If I manage to drag myself out of bed early enough when on holiday in Gozo, I love to walk from Marsalforn to Qbajjar all the way around to Xwieni Bay. There's just something magical about being up just after dawn, before the hustle and bustle of daily life begins to intrude upon the previous nights silence.



I love watching the faithful fishermen set out to sea from Marsalforn Bay in their brightly painted fishing boats. Every Maltese luzzu, which is said to be of Sicilian origin, proudly bears the eye of Osiris on her bow, a symbol that dates back to the time of the Phoenicians. These unique and sturdy boats have been carrying men out to the ever-present Mediterranean Sea, which has 'throughout the ages, made men excellent mariners' as this 'ubiquitous sea has always attracted men to fish'.

If you head towards Xwieni Bay you will you eventually stumble across the famous salt pans. Depending on what time of year you choose to take this walk, will determine whether or not the salt pans are inhabited or abandoned. Hence, salt harvesting in Gozo traditionally takes place just before April, starting with the necessary repair caused by the winter's rough seas that may have occurred to any of the 360 salt pans that are spread across an acre of land.



Xwieni salt is said to have a distinctly unique flavour because of the location of the salt pans and their close proximity to surrounding olive and almond trees and also because of the wild thyme that grows along the edge cliffs.

If you have a spare ten minutes today take a look at the facinating documentary below about salt harvesting in Xwieni that was produced locally by a team of university students. It explains the traditional salt harvesting process that has faithfully taken place in Gozo for the last 150 years.