By Travel Bloggers Greece was just invited on a beautiful hunt – seeking out some of the wild orchids of Greece in the mountains above the Gulf of Corinth. This is what we experienced.
There are many reasons to visit Ano Chora- the mountain village of Nafpaktos. The mountains are majestic! The area is also rich in history. In fact, the saint and scholar Kosma Aitolos – Kosmas the Aetolian – was a teacher in the tiny stone schoolhouse.
But we’re not here for history, or for cuisine, or for mountain biking (although, the woods here are great for that). We’re here for the wild orchids. The woods here are full of many, many types of wild orchids, and they’re just now starting to come out (it was a late season this year). How to spot them? We have no idea – they do not look anything like the orchids we know from florists, at least not from a distance.
The Wild Orchids of Nafpaktos
But we do have an expert with us: Professor Nikolaos Moustakas, of the Agricultural University of Athens. Professor Moustakas is a specialist in soil science, but orchids are his passion, particularly the orchids here – this is his village. Greece is a fantastic place for wild orchids- there are close to 200 species of wild orchids growing in various places throughout the country. The mountains of Nafpaktos are particularly rich in variety. Professor Moustakas shared with us that here in a radius of just three kilometers there are a dozen genera and 26 individual species of orchids to be found.
Why is this such a good area for orchids, we wonder. It’s a variety of factors – the slightly cooler weather, the altitude, and the composition of the soil – low pH, not salty. Moreover, each orchid has its own specific preferred environment. And, its own type of host. They are not parasites as they do not take anything away from the host plant, but they are epiphytes – they grow on the surface of another plant. The woods here are rich in options for them.
A Variety of Orchids
Each orchid has its own season, and when we went the season was barely beginning. The first one – the purple one – that we saw was the Orchis Mascula. This is one of the most common orchids to be found in the area, and indeed once we knew what to look for we saw several of them. It is the roots of the Orchis Mascula that are used to make the drink sahlepi. But not from these orchids of course, or any orchids in Greece.
The sahlepi that one can find in Greece is only made from the Orchis Mascula of Turkey, where they are not protected.
We also saw a beautiful and delicate white orchid with little dots on the labellum; this is the Orchis Provincialis. Other orchids we were hoping to identify included the Orchis quandripunctata – distinctive for the four dots on its labellum (which is how it got its name) and the Orchis morio – the boldest-looking of the orchids with a beautiful spotted stripe in the middle of its labellum.
These are all wild orchids who make their first appearance in May.
Two Hikes
Our first “hike” was really a walk along the paved road. The reason we were not out in the wild but here was that the season was late this year: the wild orchids by the roadside would have had more exposure to the sun and so they would have a better chance of being in bloom. We were in luck! We had several sightings of the Orchis mascula, and also the Orchis provincialis.
But even though the orchids would likely not be in bloom yet in the dense forest, our hosts had promised us hiking in the woods, orchids or not. The hiking in the “Kravara” – the local name for all the surrounding mountain forests – was wonderful. The path was soft with leaves and evergreen needles and the sun was streaming through the trees. And that was when we saw it- our first wild orchid in the woods: the Orchis mascula.
Everyone crowded around to admire it amid the sprigs of fir trees, bathed in a little pool of sunlight. It completed our experience!
Why we loved exploring the mountains of Ano Chora
One thing that we really appreciate about being members of Travel Bloggers Greece is that we get to experience and appreciate different aspects of the country. With so many beautiful beaches and islands, and so much ancient heritage, this is what many people associate with the country.
But Greece is so much more than that too – the fauna and flora, and the great variety of landscapes, and above all the warmth of local cultures with their own traditions. It was a great privilege to discover this charming isolated paradise in the Green mountains, just 40 minutes from the sandy shores of the Gulf of Corinth and yet a world away.
What we loved, besides the wild orchids
Honestly it is kind of a cliche to say that some place in the mountains is just like Switzerland. But there you are – waking up at the Crystal Mountain and having breakfast on the wooden veranda looking at the emerald peaks around us and the glassy swimming pool below, it would be easy to convince us we had awakened in a Swiss retreat. Just being there, breathing the sweet forest air, feels good for the health.
Also, for us, this was a reunion! We have been to Nafpaktos before, and it was really fun to see Dimitris of the Petrina, one of our hosts and one of the people responsible for creating the many trails in the woods, also for mountain bikes. And we got to spend time with Marina Tsams who does a website called The Locals about everything Nafpaktos. We had a great time with her years ago and even more this time- it is personal encounters most of all that give us a sense of connection to a place.
And then there was our host at the Crystal Mountain, Andreas. He is very involved in the local museum and in fact is responsible for encouraging people to add to the displays, which together evoke a clear picture of the not so distant past – barely a generation or two have passed since these displays represented the everyday life of Ano Chora.
His wonderful explanations and stories – some very funny, and some quite moving – do the rest. It was a great privilege.
Our affection for this region of Greece grew further still.
The trip was organized by organized by Aetoliki Development Company in collaboration with the non-profit AMKE “Parte ta Vouna.”
Read more about this trip on our Member Blogs
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