Category Archives: Nature

Symi: A Taste of Honey and Dalliance with A Painted Lady

Posted on October 4, 2014 by BarryH

I stopped to chat with friends in Lefteris’s kafenion at the top of the Kali Strata on the way back to the house from the restaurant close to midnight. After a short while the owner started hurriedly carrying the wooden chairs … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Wildlife | Tagged Biarum marmarense, Buterflies, flash flood, Greece, Horio, Kali Strata, Lefteris's kafenion, nature, Oertzeni lizard, Painted Lady, Sea squill, Squill, Symi, Thistle flower, thunderstorm, wildlife | 5 Comments

Symi: wandering the mountains in a search for the past

Posted on September 14, 2014 by BarryH

My jaunt along the Kokkinochoma peninsula ‘Trekking to a time before Greece’ and finding the fortified platform and other stuff, which I think are Pelasgian remains (though with no corroborating expert evidence this is conjecture), set in the top of … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Wildlife | Tagged ancient routeway, Antiquity, footpaths, Greece, Helenistic Ruins, Painted Dragon lizard, Pelasgian, Ruins, Symi | 1 Comment

Symi: a walk to the beach via the underworld and pre-history

Posted on September 4, 2014 by BarryH

I had walked to Nanou Beach a few times, a long trek up to ‘The Tarmac’, the road along the top of the ridge which is the main spine of the island, and then a 2½ kilometre drop down a … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Nature | Tagged Ancient pathway protection, caves, dinosaur remains, EU funding, fottpaths, Greece, hiking, kalderimi, Nanou Beach, paths, pre-history, pygmy elephant, Symi, Tilos, trekking, walking guide | Leave a comment

Symi: a jaunt down a mini-gorge

Posted on August 14, 2014 by BarryH

The pattern of my days on Symi is different to previous years. I spend the morning doing chores around the house and writing. By midday I have had enough of both and need to get out into the mountains and/or … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Wildlife | Tagged Butterflies, gorge walking, Greece, Greek Islands, hiking, Nimborios, Painted Dragon lizard, Starred agama, Symi | 2 Comments

Symi: a trek into the past

Posted on August 6, 2014 by BarryH

I’m fascinated by deserted settlements. They show the stark effects of seismic economic shifts, technological development, and climate change. They can also show how people lived decades ago. Whenever I am on Tilos I visit and write about the deserted … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Reflections, Wales, Wildlife | Tagged deserted village, dragonflies, gateway to the past, Ghera, Greece, Gria, Karpathos, Micro Horio, national heritage, Olymbos, Pedi, St Fagan's National History Museum, Symi, Tilos, time portal, traditional bread oven, Wales, water abstraction, water supply, Welsh Folk Museum, windmills | 1 Comment

Symi: to the castle … with a lot of distractions

Posted on July 28, 2014 by BarryH

When we first came to Symi 15 years ago the castle didn’t exist. At least it wasn’t shown on the only available, very diagrammatic, walking map of the island nor mentioned in the imaginatively titled accompanying booklet ‘Walks in Symi’. … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Wildlife | Tagged Ag Giorgios Ftoxos, Agios Nikitas Kotika, alien images, aliens, alpine swift, Butterflies, dragonflies, Geomorphology, Greece, hochlakos mosaic, limestone, monasteries, Pebble mosiac, rock, science fiction, Symi, tear-pants limestone | Leave a comment

Tilos: a walk to the beach the day after the mountain destroyed my sandals

Posted on July 11, 2014 by BarryH

Though I set out with that specific intention, I didn’t get to have a swim on the day that The Mountain Destroyed My Sandals. I passed the top of the path down to Depsoti To Nero on my way back … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Reflections, Wildlife | Tagged Agriosikia Castle, beach etiquette, Chile, folded rocks, French etiquette, goat compost, Greece, guano, Guano Wars, Livadia, Painted Dragon lizard, sandals, SKAI maps, swimming, Tholos Beach, Tilos, Youf Culture | Leave a comment

Tilos: the mountain that destroyed my sandals

Posted on July 6, 2014 by BarryH

A few more walks after the Kamikaze Trail and I decided to have an easy day and head to a beach for a laze and swim. Apart from the pebbled town beach, over a mile long and just a quick … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature | Tagged Agios Staphanos harbour, beaches, cliff path, deserted village, Despoti to Nero, Ghera, Greece, Koutsoubas, Lethra, mountain path, mountains, Red Beach, sandals, snake skin, Stavros Bay, telecom station, Thollos Bay, Tilos, Tilos beaches, water | 2 Comments

Symi: a gorge walk

Posted on June 23, 2014 by BarryH

Since I arrived back on Symi nearly two weeks ago I have been setting out for walks at midday in order to get myself acclimatised to walking in the heat ready for longer treks when noon temperatures would be difficult … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature | Tagged bonzai, cypress trees, dry river bed, dry waterfalls, gorge walking, Greece, Lapathos Beach, limestone, Oregano, rock climbing, rock scrambling, Symi, Vasilios Gorge | 6 Comments

Symi: the month of the thyme

Posted on June 17, 2014 by BarryH

One of the things we have always loved about trekking around the mountains on Symi, is the smell of herbs. Whole mountainsides are swathed in sage, oregano or thyme. Rarely all three together except in small patches, usually one is … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Mountains, Nature, Wildlife | Tagged bees, Butterflies, flowering times, Greece, honey, Oregano, Sage, Symi, thyme, thymus | Leave a comment