General variety of animal life and popular hiking routes in Cyprus

Because of the variety of terrain and topographical climate with unique agriculture diversification and varied forestry. A number of different wildlife currently exists on the island. The Mouflon is a wild sheep species found only in Cyprus. It is the largest wild mammal that exists here. Fox, hedgehog and bats can all be spotted whilst Cyprus hiking. There are 52 species of butterfly on the island, 9 of which are endemic to Cyprus.

These can be seen from Cyprus’s many walks. There are 52 main hiking trails and 32
designated trails in Cyprus. Broadly there are two types of trail. Circular and Linear. Circular means that the walker returns to the start of the hike; The route is a looping one. Linear simply means one direction. The hiker must return to the start of the route. In Limassol district some of the most popular
hikes are;

• The Treis Eleis Trail. This is 2.5Km and is graded as a 1 out of 3 in terms of difficulty.
• The medieval bridge found at the mill and the bridge of Treis Elies. The trail follows the Treis Elies River, through lush riparian vegetation and orchards with cherry, apple and walnut trees. It also passes by the ruins of Agios Andronicos church.
• Lemithou Community Trail. This is 2KM. The residence of the Leventis family, the Kremmos Gorge, the Agros River and the chapel of St. George. NB: The trail can become circular if the visitor walks back through the Treis Elies-Lemithou main road. It is a winding a beautiful walk.
• Millomeri Waterfall Trail. A linear trail. This is 1.2KM. The trek leads to Millomeri waterfall, passing through rich vegetation. The first part, around half-way in, follows a direction parallel to the Kryos River. The second part leads to an open mountainous area displaying garrigue and maquis vegetation and excellent views to the south.
• Kastrovounos Trail. A linear trail. The trail is located in the forest of Kato Platres, towards the west of the village. From various points along the path the visitor can enjoy views of the surrounding areas of Limassol, Troodos National Forest Park and Pafos Forest. The trail is well lit and is ideal for hiking at night.
• Dymes and Pelendri Trail. A linear trail. An old path that traditionally connected Dymes and Pelendri villages. It runs through orchards, pine forests and past the "Deisi"; locality, also known as the throne of the Virgin Mary. On the trail there is a fountain with drinking water. In August 2007, a fire broke out in the area, burning the vegetation along much of the route.
• The Arsos Trail. A linear trail. The route follows the river from the Athkies; to the Poullin; fountains, passing two other old fountains. It then branches off towards the medieval chapel of Panagia and the traditional oil mill.
• Germasogea Weir Trail. A circular trail. The trail loops around a small peninsula in the weir, to which various fish species have been introduced. Fishing is allowed with permission from the Department of Fisheries. The south route is a small path of 150m long, where the visitor can see and study the native Zoulatzia bush (Bosea cypria). This is a real favourite for tourists.
• Agros Kato Mylos Trail. A circular trail. On this trail one passes orchards with apple, cherry and pear trees, grapevines and rosebushes (Rosa damascena). The renowned Agros rose water is produced from the latter. Wooded areas are also crossed, offering pleasant views of the surrounding area. The last part of the route follows the tarmac road leading to Agros.

As you can see the variety of nature illustrated on the island of Cyprus is quite clearly only matched by the variety ​of hiking trails available.

Article by;
Daniel Sieff
Team member at Rejuvenation Hiking, Limassol Cyprus.