Our fourth landing on the Saga Eastern Mediterranean Cruise was Paphos in Cyprus. It was a very different location to the previous day in Limassol, despite being only an hours' drive along the coast. Limassol was an uninspiring industrial port, with its most interesting point being it was within walking distance of the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri. Paphos was a smaller town with a population of around thirty-five thousand, which is under a quarter of the population of Limassol. Secondly, Paphos doesn't have a large harbour complex. Consequently, we were ferried ashore by some of the ship's tenders, which double up as lifeboats. Going ashore by tender is extra hassle for the ship's crew and therefore, my initial reaction was the destination must be interesting enough to warrant the extra effort. I was not wrong.
Paphos Castle: The quayside Paphos Castle greeted our arrival. It was originally a Byzantine fortress built to protect the port, until it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1222. It was later restored by the Ottomans in 1592
This ancient harbour is used by small boats
There is a two square kilometre Paphos Archaeological Park behind the harbour. This is part of a World Historical Site which protects the important ancient Greek and Roman city. The Greek city dates back to about 400 BC. It is still being excavated, but so far, four large and elaborate Roman villas: the House of Dionysos, the Villa of Aion, the House of Theseus and the House of Orpheus, all with superb preserved mosaic floors have been discovered. The site is fenced off with a good walkway around the coastal edge of the site. We decided to walk this area first.
The path along the edge of the Paphos Archaeological Park: This proved to be a worthwhile place for Birding
The shoreline looks like it will attract Waders during their migration season
Crested Lark: There were several Crested Larks along the path
I was pleased when Terry spotted this Red-throated Pipit feeding just inside the fence.
Red-throated Pipit: This monotypic species breeds in the tundra of the North Palearctic & Alaska. They winter from Africa to Indonesia
Red-throated Pipit: A good view of the whitish tramlines on the mantle
Red-throated Pipit: A species I would love to find at St Aldhelms, albeit it won't look as smart in the Autumn
Red-throated Pipit: This individual is clearly moulting right to left on its throat
Clouded Yellow: There were a few Butterflies along the pathway, but only species that occur in the UK
Zitting Cisticola: This is the neuroticus subspecies which occurs in Cyprus, the Levant, Iraq & West Iran
House Sparrow: This is the biblicus subspecies which occurs in Cyprus, North Israel & North West Jordan to West Syria, South East Turkey to North West Iran
Laughing Dove: This is the senegalensis subspecies which is spreading West from Turkey to neighbouring islands and Greece
Laughing Dove: The subspecies also occurs in West Arabia, Socotra & Sub-Saharan Africa
The Paphos Lighthouse lies within the Archelogical Park
The MV Demetrios II which ran aground in 1988: It's looks too fragile to remove it now, even if there was the will
Woolly Mammoth: I didn't expect to see this at Paphos. Apparently, there is a Hairy Rhinoceros in the adjacent shopping centre
I will cover the rest of the visit to Paphos in the next Blog Post.
