Diario de stevedaniels

Much as it grieves me to leave Nikki's kafenion in Schinokapsala and all those delicious grapes we shall press onwards and upwards to the village of Orino. As we leave the village, heading east, we are at about 1300 feet (400m). Where we are heading is over 2000 feet up in the Thriptis mountains and there is some pretty spectacular scenery upon the way.

Ah, there's the turning for Mavros Kolimbos and just past here on the left is a little reservoir that's always worth a visit. No birds today, although a pair of ravens have just cronked overhead, but we have a couple of little friends taking a drink at the water's edge. Firstly we have a Keeled Skimmer of the Orthetrum genus. The males of this genus are easy to recognise by their powder blue colour (as opposed to the metallic blue of the much larger Emperors of the Anax genus). The other fellow taking advantage of the algal mat as a landing stage is an Oriental Hornet. This is an east Asian/north African species that appears to be spreading into southern Europe which is not good news for bee keepers as bee hives appear to be one of it's favourite food sources with the bees and their larvae providing protein and the honey providing carbohydrates. On the other hand, they're great pollinators and they are not aggressive (you can get up close and photograph them) although the sting is painful if you happen to sit on one.

As we leave the village of Orino we have a decision to make. There are two ways in which we can drive on to our next port of call which is Stavrochori; we can go over the mountains (which is prettier) or return to the coast road (which is less painful). Although there is a lovely tarmacadamed road leading out of Orino it isn't quite finished yet and the last couple of miles into Stavrochori is a dirt track. Quite drivable in a 4x4 but a bit rough on our little Alto. Now may be a good point to mention hire car insurance: you are not automatically covered for off-roading (not even for a quad bike). In view of that, and the fact that there's a little reservoir I want us to take a look at, we'll drop back down to the coast, turn left at Koutsouras and come up through the valley.

There's gold in them thar hills! (or so the saying goes) and the name of the next village on our route means just that. I can't promise you gold but there are plenty of blues and whites, the colours of Greece; from the light fluffy clouds in a forget-me-not sky to the small white and common blue butterflies that dance along the roadside verges. The former preferring the smelly Henbane whilst the latter opt for the more delicate European Heliotrope. But let us delve down between these two rock pillars and see what we can find in the hidden depths.

As we wend our way from the village of Chrysopiggi around the base of Mt. Ornos I thought that we'd stop off about half way, admire the scenery and see what we can find along these seldom visited tracks that diverge from the road to who knows where. You can see the end of the Ornos range to our right and the end of the Thriptis range ahead. Between them runs a rough road from Chrysopiggi to Kavousi on the north coast. But turning our attention to the track at our feet, notice these little clumps of purple plants budding at our feet. It isn't always easy to tell what a plant will become at this stage of its development but if you're lucky enough to find the plant at different growth stages along the track, as we are here, then it's worth taking a couple of photographs so that you can recognise it the next time you see it. This one will grow up to be Galatella cretica whose flowers turn from yellow to mauve to purple as they age and whose leaves are decidedly green rather than purple (see Just When You Thought It Was Safe ).

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