Two men on a quadbike

Although I generally write about adventures that I have with Alan, I had no part to play in this one, other than to type up Alan’s notes and this is probably why I forgot to make it ‘live’ on the blog.

So although I must apologise to Alan for the delay, at least it gave me something interesting to work on to pass a rainy August afternoon in the UK!

For Steve it was just another ride on his quad bike to photograph a rare flower, but for Alan it was his first experience of riding pillion on such a vehicle.  The first part of the trip was on standard tarmac roads, leaving Agios Nikolaos along the rising and dipping coast road signposted towards Sitia.  Just past Pachia Amos, Steve took a right turn, signed for Ierapetra to cross the flat expanse at the narrowest part of the island that is circa 10k wide.  This road passes under the massive face of the Thripti Mountains and passes the gaping mouth of the Ha Canyon.

Once at the south coast, Steve headed east along the coast road with a dramatic reduction in traffic.  Not stopping at the popular seaside town of Makrigialos or smaller Analipsi, Steve carried on to a turning on the right signposted Kalo Nero.  Now it took only ten minutes to reach the bottom of the Kapsa Gorge where there was room to park as the next phase was on foot.

From this point, the Kapsa Monastery looked down from its imposing position straddled across the right hand side of the gorge.  Bearing in mind Steve was carrying all his photographic kit this was a purposeful walk to find a specific plant rather than exploration of the gorge.  Never having been there before Alan found it an imposing gorge at first before it opened up to reveal a very high rock face with many plants and shrubs clinging to its sides.

While Alan enjoyed the contrast between the brightest of blue skies and the pink oleander in the gorge, Steve set up his camera to capture the shy Limonium cornarianum.  This very rare flower, known only from the Kapsa Gorge, tenaciously grew from a crack in the rock. 

 

As far as Steve was concerned it was ‘job done’, but Alan has added further exploration of the gorge to our ‘to do list’ conceding it was far too hot to consider walking further on this very hot June day.

After heading back past Makrigialos, Steve took the right fork signposted Orino, a place that benefits from constant running water to provide a lush growing area for cherries, plums, walnuts and brightly coloured flowers outside of the small group of houses.  The villagers maintain a delightful amphitheatre for their communal festivals and celebrations.

Now the long winding road took them ever higher towards the pass that crosses the Thripti Mountains.  Over the years, this road has benefited from tarmac and concrete in sections but in places, it is still a very rough dirt road.  Despite the bumps, Alan enjoyed the high seating position behind Steve that gave him fantastic views of the vineyards, towering peaks, long drops, and dry watercourses now full of vibrant oleander.

After emerging on the west facing side of the mountains, the road drops to Thripti village where the taverna provided a welcome lunch of traditional mezes to go with their beer.  Well, they had to wash the dust away!

Riding pillion had not proven too difficult for Alan but he did find the long, bumpy decent from Thripti a strain on his thighs, not that he knew it until the next day!

 

So, Steve was satisfied with his photo expedition,and Alan thoroughly enjoyed his trip and being with someone who is so knowledgeable about the area added that extra ‘something’.

If you are interested in finding out more about the flora of eastern Crete you will probably enjoy Steve’s website at http://www.cretanflora.com/