The Wildflower Meadows of the Abruzzo National Park
I am never happier than when I’m amongst flowers growing in their natural habitat – especially when it involves mountains – so for the last week I was very happy indeed.
The Abruzzo National Park is in the Apennine Mountains about three hours east of Rome and straddles the range that could be thought of the spine of Italy. We were based in the village of Pescasseroli – a ski resort in winter – and at this time of year, a perfect base for early morning walks exploring the surrounding meadows, for day trips higher into the mountains, as well as dawn and evening outings to watch for the endemic Marcasan bears, deer, chamois, wolves and wild boar.It was a mixed interest trip that included birds, beasts, butterflies and botanising. I prefer this to pure botanising because it is less intense and you don’t spend the entire week on your hands and knees examining plants through a magnifying glass.
I like to enjoy the rush of water, to look up and see the birds (including the golden eagles soaring above the peaks), to watch Swallowtail and Adonis Blue butterflies flitting amongst the wildflowers and join in the excitement of seeing thirteen wild boar sows and their forty-one stripy, spotty piglets foraging in a meadow. Mountain weather can be very changeable, but we were incredibly lucky and the sun shone most of the time – we only lost an hour of exploring during a single heavy downpour.
However the deciduous (mainly beech) woods had been dramatically damaged by hard late frosts that had browned the young emerging foliage – it was as if spring and autumn had collided – a most peculiar effect. Our two Naturetrek (www.naturetrek.co.uk) guides, Jessica and Luca added.
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