#favignana

Florio Tuna Factory was established in the mid-19th century by the Florio family, Sicilian businesspeople who owned multiple other successful ventures, including the famous Florio Winery in Marsala. The factory was once the largest employer on the islands of Favignana, and the annual Mattanza (the traditional Sicilian method of hunting and slaughtering bluefin tuna) became a ritual for the islands' inhabitants. Vincenzo Florio pioneered the process of preserving tuna in oil, and the facility was used to package the tuna and oil in tin cans.

Today, the former tuna factory facilities are home to a museum.

We had a short early morning swim with our guides so say “farewell to the sea!” There were only 5 of us who were able to make it, due to travel plans, but it was a really lovely morning swim, slow and relaxed, exploring caves, no jellies made any appearances. I swear, I was convinced one would jump up into the boat and sting me at the last minute.

After swim and breakfast, Anne, Kevin, Mary and I set out again on e-bikes to explore the island, sans mountain adventure route. We made it a few miles before mine and Kevin’s pedals fell off and Anne’s back tire was nearly flat. We spent an hour on the side of the road while the hotel came to assess and then brought us new bikes. It was fun and funny though, and we were able to proceed to the lighthouse and pretty much everywhere else when we got fixed up.

We returned to a swim we did earlier in the week, because the winds were getting stronger and we were protected on the East side. We had a beautiful and vigorous morning swim, then had some of Eduardo’s mom’s homemade pesto pasta for lunch.

In the afternoon we went closer to shore and had some time to just hang out and play in the water. We explored some caves and one of the guides did a bunch of under water go pro pics. Then we got suited up to swim from there and the jellies were BACK! We saw one, then one more, then two or three then like 5 in one spot and I said you know what? I’m good! Swam enough today! I cut it a bit short and was just fine with that decision. Poor Lesley got stung again, and so did Colleen, who was about to get on a plane.

For dinner we had our final group dinner at this stunning spot on the western shore called Leva. It is run by Eduardo’s brother or something. SwimTrek does a commendable job trying to keep their money local! We had an absolute feast of Sicilian food, then we all said nice things about each other, then Giovanna made us have a photo shoot in the golden hour light.

What a day! What a life! We were scheduled to do a crossing today from the island of Levanzo, which is about 4km as the crow flies, or up to 7km, with the current. We were all pretty nervous about a 7km crossing, which for most of us would be the furthest we’ve ever swum. We got out there early and and the waves were too high. The coast guard said NO ❌.

We were all a little relieved, a little disappointed. Instead, the guides promised us a long swim along the Levanzo coastline. Apparently the owner of Prada has a mansion on Levanzo, and they also have a cemetery where all of the graves are facing uphill, toward the sun.

We geared up and got in and MORE JELLYFISH EVERYWHERE! Ugh. I know we are in their house but it’s really stressful to swim around them, and it takes a lot of the fun out of all of it. I managed not to get stung (YET) but it’s hard to swim with that level of hyper vigilance. It also hurts your neck and makes it a bit impossible to site. We swam through some smacks, but there was no rhyme or reason as to where they were likely to be. We got toward the end of the island and the guides offered to let us turn and swim back to finish a tidy 5k and I was about to do that when I saw a huge jelly, like 2 feet long, a couple meters away. Nope, no thanks. 4600 yards is more than a respectable distance for today. I think 3 more managed to get stung during that swim.

Once we were done, we had another amazing lunch made by our boat captain Eduardo’s mother Maria, then went back to Favignana early.

After a quiet afternoon spent reading (and possibly snoozing) on the terrace, we grabbed some pizza and met up to hike to the fortress overlooking the island, Castillo di Santa Caterina, for a sunset picnic.

This was so beautiful and I loved it! It was hot, but the later time helped and we got to sit and enjoy some actual Sicilian pizza (tasted mostly like Nirchis, so like, good on them) and sparkling water while looking out over Marettimo, the third of the Egadi Islands. Some gelato at the bottom of the hill rounded out a pretty spectacular day.

This day was all swims and boats! And jellyfish

😩😩

We swam the Eastern coast of Favignana and encountered some pretty large smacks of jellyfish (or were the blooms or swarms?) early on. Nearly half our group of 15 got stung, and from what they report it’s not the worst thing ever, but it sucks. Our guides have a method of scraping the nematocyst venom off the skin immediately which is supposed to lessen the pain a lot, and then they can be treated with hydrocortisone or antihistamine cream. Flip got stung 4 times in a row so I’m not sure if he was trying to fight them or what!

After the stressful morning swim we docked at Cala Rossa, the impossibly blue and beautiful “beach,” which is Sicilian for “place near the water regardless of actual topography.” This was just the side of a cliff that people set up umbrellas on, but who can criticize? Anything to be near that water.

We are, siesta’d, then soldiered on for a brisk afternoon swim further down the coast. We didn’t see any jellies in the afternoon, thankfully!

This was a gorgeous, tiring, very fun day.