Cyprus Walking Friends

The Madhari Ridge

Our walk is circular. We climb around 1000 feet through sparse pine and golden oak, rock rose and thorn, up the ridge admiring the brilliant, southerly views across villages orchards and vineyards. The landscape becomes harsher as we climb into view of Mount Adelphi with its fire lookout station on its steep, pointed peak.

Now the Northern views predominate and when we reach the saddle below the peak we have views of the whole of the north of the island from the sweep of Morphou Bay to the Kyrenia mountain range, and across the central plain. From the lookout point we descend on a steep, narrow trail through the thick and well watered forest.

Every type of tree and shrub seems to be here; juniper, cedar, golden oak, strawberry and cypress trees, both spreading and pyramid. Early in the year elder flower can even be seen among the hornbeam and rock roses. Later, in early May the ground is carpeted with the huge pink flowers of the Troodos peone. Butterflies and ladybirds abound and hawks, wheat-ears, and many song birds can be seen and heard.

We cross a road that leads to nearby Lagoudera, and the famous church of Panayia tou Araki, with frescos dating back to the 12th Century, passing a monument to the fallen in the Liberation Struggle. We plunge down and even deeper into the thick forest, enclosed by its sights, sounds and smells, until we are 2000 feet below the seemingly distant summit of Adeplhi. Then we start the climb, 1000 feet on a switch-back trail through the forest returning us after about one hour to the start point of the walk. Time 4 hours.

There is an optional extension to this walk which takes us from the start/finish point through vineyards and orchards and on to a narrow forest path down to the Platania Moufflon enclosure coming in from the east .This adds a further 1 hour to the walk.

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