Fauna

The fauna of the gorge includes important species, some of which are endemic whle others are quite rare and endangered. The geology and the vegetation mosaic of the gorge are the most important factors for the fauna of the area. The cave complex comprises an important habitat for the fruit-bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus), for which Cyprus is the only country in the European Union where the species is found. The cliffs of the gorge comprise a nesting site for the impressive long legged buzzard (Buteo rufinus), one of the largest birds of prey in Cyprus, as well as other species such as kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), barn owl (Tyto alba), little owl (Athene noctua) and the endemics Cyprus wheatear (Oenanthe cypriaca), Cyprus warbler (Sylvia melanothorax) and scops owl (Otus cyprius). The fox (Vulpes vulpes) and the hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus dorotheae) are the typical terrestrial mammals. From the reptiles we can see the large whip snake (Dolichophis jugularis), the cat snake (Telescopus fallax), the coin snake (Hemorrhois nummifer) as well as lizards such as the starred agama (Stellagama stellio cypriaca) and the Schneider's skink (Eumeces shcreideri). Insects have in general an important role for the ecological balance of the gorge. A noteworthy beetle of the wider area is the protected, endemic Propomacrus cypriacus, which lives in large, hollow-trees such as oaks and carobs.

The road turns into a track. From memory, you can get back to the main road that way, though it gets a bit bumpy.

There was one more bit on the sign:

Protection Status

The gorge, due to its importance for the avifauna, is part of the Natura 2000 site "Sarama Valley Special Protection Area".

In the previous picture you can see an occasional splodge of red. This is one of the splodges in close-up.

Ok, so it isn't actually wild broccoli. There is a good reason why this isn't wild broccoli as well. It turns out that there is no such thing as wild broccoli. This link has a tale to tell:

Why you can't find wild broccoli

What do broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and mustard greens all have in common?

They’re all closely related to each other — and we made all of them from the same original plant.

All of these different vegetables derive from a single plant, native to the Mediterranean, with the scientific name Brassica oleracea italica. This plant, commonly known as “wild cabbage”, was first discovered and consumed more than two thousand years ago by the ancient Etruscans, a group of people living in Italy who eventually launched the Roman Empire.

The Etruscans were skilled plant breeders. They prized the wild cabbage plant for its hardiness and tolerance of salt, but the plant produced only small flowering buds, and it only produced these buds once every two years. The Etruscans selectively bred these plants, creating offspring that produced buds more often and grew larger leaves, providing more bulk to eat.

Wild cabbage. Those flower buds will, after many years of selective breeding, become broccoli (or Brussels sprouts, or cauliflower). Crazy how nature do that. Picture from Wikipedia Commons.

The oldest domesticated vegetable from this plant was kale, which had larger leaves and started appearing around 500 B.C.E.

Further selection led to kale plants with a tighter bunch of leaves around a central bud — cabbage — around 100 C.E.

Europeans continued breeding this plant, but preferred the taste of the immature buds, rather than fully grown leaves. This led to selection for plants that grew a large crown of small, immature buds — cauliflower and broccoli.

Finally, continued breeding in Belgium pushed for more buds spread out on a large stalk — Brussels sprouts.