The storm arrived from the north; the evening before was uncommonly humid and the cloud crept heavy over the hills. In the night, the wind got up and the rain threw itself down. The next day was equally ferocious with periods of drowning rain and the wind coming through in great gusts; it refused to…
Category: Greek Wildlife
The Deep Mani
The drive from Areopolis south east over the hills runs past ancient Pyrrichos, where a small vineyard testifies to the altitude and climate and on to a crumbling castle on the end of a ridge at Loukadika; from here there is the first view of the shimmering sea and distant Cape Maleas. With the sun…
The local olive grove
One olive grove with crumbling stone terraces just down the hill and not far from Agios Dimitrios has remained especially rich in plants for the past month, whereas many others were a blast of white chamomile Anthemis chia and stock Malcolmia graeca but are now rank grass with splashes of pink cranesbill Geranium brutium and…
In pursuit!
Alkanna sartoriana is a pretty but fairly nondescript plant of dry places. I found it a few days ago above the beautiful, new amphitheatre at Platsa; took one record shot and, only when I checked Roger Marchant’s ‘Flowers of the Mani’, did I learn it was quite a rare endemic. So another and better photograph…
Agios Dimitrios to Trachila
Trachila is a small fishing village, virtually empty in March at the end of the road from Agios Dimitrios. The narrow road runs under great cliffs and past olive groves and coastal scrub and was only recently constructed so access was previously only by boat. It is a place of wide views across the sea…
Mystras
The route from Kalamata to Sparti zig zags down one breathtaking, limestone gorge, up the foothills of the Taygetos on a road that has cracked and collapsed in many places after a winter of snow and heavy rain, through dark forests and past a deserted cafe at the crest, then cuts down through the even…
Mani Olive Groves
Below the village of Platsos, a sheepdog escorts her flock up the track and moves the herd off to let an olive pruner’s car pass. Passers by are few and are barked at as sheep watch on carefully. The endless olive trees cover the flat ground as well as the shallow slopes where ancient terraces…
The Road to Vathia
The small road winds through stone-walled olive groves and small villages. Areopoli at the top of hill is the largest town with an abundance of (well two of three) confectionery shops (or Zaxaroplastiki or ζαχαροπλαστική); an important first word in any language. The road continues south and the villages appear crumbling and part-abandoned although smart, new…
The Viros Gorge near Exochori
The Viros Gorge runs from the high Taygetos to the coast at Kardamyli; it formed an ancient route between Sparta to the coast. Some way up, a narrow road finally runs out at the small church of Agia (Saint) Paraskevi near the village of Exochori; from here a track runs on and passes below the…
The Mani
The Mani Peninsula is a land of olives and honey squeezed between the steep slopes of the Taygetos mountains and rocky coastline. The limestone landscape is dry and unyielding yet after the winter rains spring brings a rich and colourful flora. After an unusually harsh winter, the February sun warms the day but the nights…