Daybreak over Larnaca bay

 

One of the upsides of getting up at an ungodly hour to pick up visitors from the airport is the chance to watch the sun rise over the island.

Yesterday morning we were out of bed at 3am to meet the early flight of our last visitors of the summer. Having picked up people and bags we headed to the nearest Zorbas, the fantastic local 24 hour bakery, to collect breakfast. With bags of pastries, biscuits and fruit juice in hand we headed up into Avdellero while it was still dark.

The church of Agia Marina, high above the village, has superb views over to the coast and across Larnaca bay. It is near to here that we saw the bee-eaters and saw eagles and long-legged buzzards soar.

As the sun slowly rose and night faded away, the two photographers took a series of photos while the blogger perched on a ledge outside the church, admired the view and captured the moment.

 

 

Looking East

 

 

 

Sunrise, seen through the church

 

Sunrise over the bay

 

 

 

 

Seating within the outer perimeter of the church

Catching Up

I know, I know. We sort of disappeared off the face of the world for a while. Sorry ’bout that and all!

Summer has truly arrived, in fact we’re in the middle of a heatwave according to the government, not unlike last year. This year’s heat is made more challenging by the continuing lack of water. Rationing has now been in place for several months and impacts our lives much more that we anticipated. More of that later perhaps.

In other news we’ve just waved goodbye to our second set of visitors this summer. Both sets had good hot weather, possibly hotter than they might have wanted, and managed to get out and about to see the sites as well as fitting in a fair few beach days. With both we headed to Nicosia and crossed through to the north via the newly opened Ledra Street crossing.

We also managed a couple of weeks off the island sailing across the Atlantic … again. We had such a good time last year that we gave in and booked the same trip once more. As last year the crossing was fantastic, the boat was wonderful and the company was excellent. And, with a crew of 200 or so and only 81 passengers we were spoiled rotten. Long may that continue ;-)

While we were away we managed to pick up a number of bits and pieces that either aren’t available here or are simply too overpriced to justify buying them. Top of the list was a tiny computer for traveling and for use out of the house. Right now, while the temperatures are in the mid 30s and the air isn’t moving it is bliss to be able to update the blog from the comfort of the shaded patio rather than a hot study.

And, in amongst everything else, we’re trying to buy a house. Just a small place, a little way up in the hills where it might be a little cooler. There are a few glitches with the sale (including the small matter of the house being four times the size that the Land Registry think it should be) so no more of that until there’s something definite to report!

We may disappear!

If One is an accident, and Two is unfortunate, then Three would be a co-incidence which would make Four a conspiracy.

Late in January an undersea cable off the coast of Egypt, which forms part of the backbone of internet infrastructure, was severed. These cables carry the bulk, around 90%, of internet traffic. They are expensive to lay, are well protected against damage, but still occasionally things happen to them. Anchors from boats are often the culprits, despite them being well marked on charts.

On its own the loss of this one cable would be no big deal. There is excess capacity in the network so traffic can be re-routed. About 100 cables each year are severed with 25 repair ships working full-time to fix problems as they occur.

But then a second cable in the same area was severed. Two cables out of action means more disruption, particularly for people in the Middle East and India. The BBC have a nice schematic showing the area involved.

Depending who you believe the damage was probably caused by ships dropping anchors during inclement weather or can’t have been caused by ships because there were none in the area.

See, with only two cables damaged the confusion is already beginning to grow.

And then cables three and four (and possibly five depending on which news reports you read) were damaged and taken out of action. These latest incidents relate to cables in the Persian Gulf.

So, at last count the following countries are impacted; Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan and India. Iran may or may not be entirely offline, again depending who you believe.

So far we’ve escaped with just a variable connection. If we disappear entirely you know why!

If you want to read more, below are a series of links. Some are straight forward factual pieces, some are conspiracy pieces, some are mocking the conspiracy theorists.

The Register: Cable cutter nutters chase underwater conspriacies

The Times: Conspiracy theorists ponder ongoing web outage

International Herald Tribune: Ruptures call safety of Internet cables into question

Khaleej Times: Cable damage hits 1.7m Internet users in UAE

The Business Shrink: World Economies hang by an Internet thread

The Salt Lake II

More photos of the Salt Lake, this time on a grey and windy January day.  

As in England, the weather is a regular topic of conversation here.  The last week has been warmer with a few bright sunny days.  On days like that it’s possible to sit outside, protected from the wind, in just a t-shirt.  Once the sun drops though, the temperature falls quickly.

Earlier today the Cyprus meteorological service were predicting snow on Tuesday but we think they were just having a mad moment.  They’ve now updated the forecast to showers and thunderstorms.  Less interesting, but much more likely.

Meanwhile, the Salt Lake photos.  Both were again taken from the high ground on the south side.  The first looks east towards Larnaca, the second towards Tekke Mosque and Stavrovouni in the far distance.  Still only a couple of hundred flamingos in residence.

This linked page has photos taken from similar positions in previous months.

26 January 2008 

 

The Salt Lake I

The Salt Lake is a major landmark in Larnaca and is also a great reminder of just how much the environment and landscape here changes through the year.

Apparently the lakes are fed by seawater – which is why they are salty – but when the weather is too hot the water evaporates and the lakes dry up, allowing the salt to be harvested. Today the salt is no longer harvested and, instead, the lakes are a haven for local and visiting birdlife. Most well known are the flamingos, who arrive with the first rainfall and leave as the last of the water disappears, but other birds make it their home too.

Below are a couple of photos from late December. Both were taken from the high ground on the south side of the lakes. The first is looking eastwards across the lake and towards Larnaca proper, the second shows Tekke Mosque on the right and Stavrovouni in the far distance.

This linked page has photos taken from similar spots during previous months, we will try and update it as the year goes on.

Clicking on the photos should give a slightly larger and wider view

26 December 2007

26 December 2007

Wildlife and water

Well, the prayers for rain may have worked. After some light showers we now have torrential rain. This morning’s BFBS weather forecast predicted an inch or more of rain, gale force winds and heavy snowfalls over Troodos. Right now, as strong winds batter the house, the forecast is looking spot on.

So perhaps the water shortage is over? If so why do we have no running water today? Well, the most likely answer is that it’s part of regular (but random) maintenance where our supply gets turned off with no notice. Less likely is that it is part of a planned restriction, aka no water for four days a week to conserve supplies. Outside chance is that we’ve been disconnected because Mands hasn’t paid the bill, again.

Only time will tell ;-)

In other news we’ve been quartering the hillside north of Larnaca today. We were up in Kosi (pronounced Goshi with a soft G) trying to find a 5 mile trail for some runners and walkers. On the way back down the hillside we were buzzed by a huge bird of prey. Back in February we saw a juvenile Golden Eagle in the same area … today we think we may have seen the same bird as an almost-grownup.

Seeing a bird of that power and beauty at that range is absolutely fantastic. This website has a lovely photo of a juvenile in flight. The one today flew right over the front of the car at a height of about 10 feet.

It was an unexpected, but absolutely fantastic, treat.

Pray for Rain

In spite of some of our previous posts rain has been worryingly scarce this year. No rain over the summer is normal but since the arrival of autumn we’ve only seen about three showers.

Generally rainfall on the island has been low in recent years and usage has apparently increased. Warnings have been in place for much of the year that, unless more rain arrived or people reduced their usage, water rationing would be implemented.

That hasn’t happened yet but the situation is now so bad that the Orthodox Church has declared on December 2 we should all pray for rain.

Apparently the Archbishop has said …
“We are sure that if we all pray with deep faith the Almighty will heed our prayers; ‘Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full’

The Minister for Agriculture was interviewed on R4’s PM programme on Friday. He was quick to explain that the Government had decided to build three more desalination plants. The R4 interviewer was kind enough not to ask about the 2 or 3 year lead time or to point out that such a decision would have been useful some time ago rather than, well, now.

So, the best plan we have then is back to praying for rain eh? Oh, and keeping fingers crossed as well. Maybe if we all arranged to wash our cars on the same day … would that help? Concentrating the power of Sod’s Law and all that?

Anyway, enough frivolity. There just isn’t enough water and, unless it rains soon, it’s going to be unpleasant. From what we’ve heard water rationing would mean that our water supply would be turned on for about four hours a day on three days of the week. Between those times we’d have to make do with the contents of our water tank on the roof. We’d like to think that we’re careful with water but it might be hard to make that last. Apparently some houses have two tanks to get around the problem. Sort of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?

But there’s hope … right now storm clouds are gathering over Aradippou as we type. At least some rain looks likely, today at least. Whether it will be enough to solve the problem remains to be seen.

Just 30 days of water left ……..

Migration!

Recently we had a few days in the north of Cyprus on a sort-of walking trip with a group of friends. Putting aside the politics of living on a divided island it was, as always, fascinating to compare and contrast the two ‘halves’ of Cyprus.

As we crossed the border all signage switched to Turkish, place names changed to their local equivalents (which can make for interesting map reading), the main religion became Muslim rather than Orthodox Christian (with all the associated differences that brings) and the culture altered distinctly.

To some extent the cultural differences are always going to be there on moving from one country to another but here it is so stark because of the hard division of the two areas and the deliberate separation of the two cultures. Of course we use the word country with reservation. Still, the only people who recognise the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as a country are Turkey themselves and North Korea.

That aside, it was our first time in the far north-east end of the island. Officially it is known as the Karpas peninsula, colloquially it is known as the Panhandle due to its shape. The area boasts some of the best beaches on the island, many of which are completely undeveloped. Turtles nest on a number of them and other wildlife is abundant.

Just how abundant that wildlife is became fantastically clear while we were there. The group had just set out on a walk up into the hills when we became aware of a bird migration event taking place above us. The sky on the horizon was suddenly full of moving black dots and they were coming our way.

Within a few minutes it became apparent these were flocks of birds – coming in from north of Cyprus, and heading pretty much directly south. Over the next two hours we saw countless V formations of birds flying overhead. A simple count put about 40 to 60 birds in each V , and dozens of V formations. A calculated guess put the count at over 2,000 birds.

Some basic bird-watching skills and knowledge within the group identified the birds to be Demoiselle Cranes. If so they would have been en-route from their northern summer location somewhere around the Black Sea to their wintering area in the midst of Africa. Demoiselle Cranes are the long legged, long necked, smallest members of the Crane family, weighing in at about 4 to 7 pounds.

During their passage overhead we were all in awe – there wasn’t a member of the group who wasn’t moved by this sight. As each new wave appeared the walk was forgotten and people stood and watched and marvelled. This was nature in action – forget us humans – ‘we are programmed to move from North to South, and we are on our way.’

Once they had passed there was a noticeable drop in conversation as we all pondered on what we had seen. From the things we just don’t understand – just how do the cranes know to do this? – through to the overwhelming majesty and how lucky we were to be in place to see part of this annual event – followed by a worrying wonder what man might be doing to destroy the habitats these beautiful creatures seek to use…….

The Saving Cranes website has some good photos (some of which are reproduced here) although sadly not of the V formations in flight. A couple of people in the group had cameras so we may be able to get copies of their photos in due course.

How Could They?

This is just too depressing for words.

Here we are in one of the world’s most important crossroads for migrant birds. We are lucky enough to have the most amazing range of both local and ‘visitors’ passing through. Only a couple of weeks ago the bee-eaters arrived and were the talk of the island. Mandy was quick enough to get a photo of one while we were up in the hills.

And then this … hunters shoot over 50 falcons for target practice. Not just common-or-garden falcons, if that’s a fair term, but endangered red-foot falcons. Shot for fun.

Independent: Endangered falcons shot as ‘target practice’ in Cyprus

Earth Times: Rare falcons shot in Cyprus

In season hunting days are, officially, Sundays and Wednesday. Strange then how people report being woken by the hunters guns on all days of the week rather than just the official two days. Odd also how we come across dozens, no hundreds, of spent shotgun cartridges when we are out walking. More often than not this is within designated nature reserves.

The Sovereign Base Area police have offered a cash reward for information saying;

THE SOVEREIGN Base Area Authority announced yesterday that a £1,000 reward was being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator(s) of the illegal shooting of 52 endangered Red-footed Falcons last week in the Fassouri Area.

“This is a tragedy of unprecedented scale in the SBA and is not only a crime against the birds but a crime against nature itself,” said Dennis Barnes, official spokesman for the bases.

“The SBAA is committed to preservation of the environment and nature and takes this crime extremely seriously. This type of crime committed against highly threatened species will not go unpunished and the SBA Police Force are conducting inquiries with the firm resolve of apprehending the perpetrators,” Barnes continued.

The SBA Police Force have made considerable progress in combating poaching, he added: “In the last 18 months, 17 people have been arrested and convicted for illegal poaching within the SBA by our Police Force. The SBA Police Force have put in 1,100 man hours work in order to stop illegal poaching. They have confiscated 500 mist nets, 82 loudspeakers and 42 cassette players, seven shotguns, 350 lime sticks and 3,500 metres of cable,” he said.

Anyone with any information concerning the falcon shootings should call Chief Inspector Andreas Pitsillides of the SBA Police Force at 25-967202. All calls will be treated with utmost confidentiality.

Hopefully someone will provide some useful information soon.

In the meantime, to close with something more cheerful, those photos of the bee-eater.

Rain

It’s raining for the first time this season. Yes, ’season’ is a daft word to use but it’s not the ‘first time this year’ since we had rain back in Spring. This is the first rain, well, since it stopped raining back in about March. So, the first in around six or seven months.

It started with a lightning storm a few miles north while we were out this evening. By the time we were home and had finished dinner there was fantastic sheet lightning around the house and now, an hour later, thunder and heavy rain. We’ve popped the fly-screens and closed the windows part-way (again, for the first time since late Spring) and are now enjoying the sound and smell of the rain on the garden.

Not sure we ever expected to miss the rain but this is lovely.