The first colours of spring

The first colours of spring in Zagorochoria region

Wild strawberry flowers have made their appearance in the forest beds of the oak woods in Zagori.

Crossing Vikos gorge on a sunny spring day!

Crossing Vikos gorge on a sunny spring day!

With Georgia (geozagori.gr) as our expert guide in Vikos-Aoos Geopark, the crossing of the gorge was more than a walk. It was a trip back to time! Quite back actually, when ice ruled the area! Some literature regarding the Geopark (source: European Geoparks Network): Vikos- Aoos…

Allium ursinum or wild garlic

Allium ursinum, also known as wild garlic or bear leek, is a wild relative of chives and is native to Zagori. The Latin name is due to the brown bear's taste for the bulbs and its habit of digging up the ground to get at them; they are also a favourite of wild boar

Wild garlic also known as ramsons or bear leek, is a wild relative of chives and is native to Zagori. The Latin name is due to the brown bear’s taste for the bulbs and its habit of digging up the ground to get at them;…

Mountaineering ski in Timfi, Pindus, Greece

Tsouka rossa peak above Brysochori village in Zagori, Greece

timfi dressed in white ski touring # Two days of mountaineering ski in the heart of Tymfi mountain in Epirus, Greece. The event is organized by the fifth element * and will take place on the 4 and 5th of April 2015. 4/5th april 2015 Saturday 8:30am…

Cleaning the kilims in a fulling mill

Kilim drying after being through a fulling mill for cleaning in the Zagori region, Pindus, Greece

Every year when the weather gets warmer and the rain stops, sort of that is, we take the kilims to the “fulling mill” to get them cleaned and revived. There are a couple in Kalpaki town, only a few kilometres from Central Zagori in…

Cantharellus cibarius (Chanterelle)

Cantharellus cibarius, or else known as the chanterelle, is a a spring-fall mushroom in the area of Zagori in Epirus, Greece

Cantharellus cibarius, or else known as the chanterelle, golden chanterelle or girolle, is a fungus. It is orange or yellow, meaty and funnel-shaped. On the lower surface, underneath the smooth cap, it has gill-like ridges that run almost all the way down its stipe,…

Mushroom hunting season

Wild mushroom picking (hunting) season has just began in the Zagori region of Epirus in Northern Greece

Lots of rain for the season and the imminent sunshine due only mean one thing… mushrooms! Already Cantharellus cibarius, commonly known as the chanterelle, have been spotted at the lower altitudes of the Zagori and Morchella, the true morels, at the fir tree forests of Mitsikeli….

Neotinea tridentata

Neotinea tridentata favours grassy places, woodland, scrub and maquis of subalpine and alpine meadows of the National Park of Pindus as well as the broader Zagori region

Neotinea tridentata (three-toothed orchid) is a species of orchid found in Greece among other southern European countries. This orchid favours grassy places, woodland, scrub and maquis of sub-alpine and alpine meadows of the National Park of Pindus as well as the broader Zagori region…

Orchis ustulata

Orhis ustulata is relatively rare in Greece and only grows in northern mountains, such as Tymfi in Epirus

Orhis ustulata or Neotinea ustulata (burnt-tip orchid) is a European terrestrial orchid native to mountains in central and southern Europe, growing at up to 2,400 m (7,900 ft) elevation. It has erect stems carrying 2 to 3, basal in a rosette, oblong, unmarked leaves…

Ramonda serbica

Ramonda serbica grows in shady crevices of calcareous rocks in altitudes of 400–1500 m on the mountains of Mitsikeli and Tymfi (Timfi), Zagori, Epirus, Greece

Ramonda serbica, commonly known as Serbian phoenix flower, is a species in the Gesneriaceae family. It is one of the few European representatives of this falmily, found in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, FYROM and Serbia. The flower was discovered by Serbian botanist Josif Pančić in 1874…