Tours | Karlito's Way

29 Jun 2015

Sticky Post By Karl Posted in Food, Tours Permalink

boat tour Malta

Sticky Post By Karl On June 29, 2015

Boat tour Malta

Summer favourite tour for all the sea lovers to have an amazing day at sea on a Maltese traditional boat. Our boat tour Malta started with a pick up of my guests from their hotel it was an early one – 9:00 am.
We had 2 couples on this day from Australia – whose interest was swimming with the tuna – Malta is one of just two places in the world where you can swim with tuna
We headed off to St Pauls Bay where we had our Captain waiting for us on the jetty. Spiro was a dark skinned fisherman who had seen a lot of sun and sea – his face was creased from all the elements he had experienced during his life battling the hard seas of the Mediterranean. Every line on his face was a story he could easily have written a book!
So the day started and our boat tour Malta we headed for the St Pauls Islands where we stopped at the fish farms that hold so many tuna fish.
Who ever wanted had a chance to jump in and swim with these gentle giants!
At first everyone was a bit concerned but once me too – but then courage hit and it was like paradise – below us we could see hundreds of tuna gliding graciously in circles wow what a sight!
We started feeding the Tuna with frozen Macharel. This was a frenzy! We could not get enough out of this experience! Kilos of fish were being eaten by these super stealth fish; each one was over 500 kilos and at no point did we feel threatened!
The boat tour Malta was already complete but we headed off soon after all the fish was eaten; we headed for our next stop Comino Blue lagoon; Spiro though on the way took us to some of his favourite spots including one underwater cave that was a shot location for the famous movie “ The count of Montecristo “.
We eventually had lunch served once we got to the blue lagoon which was a selection of cold dishes I had prepared the day before – we had “bzar biz zalza”, hobz biz zejt and “balbuljata”. This was just what the doctor had ordered – and to wash it down with a bottle of red Malta wine – Superb!!
After a swim in the crystal waters we continued our Boat tour Malta with a trip to close by to the lovely cove of ‘Dahlet il Qorot ‘ in Gozo. This is one of my favourite bays in Malta and is also included in one of the Gozo tours. On our way back Spiro decided to fish by trawling method this was a method used for many centuries were a fish or feature camouflages a hook that is then used to catch the attacking fish. In within 5 minutes Spiro had a bite and managed to catch a ‘sawrella’ – lovely yellow golden fish used for grilling!
Was this his lucky moment?

26 Apr 2015

Sticky Post By Karl Posted in Tours With No Comments Permalink

Malta Islands Sightseeing Tour

Sticky Post By Karl On April 26, 2015 With No Comments

On one of the most interesting tours we had recently we had a great day visiting the best of what Malta has to offer. We went to visit; unknown but amazing sightseeing areas of the island – I call this the Malta islands Sightseeing Tour. Our day started at a convenient hour by my guests from Australia; Mr and Mrs Lowe, who are nature lovers where overwhelmed with what Malta has to offer –

the wild flowers
the fauna
the seaside
the landscaping
our valleys
and the overall setting of Malta

The day was an early start – we headed towards the south area of the island called St Thomas bay. There we got a glimpse of Peter’s pool which is an amazing sheltered bay with turquoise waters. During our Malta islands sightseeing tour we always allow free time for anyone to do any activity they want – some went for a photo session others for a walk and Mr Lowe senior changed I to his bathers and headed for a plunge in the Meditterenean!

“Courageous” I said.
“Not really” Mr Lowe replied ” I usually have my morning swim in temperatures less then 5C this must be warm! “Splash!!! and he disappeared under the water.

That was a moment of many moments! I am happy that k tours specializes in the sourcing of moments – special ones!

After half an hour we continued on our Malta islands sightseeing tour for our next destination – wied iz zurrieq! This gorge that is a fjord like inlet is famous for the blue grotto – where the turquoise waters are highlighted in fluorescent tones! We had a snack of Maltese pastizzi which are a typical snack here on the islands – be careful they are dangerously delicious!

Our Malta islands sightseeing tour we headed to the north side of Malta to get a quick glimpse of Gozo from one of the best view points on the island!From here we had an amazing photo shoot of Gozo and many other shots of the most amazing wild flowers and plants!

17 Apr 2015

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Malta Nature Tour

Sticky Post By Karl On April 17, 2015 With No Comments

We had decided to meet up in Rabat for a few Malta cheesecakes and a tea before we embark on our Malta nature tour – April is the best of time to enjoy the many wild flowers that are growing in the Malta and Gozo landscape.

We met at tas serkien in Rabat and after our quick snack we left for Mtahleb – Our Malta Nature Tour would be one of the best; we arrived on sight around 6:30 am when the birds where already buzzing around us. We continued towards il blata il bajda tal melh and on the way there one could really appreciate what fauna we have on our islands and how beautiful this season is – my guiests from Holland where just flabbergasted with the wild flowers and plants one could smell, see and also taste!

This was my first Malta Nature tour but definitely not the last – this came as a surprise to me also because I never knew we had so much fauna in the wild – Malta was like a secret garden! Rough poppies, sea daffodils, wild thyme, fennel, sulla, rice grass, Spanish welch, these were some of the fauna we came across.

Our Malta Nature tour continued with a stop for a cool drink in one of the caverns on the cliff side as it started to rain; we noticed that a fisherman was already putting down his ‘Nasses’ to take his catch of Vopi. Everyone was waiting in anticipation to see if our new friend had caught any fish so we waited abit more until we continued on our tour. He was reluctant to join us on our Malta Nature tour so he could show us an interesting spot which few people knew about.

While we were walking along the cliff side we noticed that a few meters away a wild rabbit was munching away on some grass – but it immediately shot off before we could even make a step forward. Wow that was fast!

03 Apr 2015

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Fun day Guided tour Malta and Gozo

Sticky Post By Karl On April 3, 2015 With No Comments

A few days back we had a 2 day tour with a very interesting couple and friends for a Fun day guided tour Malta and Gozo! This tour was an impromptu scheduled day – with no set itinerary. My guests just wanted a few days where they could really just relax and have fun with no where to go but rather just explore – I especially loved every minute of it and I am happy to set it as a new tour on my schedules.

The Fun day Guided tour Malta and Gozo event started at around 10 am when we met up in the foyer of the hotel my guests where staying we had a fun introduction and after got into our cool van and headed off to the first visit which was Qormi – I love this city because it is a hidden Gem. We met some locals there – and also managed to do some local ‘pastizzi ‘cheesecakes made of ricotta wrapped in a flaky pastry – yummy! We also managed to wash them down with some local lager ale served to us from one of the bars next door.

On every private tour we have we always have an element of this free no set itinerary but I never had a full day so our Fun day Guided tour Malta and Gozo was such a special treat for everyone … we continued towards Marsa xlokk where the local fisherman were manning their boats to head off to fish – some were also heading off for some lunch at home before getting back on the sea.

One fisherman took a liking to us and invited us over for a plate of ‘Aljotta’ or what we call bouillabaisse in the culinary world. We made a 50 meter walk into town to Gianni’s modest house; his wife Mary had already prepared a massive pot of soup which I think was made for the next 3 days ahead! She explained to us that they only ate fish and some vegetables – no meat! They believe that meat is a heavy food and does more harm then good! She finished off the soup with lemon squeezed into the soup and mint cut fresh from the garden at the back of her house.

Wine flowed – but I kept back! I had to drive but the rest of the party loved every drop – we had to continue on our Fun day Guided tour Malta and Gozo – but Gianni insisted that we head off for a ride in his boat; Gianni was a character and was kind of disappointed when we said we could not; due to one of our guests feeling not to confident being on a boat after drinking wine! Gianni reminded her that sailors drank rum from morning till night – he drank wine!

20 Mar 2015

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Day Cruise Malta

Sticky Post By Karl On March 20, 2015 With No Comments

Malta day cruise Tour

I was waiting for my guests who were from Chicago, at the port of Valletta water front; my information was that I was going to meet a lovely family to take them on one of my tours dedicated to the one day cruisers on a stop in Malta. I call it the day cruise Malta – ‘the retrospective tour’.

I love these days because we have 8 hours together and for many these are the only few hours that would be enjoyed here – so I feel like I am an ambassador top our lovely islands.

We made our first greetings on the dock and off we went to drive around the gentlemen city of Valletta. On our way there we started to have a good chat about our day and what to expect; I was happy to share my treasure box with my guest’s host who was a very well known doctor form the States. My guest had booked about 6 months before as he had wanted to visit Malta one day and wanted a real experience of the Maltese islands; so when I had referred him to the Day cruise Malta tour – ‘Yes’ was the answer!

Valletta is a wonder of its own – and the cameras were out and snapping – my words were not enough to give this amazing city the Glory that it deserves! Nor are the photos. This place gives me the best buzz every time I visit ……The city of Valletta was mostly complete by the early 1570s, and it became the capital in 1571 when the Grandmaster moved from his seat at fort St Angelo in Vittoriosa to the Grand masters Palace in Valletta. Seven Auberges were built for the Orders landers, and these were complete by the 1580s. An eighth Auberge of Bavarie, was later added in the 18th century….thousands of books have been written about Il Belt!

Our day cruise Malta continued as we finally headed out towards Qormi – the Maltese loaf capital! Here we got the chance to dirty our hands with some flour and do our own Malta bread – What a laugh!! We baked it and had a quick tea while we waited hearing a few stories of the fold gathering to get their lunch which was to be hopefully not our ‘loaf’!

11 Mar 2015

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Malta Gozo private tour

Sticky Post By Karl On March 11, 2015 With No Comments

What a day it was – Starting our Malta Gozo private tour in the west side of Malta we headed to the most Northern tip of the island; where we could see Gozo clearly in front of us. From one side to the other we got a good eyes view of the island.

It became an even more amazing experience later as we were accompanied by dolphins towards the middle of our 25 minute journey by ferry. They were dancing in the surf and jumping from one wave to the other.
Our Malta Gozo private tour began with a very short visit to a local farmer from whom we bought fresh produce to cook what will be our lunch! Wenzu the farmer had all sorts of vegetables – carrots turnips and artichokes these fresh moments is what makes our Malta Gozo private tour special and unique. Cooking fresh produce is the most important of ways to have a wholesome meal; adding local bread and some heavy red wine just gives the extra ‘icing on the cake’.

We then headed off to one of the local beaches – where no one was around and the silence was surreal – we set up our kitchenette and started our food demo cum lunch with cooking one of the local delicacies – ‘stuffat tal majjal’ – stew of pork with red wine.
Will not say much more … the sound of the waves – the smell of the food cooking, the wine all added that special touch to already a special day and island.

We had managed to sit down for our Malta Gozo private tour lunch at the sea side just in time before the rain took over and our tour of Gozo was then a drive by of some really picturesque corners – the photos we took were now dramatized with the colour of the clouds at the background – our private tour then had a turn for the better again as the sun was back on our side.

With our bellies happily fed with we made our way to Dwejra and the Azure window with a stop off at the best view point in Malta and Gozo; Which for this moment I will keep as my best Malta Gozo private tour kept secret, here we had one of our famous K tour cocktails mixed with local wild growing ingredients like fennel and thyme.

‘Now that was the cherry on the icing’!

09 Sep 2014

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Custom Trip to Mellieha

Sticky Post By Karl On September 9, 2014 With No Comments

Well starting at 8:00 am we met in the sanctity of the Mosta Dome to marvel at the World’s Third largest Unsupported Circular Dome to begin our trip to Mellieha.

After that, we got into my tailored Jeep and headed down a trek to a secluded area of the Mgarr region to witness the majestic site of Pink Flamingos migrating over Malta on their way to warmer climates, a site that would remain in the Miller Family’s memories for many years to come I’m sure.

Mr Miller was definitely ecstatic with the wonderful shot he managed to capture below:

As the unrelenting Maltese sun started peaking at around 11.30am we headed to the shaded comfort of an Old Olive tree, that has withstood the plethora of dangers to it, to stand mightily among the beautiful Maltese countryside as a testament to the influence of the Roman Empire many centuries ago. There we had a mouthwatering table set up with traditional Maltese delicacies, as well as a couple of interesting fusion items that I created specifically for my guests.