Caves

Before I get on to the caves I went down to Georgioupolis where people are gradually getting used to the square being closed. There are temporary metal railings blocking the square. This was deliberate as the deputy mayor  - chairman of the "quality of life" committee, Mr Haritakis pointed out that whatever they used was bound to be destroyed in the first few days so there was no point in putting up nice planters etc in the beginning! There are some benches there now and some plants making the area look a bit nicer. Eventually it will be paved and flower beds put in etc.

Yesterday evening I attended a seminar at the Environmental Education Centre about the Caves of Apokoronas. It was very interesting. There are about 5000 caves in the Hania region and roughly 280 in the Apokoronas area alone. One of the important caves is near Kokkino Horio. Known as the "Elephant Cave" as the bones of large elephants, along with two different types of deer were found inside. The entrance is underwater, though naturally in the days when the animals found shelter it was above the water level. We heard about many caves including ones at Hambatha, Litsarda, vamos, Kefalas and other ones in Kokkino Horio. Unfortunately some of these caves have had rubbish dumped inside.

We learnt that some of the deepest caves in Europe are in our area and how these different types of caves were formed. The seminar was arranged in conjunction with the cultural society of Vamos and afterwards we were all invited to a meal at the taverna "Blumosifi" in Vamos.