Pissouri, Cyprus - meandering walk.

I was so glad we waited until today to walk. I woke to clear blue skies, hardly any clouds to be seen (but I took my raincoat as I really don't trust the weather here). I was at Jimmy's door at 10:30, we popped in the car, drove over the hill to the west of Pissouri Beach and parked at the side of the road.

By 10:45 we were walking down a track towards the sea.

The tops of the hills were dotted with houses, villas, seeking the views and in between scrubby valleys, very green at this time of year.

Jimmy had been worried that the winter rains might have made the track very rough but it was almost as if the torrential downpours had flattened it, although there were some areas with deep gouges from the little temporary rivers formed and a few areas blocked by big puddles.

We walked to the top of the hill and looked down at Pissouri Bay

and then turned west along the coast.

The sea was a brilliant blue, glistening and it was warm enough that I took of my vest and jacket, down to my T-shirt.

We were looking down steep cliffs at unspoiled and unoccupied beaches. According to Jimmy, even in the summer people rarely make the effort to reach these beaches.

We heard a motor and then saw a paraglider. Video to follow.

Jimmy had walked this loop a few years ago and we were doing it today to make sure that it would be OK for his Wednesday walking group in a few weeks time. Once we turned away from the sea he wasn't as sure of the path as there are many tracks criss-crossing this piece of land.
We saw a Bonelli's Eagle (I looked it up when I got back) soaring low over the hills, hunting.

Turning back inland, Jimmy was looking for a particular place were the track went around a tree and that track would take us past a goat farm to the road the car was parked on, completing the loop.

Now we were facing the Trodos mountains, as usual, cloud covered. This is the south face and the north face has more snow and the ski resorts.

Jimmy knew we had to walk along the top edge of a valley and we would come to a goat farm. What we realized when we saw the goat farm ACROSS the valley was that we were in the wrong valley. So we doubled back, walked up a track to the next valley and finally

we were at the goat farm.

All sitting patiently, staring at us. These are Damascus Goats, according to Wiki,  they were imported to Cyprus, from Syria, by the British and are a good milk and meat goat.

So now we had found the goat farm we decided to walk back, trying to figure out where we had made the wrong turn, so Jimmy could guide it with confidence.

Heading back we found the tree landmark that Jimmy had been looking for and could see where we had gone wrong. We ended up back at the coast again. The red clay and cliffs is dramatic against the blue sea.

We retraced our steps back to the car and were driving away by about 2:30, a longer walk than we had bargained for.

Back at their place I had a glass of wine, on the terrace with Jimmy's wife, Kay, and made the arrangements to go with Jimmy to his Wednesday walking group tomorrow. When I got home is was time for a quick lunch and a long, hot bath to get rid of the stiffness.