Climbing the Elixir

In the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, there is a large island to which nature has given incredible beauty and charm. It is Sardinia. A place where the landscapes of rock and stone alternate forests and desert dunes that slope into a crystalline sea of changing colours, where the scent of helichrysum and cistus reach its visitors and welcome them in a warm and powerful embrace. Among its sub-regions, Ogliastra is certainly one of the most fascinating. A mountainous area whose limestone ridges create the famous Supramonte, a mountainous complex that plunges into one of the most beautiful seas in the world . In these rugged and wild mountains, two expert hikers have come to know about a characteristic local community that, in the past, developed a series of reckless climbing techniques without harnesses, strategic to manage their flocks of goats and pasture grazing, and useful to move from one point to another of this vast sub calcareous desert more quickly. Thanks to these climbing techniques they were also able find the little water that flowed hidden under the karstic rocks and even cultivate wheat in areas of seemingly unproductive mountains. Precisely in these places, where life is anything but easy, people lived and continue to live today, much longer than in the rest of the world and Ogliastra was therefore included among the 5 Blue Zones of the planet.
Our two hikers, in their exploration, will discover unexpected aspects of the lifestyle of this community and, interacting with the centenarians and their families, will learn about secrets related to their diet, their lifestyle and their social relationships in a place devoted to solitude and observation of nature, and among these they may just find the elixir of long life. Retracing the difficult and sometimes prohibitive paths designed by the goatherds, our two guides will then tell us the story of a special community that lives in one of the most fascinating places in the Mediterranean and the unique events of brave men, whose challenges with nature have created fantastic and enduring legends.