TRIP REPORT Botanical Holiday in Greece, Karpathos Island 28 March-4 APRIL

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1 NATURAL GREECE TRIP REPORT Botanical Holiday in Greece, Karpathos Island 28 March-4 APRIL

Our tourist guides are very knowledgeable, they know all the plants and the small animals in the island. We were lucky and found the unique frogs.

2 I spent my holidays in a beautiful island called Karpathos. Experienced the nice weather and people. Saw goats along the trail, once you feed them, they will fall in love with you. There's a lot of fresh seafood. We caught sea urchin and ate like sashimi. Our tourist guides are very knowledgeable, they know all the plants and the small animals in the island. We were lucky and found the unique frogs. It was an awesome holidays and felt sad to say goodbye to them.." Phyllis Lee Hong Kong Trip report of the Botanical Holiday in Greece, Karpathos Island that Phyllis Lee, Maury Silver and Judy Stivelband enjoyed during spring Expert local guides: Evangelia and Minas Agapiou. 2

Day 1: Arrival at Karpathos airport and transfer to our hotel in Diafani village. After settling in our apartments, we start a guided stroll in the village.

Afterwards, we continued our walk in the village discussing the history of the place and the living conditions of the locals during the winter.

3 Day 1: Arrival at Karpathos airport and transfer to our hotel in Diafani village. After settling in our apartments, we start a guided stroll in the village. We visited Manolis, who is traditional carpenter and we saw the beautiful furniture he made! Afterwards, we continued our walk in the village discussing the history of the place and the living conditions of the locals during the winter. We ended up in a tavern where we drunk ouzo and met Michalis, a traditional musician. We exchanged ideas about the sustainable development of the Island and more specific about the protected area of north Karpathos. Day 2: Guided stroll in the traditional village in Karpathos, Olympos. 3

4 Visiting the only one traditional shoe maker Giannis Prearis. 4

5 And met the regional flora and fauna for first time. Most notably, the endemic bellflower of Karpathos: Campanula carpatica! 5

6 Walking uphill with the striking image of Olympos village in the background 6

island s local dish Makarounes (a hand-made pasta), octopus

7 Then our cooking lesson started. In a traditional Karpathian house we learned to cook the island s local dish Makarounes (a hand-made pasta), octopus stifado (a stew) and artichokes! The makarounes pasta is rolled out by us and cut to smaller pieces. 7

After searching for about an hour we found the rare and endemic frog Pelophylax

8 Time to enjoy the fruits of our labour in good company. Day 3: Hiking (4 hours duration) from Olympos village to Argoni region. After searching for about an hour we found the rare and endemic frog Pelophylax cerigiensis. The frog is an endemic of North Karpathos. Apart from that we discovered many beautiful, rare and endemic flora. 8

9 Ophrys Ariadne 9

10 Cistus creticus, one of the many endemic flora Lathyrus clymenum 10

Walking for 3 3.5 hours from Giaplos Bay to Palatia bay.

11 Day 4: Today we embarked on a wooden boat and spent a glorious day on Saria Island!! We did an easy walk on Saria Island, which is also part of the national park. Walking for hours from Giaplos Bay to Palatia bay. Later we returned back to Diafani by boat. Our prow is headed for Saria Island, north of Karpathos Hiking the old footpaths 11

12 Endemic bellflower Campanula sariae Stunning views on sea and land everywhere we go 12

13 Day 5: Hiking to Tristomo gulf. 13

14 Cistus salfivolius Cytinus hypocistis 14

discovered more rare and endemic flowers of the national park.

15 Day 6: Transfer to the small village Avlona. With our local expert on the flora of Karpathos, Minas Agapiou, we discovered more rare and endemic flowers of the national park. Botanical guided tour and walk back to Diafani. Net walking time: 2 hours. Easy graded walk. 15

16 Colus hirodinosus 16

17 Ophrys aegaea ssp.aegaea About Ophrys aegaea ssp. Aegaea: sometimes classified as subspecies of Ophrys ferrum-equinum, initially considered endemic of Karpathos, where it grows without being rare, during the month of March. Later found in Kasos, Amorgos and Heraclea, justifying the name 'aegaea ". In Karpathos is abundant and easily identifiable, although often forming hybrids with Ophrys ferrum-equinum. 17

18 Ophrys calypsus Ophrys helios 18

19 Orobanche ramose Ophrys ferrum-equinum 19

20 Ophrys heldreichii On our last day we say goodbye to all of our friends that we left behind on Karpathos Island. Flight back home. 20

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