GREECE

While Greece is a perfect place to rub shoulders with ancient statues, it’s equally ideal for getting up close to nature by hiking through the wildflowers, coming eye-to-eye with a loggerhead turtle or simply stretching out on a beach. Greece has something for everyone who wants to get out and explore.

Experiencing the Outdoors

Greek Geography

No matter where you go in Greece, it’s impossible to be much more than100km from the sea. Rugged mountains, indigo water and seemingly innumerable islands dominate the Greek landscape which was shaped by submerging seas, volcanic explosions, and mineral-rich terrain. The mainland covers  131,944 sq km, with an indented coastline stretching for 15,020km. Mountains rise over 2000m and occasionally tumble down into plains, particularly in Thessaly and Thrace. Meanwhile, the Aegean and Ionian Seas flow between and link together the country’s 1400 islands, with just 169 of them inhabited. These islands fill 400,000 sq km of territorial waters.

For those with a penchant for geography, Greece rocks. During the Triassic, Jurassic,  Cretaceous and even later geological periods, Greece was a shallow oxygen-rich sea. The continuous submerging of land created large tracts of limestone through the whole submarine landmass. Later, as the land emerged from the sea to form the backbone of the current topography, a distinctly eroded landscape with crystalline rocks and other valuable minerals began to appear, marking the spine that links the north and south of the mainland today. Limestone caves are a major feature of this karst landscape, shaped by the dissolution of a soluble layer of bedrock.

Volcanic activity once regularly rocked Greece with force – one of the world’s largest volcanic explosions was on Santorini around 1650 BC. Today earthquakes continue to shake the country on a smaller scale but with almost predictable frequency. In 1999, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake near Athens killed nearly 150 people and left thousands homeless. In 2008, three separate quakes of 6.5-magnitude shook the Peloponnese but caused little damage. To check out Greece’s explosive past, visit the craters of Santorini, Nisyros, and Polyvotis.

Greece is short on rivers, with none that are navigable, although they’ve become popular locations for white-water rafting. The largest rivers are the Aheloös, Aliakmonas, Aoös, and Arahthos, all of which have their source in the Pindos Mountains of Epiros.

The long plains of the river valleys, and those between the mountains and the coast form Greece’s only lowlands. The mountainous terrain, dry climate, and poor soil leave farmers at a loss and less than a quarter of the land is cultivated. Greece is, however, rich in minerals, with reserves of oil, manganese, bauxite, and lignite.

Wildflowers

Greece is endowed with a variety of flora unrivaled elsewhere in Europe. The wildflowers are spectacular, with more than 6000 species, some of which occur nowhere else, and more than  100 varieties of orchid. They continue to thrive because most of the land is inadequate for intensive agriculture and has therefore escaped the ravages of chemical fertilizers.

The regions with the most wildflowers are the Lefka Ori mountains in Crete and the Mani area of the Peloponnese. Trees begin to blossom as early as the end of February in warmer areas and the wildflowers start to appear in March. During spring the hillsides are carpeted with flowers, which seem to sprout even from the rocks. By summer the flowers have disappeared from everywhere but the northern mountainous regions. Autumn brings a new period of blossoming.

Herbs grow wild throughout much of Greece and you’ll see locals out picking fresh herbs for their kitchen. Locally grown herbs are also increasingly sold as souvenirs and are generally organic.

Forests

It seems as if every village on the mainland has a plane tree shading its central square, however, the lush forests that once covered ancient Greece are increasingly rare. Having been decimated by thousands of years of clearing for grazing, boat building, and housing, they’ve more recently suffered from severe forest fires (see the boxed text, Green Issues). Northern Greece is the only region that has retained significant areas of native forest and here you can experience mountainsides covered with dense thickets of hophornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia), noted for its lavish display of white-clustered flowers. Another common species is the Cyprus plane (Platanus orientalis insularis), which thrives wherever there is ample water.

Watching for Wildlife

On The Ground

In areas widely inhabited by humans, you are unlikely to spot any wild animals other than the odd fox, weasel, hare or rabbit scurrying out of your way. The more remote mountains of northern Greece continue to support a wide range of wildlife, including wild dogs and shepherds’dogs with bad attitudes which often roam the higher pastures on grazing mountains and should be given a wide berth if encountered.

The brown bear

The brown bear, Europe’s largest land mammal, still manages to survive in very small numbers in the Pindos Mountains, the Peristeri Range that rises above the Prespa Lakes, and in the mountains that lie along the Bulgarian border. If you want to see a bear in Greece nowadays you’re better off heading for the Arcturos Bear Sanctuary (www. arcturos.gr) in the village of Nymfeo in Macedonia as it’s extremely rare to see one in the wild.

The grey wolf

The grey wolf, which is protected under the European Bern Convention, is officially classified as stable. However, at last count, there were only an estimated 200 to 300 surviving in the wild and it’s believed that up to 100 are killed annually by farmers’ indiscriminate (and illegal) use of poison baits in retaliation for the occasional marauding and mauling of their flocks. The Greek Government and insurance companies pay compensation for livestock lost to wolves but it doesn’t appear to slow the killings. The surviving wolves live in small numbers in the forests of the Pindos Mountains in Epiros, as well as in the Dadia Forest Reserve area. Head to the Wolf Sanctuary (www.arcturos.gr) near Aetos in Macedonia for a better chance to see one.

The golden jackal

The golden jackal is a strong candidate for Greece’s most misunderstood mammal. Although its diet is 50% vegetarian (and the other 50% is made up of carrion, reptiles and small mammals), it has traditionally shouldered much of the blame for attacks on stock and has been hunted by farmers as a preventative measure. Near the brink of extinction, it was declared a protected species in 1990 and now survives only in the Fokida district of central Greece and on the island of Samos.

Snake and Reptiles

Greece has an active snake population and in spring and summer, you will inevitably spot these wriggling reptiles on roads and pathways all over the country. Fortunately, the majority are harmless, though the viper and the coral snake can cause fatalities. Lizards are in abundance and there is hardly a dry-stone wall without one of these curious creatures clambering around.

The Hellenic Wildlife Hospital  (www.ekpazp.gr) is the oldest and largest wildlife rehabilitation center in Greece and southern Europe.

In The Air

Birdwatchers have a field day in Greece as the country is on many north-south migratory paths. Lesvos (Mytilini) in particular draws a regular following of birders from all over Europe who come to spot some of more than 279 recorded species that stop off at the island annually. Storks are more visible visitors, arriving in early spring from Africa and returning to the same nests year after year. These are built on electricity poles, chimney tops, and church towers, and can weigh up to 50kg; keep an eye out for them in northern Greece, especially in Thrace in Macedonia. Thrace has the richest colony of fish-eating birds in Europe, including species such as egrets,  herons, cormorants, and ibises, as well as the rare Dalmatian pelican.

Turkey and Greece are now the only countries in Europe where this large bird is found. The wetlands at the mouth of the Evros River, close to the border with Turkey, are home to two easily identifiable wading birds – the avocet, which has a long curving beak, and the black-winged stilt, which has extremely long pink legs.

Upstream on the Evros River in Thrace, the dense forests and rocky outcrops of the 72-sq-km Dadia Forest Reserve play host to the largest range of birds of prey in Europe. Thirty-six of the 38 European species can be seen here, and it is a breeding ground for 23 of them. Permanent residents include the giant black vulture, whose wingspan reaches 3m, the griffon vulture and the golden eagle. Europe’s last 15 pairs of royal eagle nest on the river delta.

About 350 pairs of the rare Eleonora’s falcon (60% of the world’s population) nest on the island of Piperi in the Sporades and on Tilos, which is also home to the very rare Bonelli’s eagle and the shy, cormorant-like Mediterranean shag.

Under the Sea

As Europe’s most endangered marine mammal, the monk seal (Monachus monachus) ekes out an extremely precarious existence in Greece. Approximately 200 to 250 monk seals, about 90% of Europe’s minuscule population, are found in both the Ionian and Aegean Seas. Small colonies also live on the island of Alonnisos and there have been reported sightings on Tilos. Pervasive habitat encroachment is the main culprit for their diminished numbers.

The waters around Zakynthos, are home to the last large sea turtle colony in Europe, that of the endangered loggerhead turtle  (Caretta caretta) The loggerhead also nests in smaller numbers in the Peloponnese and in Crete.  Greece’s turtles have many hazards to dodge – fishing nets, boat propellers, rubbish, sun-loungers, and beach umbrellas. It doesn’t help that the turtles’ nesting time coincides with the European summer holiday season.

There is still the chance that you will spot dolphins from the ferry deck, however, a number of the species are now considered vulnerable. The number of common dolphins  (Delphinus delphis) has dropped from 150 to 15 in the past decade. The main threats to dolphins are diminished food supply and entanglement in fishing nets.

ACCOMMODATION AVAILABLE IN GREECE – TRAVEL

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