The Far Side of the Akamas

[Dominic]

Last October when I had the weekend to myself, I resolved to do a geocache that had eluded me up until now, due to it's remoteness. Given that people were interested in the Akamas Church blog I posted a while back, I thought I would turn the photos I took into another blog...

Read the article and chat about it below...

[ApusApus]

Crikey, I had to look that word up .................... behind the times or what?


Shane

[Ramone]

An excellent blog with very interesting photos.
We will try to fit that in before the summer kicks in & enjoy a day out there,
Cheers Dominic for the info.

[PhotoLady]

I mentioned geocaching to my other half last week and he had no idea what it is either - but once explained, we thought it may be something we could do here in UK and get out a bit more in some of our surrounding areas and a bit off the beaten track.

[Yioula]

Another great blog with super photos.......

[LouiseCastricum]

Really enjoyed this blog. Great pictures as well.

[PaphosAL]

Another fascinating and extremely evocative blog from you, Dom! Thank you SO much!

On a few occasions back between 1998 and 2003, I would often meet up on holidays in Paphos with my good friends Chris (also my then workmate on the Fire Alarms) and his OH Sue, both from Luton (same as me). Year after year, in our 4x4 jeeps (rented from George and Kula @ Easy Rent A Car Ltd), our avowed quest was to find a route to Cape Arnaoutis, the Western-most tip of Cyprus.

In October 2013, we very nearly made it... Our route that day was to take our two jeeps along the coastal track out from Agios Georgios, past Lara Bay, past Camp Invicta (where the British Army sometimes base themselves for exercises, and where there's a right turn up a very rocky track that takes you over to Neo Chorio via Smigies). We carried straight along, hugging the seashore...

Soon, the track petered out to nothing, so we were forced to find a driveable route up to the higher ridge on our right. We made it, but the track was more like a goat trail than a 4x4 track, LOL! Once up on the high ground, we headed NE along a track leading to the lighthouse, all the time looking for a track on our right that led down to the 'other' side, to join the coastal track from the Baths / Blue Lagoon / Cape Arnaoutis.

We found a very scrambly and white-knuckle route down that actually passed straight through a goat farm! Then we headed NE again, hugging the coast... Eventually, the track died out on us, when we reached that same area you described, where there are very sharp jagged rocks emerging from a coarse red sand surface (dumped there maybe by April Coptic Storms over many years, I wonder??). Being in rental motors and very worried about tyre damage should we proceed on that 'last mile' to our goal, we pulled over and stopped.

At that moment, a Toyota 4x4 twin cab with two Cyp fishermen drove over this area towards us! But their wagon had raised suspension and HUGE wheels... We decided that I should survey ahead on foot, to see if there existed a driveable route around this obstacle.

Here's a picture taken by Sue, of Chris taking a picture of my back end on the start of my reconnaisance:



Mission impossible! It was soooooo frustrating, as we could see a group of people actually on Cape Arnaoutis! Must have been on a boat or helicopter trip... Too hot to walk the last mile and back, with no water on board, and no shade ahead. So we took the sensible decisision to turn around and go back...

But NOT the way we'd come! Now we decided to try the Aphrodite Trail coastal track back to the Baths. Here we are at the start of this very rugged white-knuckle ascent:



Funny story on the way up. A group of elderly women were just joining the track from our right, where the Aphrodites Trail has just steeply zig-zagged down from up above. They had a laggard... She waved me down and I stopped to let her jump in. She was waving to her German freunde as we drove up the hill past them. I let her out at the top, where there was a bench under shade, so she could rest, admire the view, and await her exhausted friends arrival, LMAO!

Here's the magical view that awaited us at the top of the hill, gobsmackingly SO awesome, it remains on my XP as desktop wallpaper image to this day, over 13 years later! I never tire of seeing it, and never will...



As for what the three of us did when we got back to Paphos? No brainer! Riccos Beach (since 1974) and a few cold beers, sunset photos, etc. That's where my avatar piccy was taken by Sue that evening.

Cheers- AL (and sorry if us UK dwellers bored or upset anyone in particular with our happy memories and adventures of and in Cyprus, having been there on 34 occasions, 2 of which were 3 month stretches in the same year! So I do happen to know a bit about life in Paphos, and am quite happy to share my memories)

[PhotoLady]

Some great stories, memories and photos - thanks for sharing!

[Dominic]

Normally I wouldn't go it alone. But in this one instance I wanted to. A couple of years ago my wife broke her leg very badly, and it took over a year to heal. In fact she only got her final discharge last month. So our excursions have always been a bit tamer. Then one weekend, my wife was back in the UK (having another op on her leg, as it happens!) and our daughter was staying at a friend's. So I took the opportunity.

You are quite right though. I wouldn't normally go solo.

[Dominic]

Another fascinating and extremely evocative blog from you, Dom! Thank you SO much!

On a few occasions back between 1998 and 2003, I would often meet up on holidays in Paphos with my good friends Chris (also my then workmate on the Fire Alarms) and his OH Sue, both from Luton (same as me). Year after year, in our 4x4 jeeps (rented from George and Kula @ Easy Rent A Car Ltd), our avowed quest was to find a route to Cape Arnaoutis, the Western-most tip of Cyprus.

That route is an impossible dream. We've tried it ourselves, but the bay I featured is the furthest you can get from the Blue Lagoon End, without going the other side of the lighthouse. Going from the Lara Bay end is more brutal. There is another shrine there, next to an old Greek flag, and beyond that you can go a certain distance, but you eventually come to a junction. The E4 takes you up in the direction of the lighthouse, but the left hand route seemingly takes you along the coast still. We followed that route, but the track conks out in the middle of the side of a valley, leaving a very pleasant reversal back to the E4.

[cyprusmax47]

Dominic

Nice 19 photos on Google map if you click on Cape Arnauti....

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cape+ ... 32.2849774

[Ams]

Thanks for the tales and photos Dominic and Al - that does look very remote! I do like remote sometimes....

I did the Aphrodite trail last Saturday. 2nd time I've done it and forgotten how much I hated the steep downhill zig-zag path Al mentions - but still worth it, especially for the views from the top. It's very civilised compared to your treks to outer parts - the closest I've got to that is when I swam from a boat. It must have felt special to be out there alone.

Akamas really is beautiful

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[aphrodite]

Great Blog and photos Dominic and Al and Ams. Makes me want to do more exploring in Akamas, must find someone who is interested to go with me before the hot heat arrives.

[PW in Polemi]

Lovely blog and photos, thank you to all of you who've posted here.

Vis a vis the rock pools not teeming with life as do those in Cornwall - maybe this is because of the lack of appreciable tidal flow (note the word "appreciable" - where I come from, a 10m tide is not unusual, very different to the 6cm or whatever it normally is here). Without regular tidal refreshing/replacing, the sea water in the pool will become more and more salty as the water evaporates, and the water will also become hot during the day, possibly too hot to sustain small fry, anenomes, sea weeds, etc etc. It may also have something to do with the composition of the rock itself not being the right type for wildlife.

But I'm only guessing, I'm certainly not putting myself forward as a rock pool expert.

[cyprusmax47]

In these rock pools one can collect from June and later salt crystals.
Most of the locals and fishermen do so. I remember collecting salt 30 years
back in the Blue Lagoon from the little island where in the past rocks for
buildings were mined. Now there are too many tourists.
Max

[PaphosAL]

Thanks agiain for this topic, Dom. Just read your blog once again, and all your smashing photos. Tnen all the replies so far. Had to grab a box of Kleenex tissues, as tears streaming down my face..

Happy Memory tears I should add. Keep your marvelous blogs coming please, Dom! Avarkas Gorge, maybe?

Cheers- AL

[Dominic]

Thanks. I am glad people like them. And thank you for your contributions too.

I have already done one of behind Avakas Gorge. Plus the first blog I did, The Olive Tree one, is also behind there. However, I do plan on walking the length of it again some time. It will be difficult though, to limit the photos. You can quite easily rattle off 100 pictures in there, but that would take way too long to process and expect people to sit through.

Here is a teaser from my next blog though, where I visit the abandoned yet easily accessible village of Foinikas. I went back today to get some more pics, and couldn't believe what I found. It was a complete sea of yellow. Utterly breathtaking.

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[PhotoLady]

We need a "Like" emoji, Dominic - can you fix it?

[Ams]

Wow. I love seas of yellow. I've been to Foinikas twice but never seen it like that. It's beautiful, must have felt amazing to be there

[PaphosAL]

Great Blog and photos Dominic and Al and Ams. Makes me want to do more exploring in Akamas, must find someone who is interested to go with me before the hot heat arrives.

Good idea, aphrodite! All you need to do is agree to meet up with 1-24 other PL members, to walk a gentle circular route (Sat Nav can be very handy here, in order for you all to find where you parked your cars to start with, LMAO!).

Early start, say 9am, then a gentle stroll around the Paphos Hills, back to where you started at for a nice lunch and refreshments at noon(ish) onwards. Then back home, siesta, shower, then hit the nightlife until 02:30, LOL

Done around three dozen such days, with hundreds of photos for memories... Walks are best done with at least one or more companions, NOT on your own, tbh... Anything happens, you're knackered. In company, situation soon resolved! This happened a few times on group walks, I might add...

You can 'visualize' potential' walks by simply grabbing a copy of the Paphos Tourist Map from any CTO office or their kiosk at PFO Arrivals and then study it, for ideas and inspiration!

@Dominic: Please don't go out in the Wilds doing your blogs on your own again! Message received?

Cheers- AL