Hiking on Mallorca usually means hiking in the Tramuntana, or perhaps in the Serres de Llevant. But there are also a few very impressive routes along the oceanfront. One of my favorites leads from Cala Pi to Cap Blanc, an exciting and really unique stretch of coastline. Leave the paved way and follow the small piles of stones, sometimes resembling little stone men, to a rocky plateau right at the ridge above the sea. It takes you through a desert-like landscape with craggy red rocks that make you feel like Matt Damon in “The Martian”.

After a while, the red cliffs are yielding to the bright sandstone of Cap Blanc that gleams at the horizon between the turquois sea and the azure sky. And eventually a sign of civilization: the Torre del Cap Blanc, a watchtower that has witnessed the course of more than 400 years. If only it could tell! Of course, I had to climb up and imagine to be on the lookout for pirates. And there was one indeed – well, at least my sweetheart resembled one since he had not shaved for a couple of days.

My first acquaintance with those little stone men guiding me through unknown territory was in Canada, where they are called inukshuk. The peoples of the Arctic regions of North America used these man-made stone landmarks as points of reference: as markers for travel routes, fishing places, for camps, hunting grounds, or to mark a food cache. I was very surprised to learn that there’s a large community of inukshuk on Mallorca, too, marking hiking trails in the mountains and along the shore.