Travel – Page 16 – David Kotz

Cyprus – cats

Cats are *everywhere* in Cyprus.

One of the first things we noticed on arrival in Cyprus: cats. Cats everywhere. Under the tables of every restaurant and café, along the walls of city streets, beside the resort pool, in the rocks along the shoreline, in the shadows of ancient ruins… at every single location I’ve noticed one or more cats. They are clearly stray cats, yet friendly and apparently welcomed by the proprietor and customers alike. The cats make themselves at home wherever they go… as if they own the place! What’s up with the cats? read on.

Feral cat sleeping on a stone wall – Limassol, Cyprus.

Cyprus – Mycenaean colonization

Over 3,000 years ago.

From the patios in front of our hotel we look out across the bay – ahead is the Mediterranean Sea; to the right is Karst Point, which I explored on my first morning here; to the left is a steep-shored peninsula housing the grounds of the Mycenaean colonization of Cyprus, or so says the map. Today we strolled over there, paid a small entrance fee to the sleepy gate clerk – I suspect we may have been his only visitors this week – and explored the small museum.

Ruins of the Mycenaean Colonisation of Cyprus.

It is truly remarkable to be walking among the foundations of homes built over 3,000 years ago, still evident – and marking the location of the first Mycenaean Greek colonists on the island of Cyprus, around 1,200 BC.

Cyprus – historic Paphos

The conference organizers kindly organized an afternoon tour of two local archaeological sites, now UNESCO World Heritage sites, on the outskirts of the ancient (and still thriving) city of Paphos. Read on and see the gallery!

Pyramos and Thisbe, and other tales – The House of Dionysus at Nea Pafos archaelogical site.

Cyprus – Baths of Aphrodite

Highlights on the western tip of Cyprus.

We hired a driver and asked to head to the northwestern shore of Cyprus, to visit the legendary Baths of Aphrodite. According to Greek legend, Aphrodite would bath in the spring of this small grotto and, one day, met her lover Adonis when he stopped here while out hunting. Read on!

Cyprus – Coral Bay

An island at the crossroads of history.

We’re off again, this time to the island nation of Cyprus in the Mediterranean. I needed to attend a computer-science conference (DCOSS-IoT) for a few days, so we decided to extend the trip by two days and explore this island that has been at the crossroads of history for millennia. We are staying at an oceanside hotel in Coral Bay, outside Paphos; on our first morning, I took a walk along the shore to a point (“Karst point”) that provided a lovely view back across the bay to the hotel. My first gallery of photos shares views of the hotel, the bay, and some of the lovely flowers blooming this time of year.

Waves on Karst Point, with view across Coral Bay to our hotel.

Thomas Orde-Lees

In touch with the Shackleton expedition – literally.

Although I am woefully far behind in processing and sharing images from our trip to the Falklands and South Georgia – over two months ago! – I still dream of those landscapes and the intense history behind them. Today (May 20) is celebrated in South Georgia as Shackleton Day, recognizing this day 107 years ago when Ernest Shackleton and two of his crew (Frank Worsely and Thomas Crean) stumbled into the tiny whaling station of Stromness, on the east side of South Georgia. That was their first contact with civilization since they had left South Georgia 18 months earlier, having failed in their expedition but accomplished one of the most incredible feats of survival and navigation ever recorded. (I’ve written about that story before.) I had the good fortune to walk in Shackleton’s steps during our visit in March, descending into Stromness just as he and Worsely and Crean had done a century earlier. (More on that hike to come later!) But since returning home I’ve had another amazing opportunity to connect with that incredible expedition: to read and to hold the diary of Thomas Orde-Lees, the expedition’s ski expert and storemaster. Read on!

Diary of Thomas Orde-Lees, written during the Shackleton expedition to Antarctica in 1914-16. (Collection of Rauner Library, Dartmouth College)

South Georgia and the Falklands

Wrapping it all up – with the best photos!

Well, that about wraps it up folks. I’ve just finished blogging about our February-March trip to South Georgia Island and the Falkland Islands. (It’s now mid-June, and I’ve been backdating the posts to keep them in chronological sequence with the trip.) If you’ve landed on this post and want to read the whole story in order, start here.

Jack and David (at center) trying to photograph seabirds.

During the trip I snapped over 10,000 photos and videos. I kept about 2,900, and posted about 400 in the galleries associated with this blog. Four percent – not bad. But I have one final gallery for you: my 40 favorite photographs. Enjoy!

Carcass Island – Falkland Islands

Tea & cakes are a splendid way to end a hike!

[backdated to fit into the sequence of posts about our trip to the Falklands and South Georgia in March 2023.]

Our last stop in the Falkland Islands was on Carcass Island. As Wikipedia notes, its “grim-sounding name comes from the ship HMS Carcass, which surveyed the island in 1766.” Despite the grim name, we visited on a beautiful day and had a lovely hike up the steep and grassy slopes, past a small Gentoo settlement and through sheep pasture, to a rocky summit with broad views of the bay and surrounding islands.

David, and a view of the “Endurance” while on a hike over Carcass Island – Falkland Islands.

Steeple Jason Island – Falkland Islands

The world’s largest breeding colony of black-browed albatross.

The sun was still low as we pulled into a beautiful harbor between the two halves of Steeple Jason Island and shuttled ashore in Zodiacs. As we climbed into the grassland above the beach, passing a small colony of Gentoo penguins, we followed our long shadows around to the western shore of the island – home of the world’s largest breeding colony of black-browed albatross. (Indeed, over 70% of the world’s population breeds in the Falkland Islands!)

Jack hiking on Steeple Jason Island – Falkland Islands.

It was a spectacular experience – spending the morning with tens of thousands of albatross chicks, with adults occasionally swooping in from their days-long fishing expeditions to find and feed their youngsters… all while Caracara birds kept a watchful eye out for any opportunity to make a meal out of an unwary or unprotected chick. Read on! and check out the gallery of photos and videos.

Saunders Island – Falkland Islands

History, farming, wildlife, and more!

We arrived back in the Falkland Islands after two full days at sea; this time, we aimed to visit some of the smaller islands on the western side. (We had intended to make these visits on our outbound trip, but an incoming storm convinced the captain to head early to South Georgia and pick up the Falklands on the way back; good call!)

Albatross chicks at an Albatross rookery – Saunders Island, Falkland Islands.

We spent today on Saunders Island, site of the original 1765 settlement, a garrison established by the British Navy. We spent the morning visiting an active sheep farm, and the afternoon visiting a cliffside rookery for albatross and rockhopper penguins. Read on! and check out the gallery of photos and videos.