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| For lovers of alternative holidays, those who prefer a healty walk in the woods to swimming and sunbathing, Sardinia offers 62,000 hectares of forest land comprising 22 estates: an extremely interesting natural environment, especially as far as the flora and fauna are concerned. In many of the villages in the interior there are cooperatives of young people, scouts and guides who accompany visitors on tours of the forests. The flora consists largely of ilex (holm oak trees that are often hundreds of years old), cork-trees, bay oak, chestnut and above all pine trees. A dense vegetation surrounds the tall trees, the typical Mediterranean bush with its unmistakable wild fragrance. But the forests are also the abode of many a species of fauna which find protection here from the guns of hunters and the spread of concrete. In the midst of the greenery the visitor can catch sight of splendid examples of mufflons, deer, boars, foxes, wild horses and the rarest species of birds, such as royal eagles and falcons. There is no lack of choice among the 22 centres run by the state forestry company, for those who wish to set out on a few days walk: from the Settefratelli massif (30 km from Cagliari) to Mt Limbara in the province of Sassari and Mt Montarbu in Nuoro province. There are impressive itineraries everywhere with camp-sites provided. This too is Sardinia, perhaps less well known than the coast, but certainly more fascinating.
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