A treasure trove of biodiversity.

Le Cesine. - The area of 348 hectares represents the last with ponds of Salento, not to be missed for the naturalistic beauties it contains. Managed by the WWF, it hosts numerous species of migratory birds that stop for a few weeks from northern or central Europe before heading to South Africa or the equator. In the paths and between the Eucalyptus trees there are wooden towers for sighting, equipped with a telescope.

In flight over the ponds, species such as the purple heron and the coots or the marsh harrier can be observed. In the beech forest live species of orchids and woodland mammals such as fox, wolf and wild boar. A network of canals hidden between the Straws and the Grasses hosts hundreds of ducks and other species of Herons up to the sea. Here the black sand beach, generated by a volcanic eruption of the Vulture many centuries ago, is dotted with shells of all shapes and colors. The operator advises to come to the beach in the sunlight, when the polychrome reflections of the sand emerge most, which degrades into the clear, dark blue and uncontaminated sea.