strange to find such giant rocks and carvings in the middle of what is now a city, for sure! Nobody knows exactly why or how these temples were built, but archeologists discovered stone rollers outside one of the entrances that are theorized to have been used like giant ball bearings to move the slabs of stone. They also think it may have been used for rituals and animal sacrifice, especially since many of the carvings involve animals like goats, cows, and pigs. (On an interesting side note, later on in the trip we learned that giraffe, elephant, and other large mammal bones have been found on Malta, along with calcified sea creatures, which indicate Malta has been both buried underwater and connected to the mainland at various points in time as the earth's climate changed.)

Okay, that's all I've got for today. Definitely more later, since I haven't even gotten through the first 24 hours yet!