Nave Italia drps the anchor in Cala Maestra bay in Montecristo -

During the night the captain and the crew navigated to Monte Cristo.  When we awakened this morning, we were moored at the magnificent Cala Maestra Bay.  I won’t blog much about the experience on the island as I know several of the teens will be sharing their experience first hand.  I can only say that Monte Cristo Island is a protected nature preserve of Italy.  It is uninhabited, and one is only able to visit the island after securing formal permission from Italy’s environmental office(Guardia Forestale).  Thankfully, the Nave Italia processed the paperwork ahead of time and the entire group was given a tour of the island, culminating in a hike to the top of the mountain and a spectacular view of blue sea and fragrant vegetation.  The natural vegetation of Monte Cristo is wild thyme, rosemary, cisto and elicriso.  The scent of these plants fills the air and we could even smell the spicy, floral aroma 200 meters out on the boat.