By a twitch of fate we end up on the island of Evia. The mainland with Attica and Athens seems far away now.

 

The island's ruggy environment was once the beloved home of ancient civilisations. Today Evia is still the trusted refuge of

• 40 endemic plant species (more),
• 200.000 inhabitants,
• and 2.000.000 goats.

From the Aegean Sea we go up, one natural limestone fortress after another. Eventually we might reach the green Mount Dirfi, 1750m above the coast. But we settle at an altitude of 440m after we stumble into the village of Manikia. Here, some French folks landed in 2015 and soon they bolted nearby cliffs. The Manikia project was born.

One moment it's terribly sunny, the other instant there's the gloomy menace of storm*. The four of us agree to keep ourselves to the world of shadows: Canyon.

 

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Autumn daffodil (Sternbergia lutea)

TNT (Canyon). Double send.

 

 

Jules in Ofthalmopati (Canyon).

 

 

 

 

I viasyni vorela (Canyon). Double send!

 

 

Τσίλαρος (Tsilaros bay). When Italy attacked Greece in 1940, and then the Germans themselves invaded the country in 1941, the patriotic folk singer Sofia Vembo managed to escape to Egypt from this beach. Today the beach is marked by waste dumps and illegal settlements.

 

 

More photos:

ANGRY BOY ME:

 

The Manikia Project heralds sustainability and ecology. Their marketing distinguishes their destination brand from the big established but rash and maximalistic developments of Kalymnos, Leonidio, Chulilla, Siurana, El Chorro, Ulassai,.. Then they throw a commercial event in May 2022. Now 1,5 year later I find one unhatched egg after another in pockets at Le Bal Con. They could at least try to scare away the illegal hunters, imo. Look at the picture below. This hailed down fella is a Western Rock Nuthatch and he's sure not one of the 34 common species that locals are allowed to hunt.

 

Sitta neumayer

 

Then there are the wildfires, blazing half the island in 2021, burning half of what was left in 2022, and threatening the remains every new summer. Now in 2023 Storm Daniel drops a waterbomb of 750mm. Three weeks later we arrive and storm Elias makes sure to drop a bomb of 400mm on our heads. What the...

So don't also tell me of the disease-carrying eight-legged freaks that seem to benefit from climate change (recent scientific article). In Canyon there's this one looking for a small mammal. Bastard.

 

Dermacentor reticulatus.