The Avakas Gorge - bring your walking boots! 8 November 2008

I’ve wanted to go and have a look at the Avakas Gorge for a while – and now I’ve been there, seen it, done it (but I couldn’t get a T-shirt!).

The steepest and deepest bit of the Avakas Gorge isn’t very long.  If you’ve got the energy, you can walk from the coast road near Agios Georgios right up through the gorge to Arodes.  We chose the easy way – parking the car at the bottom and then walking up to the gorge from there.

It really is spectacular and quite unlike anything else I’ve seen in Cyprus.  The path gets narrower and narrower until you’re pretty much forced to walk through the stream at the gorge’s bottom.  At that point Pam declared enough and sat on a rock to read her book.  I explored a bit further.

From a photography perspective it’s a bit of a challenge.  I was glad I had a tripod with me.  In the shade at the bottom handholding was out of the question.  Given I had to use a tripod, I also wound the ISO down to 100 for maximum quality and the aperture up to f22 for maximum depth of field.

We were travelling light photography kit wise this trip, so the only lens I had to use was a 17-35.  As it happened, the perfect choice. 

My favourite shot of the afternoon is above.  Interestingly, the only way I could get into position was by going under overhanging rocks – that water was steadily and rapidly dripping through.  Ah well – nice cold shower for me and the Nikon!

I guess that reinforces the advice about visiting the gorge.  Carry water.  Wear strong – and ideally waterproof – footwear.  Many people wear a safety helmet to protect against falling rocks.  Expect it to take much longer than you expect.  At times of heavy rainfall, exercise extreme caution about going into the gorge – flash floods can happen in seconds.

See also my post on Cyprusandmore.com with more information about how to get to the gorge if you fancy a visit.

To see the pictures, click here.