John Edward Cooper’s Notes
Sunday 27 November 2016
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[Saturday 26 November 2016] Cyprus — Jeep Tour, Akamas Peninsula The Annabelle, Λεωφόρος Ποσειδώνoς, Paphos, Cyprus 08:30 Hotel reception: “Jeep Tour Akamas Peninsula” Janet set the alarm clock for 6.30am, and was up at 6.45am. I followed suit ca.7.00am, when Janet vacated the bathroom, and shaved and showered. We had breakfast, went back to the room, and then to reception for 8.30am. There we met our guide Christos, and went out to the white Land Rover. It was a slight disappointment that the vehicle was hard-topped, not open at the back. Janet sat in the front seat, as suggested by Fiona because of osteoporosis; and between the forward-facing seats behind it, and the sideways-facing seats either side at the back, I chose a forward-facing one. We picked up two other couples at another hotel: Polish. One of the couples sat next to me, to my right, and the other in the back. As well as Polish, they spoke English and German, so Christos addressed us in English. As we went northwards near the coast we passed banana plantations. Each cluster of bananas was wrapped in a blue plastic bag to prevent the fruit from ripening before it could be harvested. We joined a convoy of other white Land Rovers at our first stop, overlooking a bay with cliffs and sea-caves on its north side, and more banana “trees” on the other side of the road.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:03:48 Banana plantation  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:03:48 (detail) Clusters of bananas  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:05:32 Convoy of Land Rovers  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:05:32 (detail) Our vehicle (left): “EKP 726”  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:07:16 Cliff with sea caves  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:07:48 Looking over the cliff-edge at the clear sea  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:08:24 Two dogs swimming in the sea  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:08:24 (detail) Two dogs swimming in the sea  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:09:16 Sea caves and islets  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:09:46 Sea caves We resumed our tour, passing all manner of fruit trees — sweet oranges, mandarin oranges, lemons, limes, olives, figs, pomegranates — and stopped briefly to wind down the window and photograph avocados.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:32:22 Avocados  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:32:22 (detail) Avocados We turned off the coast road, eastwards along a steep-sided valley, on a dirt road with a sheer drop to the right.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:37:44 Gorge of the Tozeftra River We stopped at a parking place (“P” on the map below), and used the smelly toilets, before proceeding several hundred yards up the narrow Avakas Gorge.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:40:28 Map of the “Avakas Gorge trail”  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:41:34 Parking place at the start of the Avakas Gorge trail  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:41:34 (detail) Our vehicle (left): “EKP 726”  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:42:28 View from the parking place Many of the shrubs that we passed had signs by them saying what they were. Most of them we just walked past, but Christos did stop and point out one or two. The first was a red-berried mastic bush (Pistacia lentiscus). He plucked one of the tiny berries and rubbed it between thumb and forefinger. I (and others) did the same, and it produced a strong resin fragrance. When I bit into it, Christos said not to do that; but I didn’t find it excessively bitter or unpleasant.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:49:22 Christos with a Pistacia lentiscus berry  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:49:44 Pistacia lentiscus, called “lentisk” on this sign  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:49:58 Pistacia lentiscus bush  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:50:16 Pistacia lentiscus berries The second was a juniper, with needle-like leaves; and everyone knew juniper berries to be the primary flavouring in gin.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:51:14 Juniperus phoenicea  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:51:44 Juniperus phoenicea  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:52:08 Juniperus phoenicea: needle-like leaves and berries As I took photos I tended to fall behind — but there was always one of the team of drivers keeping watch!  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:52:38 Proceeding into the Avakas Gorge  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:52:38 (detail) “There was always one of the team of drivers keeping watch!” We stopped to look at a sign about Centaurea akamantis, a flowering plant found only in Cyprus, classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as “critically endangered”.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:57:32 Sign about Centaurea akamantis  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 09:57:32 (detail) Sign about Centaurea akamantis As we proceeded, the gorge narrowed. There was the merest trickle of a waterfall, unexpected to see after all the mentions we’d heard about lack of rain and near-empty dams.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:00:10 Running water We saw a number of goats, one high up on the cliff and others nearby.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:01:56 Goat on a ledge high up on the cliff-side  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:02:08 Goat on a ledge high up on the cliff-side  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:03:30 Another goat, down in the gorge  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:04:14 Proceeding through the Avakas Gorge  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:04:22 The steep-sided Avakas Gorge  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:05:40 The steep-sided Avakas Gorge  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:06:08 The steep-sided Avakas Gorge  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:07:48 The steep-sided Avakas Gorge An example of the rare Centaurea akamantis on the nearby vertical cliff just across the stream was pointed out to us.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:09:56 Centaurea akamantis growing on the vertical cliff-face just on the other side of the stream  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:09:56 (detail 1) Centaurea akamantis growing on the vertical cliff-face just on the other side of the stream  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:09:56 (detail 2) “Centaurea akamantis” — “Akamas Knapweed”  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:11:16 Into the narrowest part of Avakas Gorge  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:11:16 (detail) Into the narrowest part of Avakas Gorge  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:13:02 Photo taken in Avakas Gorge  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:13:36 The narrowest part of Avakas Gorge We turned back after we got to the narrowest part of the gorge.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:22:02 Goat in Avakas Gorge  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:22:02 (detail) Goat in Avakas Gorge  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 10:22:36 Goat in Avakas Gorge We went from there northwards to a parking place overlooking Lara Beach. It’s on the west coast, but in a bay on the north side of a headland. In a shed there with photos and text on the walls we were given a talk on turtle conservation. In the turtle breeding season (May–August) the nests are protected from predation by foxes by placing aluminium cages over them. Eggs are also removed from other sites and reburied here; when the eggs hatch the hatchlings make straight for the sea, and surviving mature turtles return to the place where they were hatched. After that we went down the steep, stepped path to the beach. There was a newer shed there, with information — photos and text — about turtle conservation.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 11:10:44 Βόρειος Κόλπος Λάρας (“Lara North Bay”)  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 11:12:02 Βόρειος Κόλπος Λάρας (“Lara North Bay”)  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 11:12:48 Structures connected with turtle conservation: left, the information shed We looked in this.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 11:13:50 Information shed on Lara Beach  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 11:14:00 Information shed on Lara Beach  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 11:14:50 Seen in the information shed on Lara Beach: tracks of hatchlings  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 11:15:12 Seen in the information shed on Lara Beach: aluminium cage protecting a nest  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 11:15:40 Seen in the information shed on Lara Beach: hatchlings of loggerhead turtles going to the sea at dawn  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 11:16:00 Seen in the information shed on Lara Beach: green turtle going back to the sea after nesting  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 11:19:42 Back at the parking place  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 11:20:16 Notice about the Lara Reserve turtle protected area We then went ca.1 mile south of there, across the Lara headland, to the Lara Café, situated on a bay on the south of the headland, for toilets and refreshments. There were many cats. I had a small Keo beer and Janet a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 11:39:46 Lara Café: Keo beer and orange juice  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 11:41:50 Lara Café: many cats  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 11:48:12 Lara Café: aloe vera and prickly pear I asked Christos what the letters “ΛΔΧ” on the back of the vehicle meant. He told me: “‘Λεωφορείο Δημοσίας Χρήσης’ — ‘“bus” for public use’.” Then we went eastwards through hilly country along a rough, concrete-paved narrow road to the village of Ίνεια /ˈinja/, where red grapes hanging in clusters from a vine outside one of the houses could be sampled, and where we were offered green grapes, home-made medium-dry pale-red wine to drink, and home-made pomace brandy, called ζιβανία. Inside the house, an elderly lady was weaving at a loom.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 12:23:12 On the road to Ίνεια  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 12:23:52 On the road to Ίνεια: view west to Lara  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 12:24:14 On the road to Ίνεια: view west  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 12:35:48 Ίνεια: vine in an outside booth  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 12:37:14 Ίνεια: wine and ζιβανία  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 12:40:28 Ίνεια: first room — bedroom — leading to…  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 12:41:12 Ίνεια: …the inner room with a loom  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 12:41:34 Ίνεια: working at the loom  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 12:43:08 Ίνεια: outside the house  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 12:45:30 Pomegranates  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 12:45:52 Fig tree We then headed northwards along a proper paved road, passing through the derelict village of Ανδρολύκου, formerly the home of Turkish Cypriots, who left mainly after the Turkish invasion of 1974. At one point there was a plantation of trees to the right, which proved to be carob. For we stopped; Christos got out; and he came back holding hard, brown pods that he’d plucked from the trees. He broke them and distributed them among us. I ate my piece, which was chewy, sweet and quite agreeable, spitting out the little smooth, dark, ovate seeds which were very hard. We descended to the coast on the north side of the Akamas Peninsula, for lunch at the Souli Beach Hotel overlooking Chrysochou Bay. Tables had been set for our party under cover outside; but Janet thought it was a bit windy, so the two of us asked to be seated inside. (Some time before, we’d been asked whether we wanted lunch, and been offered the choice of either chicken or sea bream; and the lunch order had been phoned through. I chose the former, Janet the latter.) Janet’s fish was served with the head on, so I was tasked with cutting it off so it could be concealed in a paper napkin. In addition, Janet recalls, “there was bread and butter, mixed salad, rigatoni in tomato sauce, tzatziki…, a dish of couscous and spaghetti in tomato sauce…, and some… roasted [or] deep-fried potatoes.” I had 50cl of red wine and Janet a Sprite Zero. “We couldn’t eat it all,” Janet added; “and it was only €27. Oh, there were also four freshly picked clementines (I think) and I ate three.” I must have had the fourth, then.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 13:44:04 Lunch at the Souli Beach Hotel  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 14:14:38 Souli Beach Hotel  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 14:15:38 Chrysochou Bay After lunch we went along the coast road, more or less westwards, three miles or so, to the Baths of Aphrodite.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 14:40:58 About to go to the Baths of Aphrodite (Chrysochou Bay in the background)  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 14:41:16 Notice at the entrance to the Baths of Aphrodite  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 14:41:54 Entering the Baths of Aphrodite botanical garden  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 14:43:28 The Baths of Aphrodite botanical garden  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 14:45:02 The Baths of Aphrodite botanical garden  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 14:45:58 Spring near the Baths of Aphrodite  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 14:46:28 “Baths of Aphrodite”  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 14:46:52 Baths of Aphrodite  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 14:49:26 Baths of Aphrodite  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 14:50:04 Baths of Aphrodite  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 14:52:24 Chrysochou Bay From there we went for four miles or so, retracing our route eastwards then going beyond, to the small harbour town of Λατσί (Latsi or more commonly Latchi in English), where we stopped for a toilet and refreshments break.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 15:18:00 “Porto Latchi”  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 15:18:34 Latchi  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 15:19:28 Chrysochou Bay and Akamas Peninsula (looking westwards)  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 15:20:04 Latchi  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 15:20:44 Latchi harbour  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 15:22:04 Latchi harbour Janet and I walked by the harbour a short way, then went in a bar.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 15:30:48 Drinks in a Latchi bar On the way back to Paphos we had a photo stop up in the hills. The sun was in the west, making photography in the seaward direction difficult.  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 16:03:18 Photo stop  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 16:03:44 Photo stop  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 16:04:16 Photo stop  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 16:05:54 Photo stop  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 16:15:24 Photos from lower down and later  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 16:15:34 Photos from lower down and later We were back at the Annabelle Hotel ca.4.45pm. I gave Christos, who got out to farewell us, a €10 “golden handshake”. I took a couple of photos from our balcony. The first was looking directly out; the second was looking to the left, through a window into the way from the lobby to the corridor. I gave the nearer of the statues a name, “TWG” — “tiny-willied Greek” — but only referred to the farther one as “the tart with a shaving brush”. Why she would be holding a shaving brush, I don’t know, unless she’d shaved off the pubic hair of “TWG”!  Sunday 27 November 2016 — 16:57:42 View from our balcony 
Sunday 27 November 2016 — 17:00:28 The way from the hotel lobby to the corridor leading to our room, viewed from our balcony Transferred 92 photos from my camera to the WD Elements HDD (17:18–17:23). Looked at them with Windows Photo Viewer and rotated four photos that needed it (17:28–17:30). Then I lay on the bed and fell asleep. We went down ca.6.40pm for dinner. Janet notes that she showered and went to bed ca.9.15pm. I went to bed not long afterwards. [Monday 28 November 2016] |
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