We drove South along country roads and saw tiny fields full of healthy looking crops.
Several of the hedges were made up of prickly pear plants which were introduced by the Knights of Malta.
Siggiewi is typical of the towns we drove through.
Our destination was the megalithic temples which date from 3600 to 3000BC. They are among the oldest free standing stone structures in the world, 500 years older than the pyramids.
Hagar Qim is the first temple.
The stone roofs have long since collapsed but the remains have been uncovered and the site protected with a permanent canopy. They felt very complete and it was hard to realise how really old they are.
An entrance is aligned with the sunrise during the equinoxes and the rays of the sun hit the main doorway during the solstices.
The pitted texture of some of the stones was fascinating and archaeologists have various theories about how these were drilled. Circular stones found on the site are thought to have been rollers used to move the massive slabs which weigh up to 20 tons.
Thousands of birds fly over Malta during their migration and these stone buildings are bird hides used by hunters to capture them. Caged birds are used to encourage others to land and they are caught in large nets.
This is another small farm where we saw people still working the land by hand
.A distant view of a town which has grown up around a big church on a hilltop.
There are now more crops under cover and the fields are much larger in the centre of the island.
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