Ancient Greece

Quality Control Executive Heather Fitsell recently travelled to Greece with Cox & Kings.

As I arrived into the hustle and bustle of Athens on a warm November evening my illusions of white buildings and clear blue skies evaporated. The image I had in my head of Greece was one of the Greek islands, such as Santorini, but as my journey through mainland Greece progressed, I was far from disappointed with the scenery that I saw.

Our first day took us to the heights of the Acropolis, which provided us with fantastic 360-degree views of Athens. The Propylaia, which forms the towering entrance, and the Parthenon itself are undergoing an extensive restoration project, which is due to last for many years to come, and we were a little surprised to see some scaffolding around the site. However, this process itself is quite fascinating, as the stonemasons sculpt new white marble pieces to replace lost or damaged parts of the building structures, with the aim of re-building the Parthenon to its former glory.

Our journey continued over the striking Corinth canal, which links the Ionian and Aegean Seas and on to the Peloponnese and the World Heritage-listed site of ancient Mycenae (left). Passing through the dramatic Lion Gate, we entered this wonderful site, which features in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. For 400 years Mycenae was one of the most powerful kingdoms in Greece and it remains steeped in history and myth. It is also blessed with stunning views of the orange groves below and surrounding mountains. Whilst modern Mycenae is not particularly interesting, visitors must be sure to try some locally produced fresh orange juice.

The small port town of Nafplio, set at the foot of the Palamidi Fortress, was to be our home for the next two nights. Nafplio is a beautiful town and we were lucky enough to be staying at the elegantly restored Hotel Grande Bretagne, right on the sea front. We found Nafplio quite sleepy at the end of November, but the vast array of seafront restaurants are a clear indication of the throng of tourists that visit this town during the warmer months. Be sure to try some Greek specialties during your stay, including saganaki (fried cheese), mousaka, or souvlaki (cubes of meat on a skewer).

From Nafplio we took a half-day trip to Epidavros, which was historically known as a place of miraculous healing. The site has been acknowledged as the birthplace of Asclepius - the son of Apollo, god of medicine and healing. Today visitors flock to see the amphitheatre, one of the best-preserved classical Greek buildings. Renowned for its amazing acoustics, the amphitheatre is still used for the annual Hellenic Festival. We went on to explore the peaceful remains at the less-visited sanctuary, which were definitely worth the extra time spent at Epidavros.

The road from Nafplio to Olympia eventually took us through some of the countryside devastated by the fires last summer. The Greeks have had to clear 2,700 square kilometres of burnt trees. As a result the hillsides are stark and unforgiving; we can barely begin to imagine what a terrible time this was for the Greeks. The fire fighters did a sterling job in protecting the ancient site of Olympia - although the sacred Hill of Kronos was completely burnt, the rest of the site was spared and the devastation around ancient Olympia did not in any way detract from our enjoyment and appreciation of it.

The site has been left as it fell and the ruins of the 5th century Temple of Zeus and the stadium with its 120 metre sprint track and judges seats can be explored up close. The museum helps to put everything into perspective by completing the story and demonstrating the grandeur of the site. The pediments from the Temple of Zeus were, for me, the most impressive remains in the museum. The eastern pediment depicts the chariot race between Pelops and Oinomaos and the western pediment shows the fight between Centaurs and Lapiths.

We took an early morning drive the following day over the new 2,880 metre long Rio-Antirio Bridge from the Peloponnese back to the mainland. The bridge is a beautiful construction and was inaugurated just one week before the 2004 Olympic Games.

We then followed the mountainous roads to the village of Delphi, the naval of the earth for ancient Greeks. Delphi is a small village located on a cliff edge and is very popular with tourists. Ancient Delphi is a very spiritual place, based around the Sanctuary of Apollo, and houses a number of treasuries, an amphitheatre from the 4th-Century BC and a stadium. Whilst the site is quite steep, if you can make it up to the top of the amphitheatre the stunning view is very rewarding. A visit to this beautiful site was a wonderful way to end our trip to Greece.

Cox & Kings' 8-night Classical Greece tour visits Olympia and Delphi and starts from £1,545 per person.

Green Guyana

Online Marketing Executive Michael Pullman travelled to Guyana, a country that welcomes just 2000 tourists per year, and found a developing destination that is challenging but rewarding to those with a keen sense of adventure.

I travelled to Guyana recently with a small group of tour operators on a familiarisation trip and found a clean, welcoming country rich in wildlife and with a variety of stunning landscapes. However, what impressed me most was the way tourism was developing. Many people have jumped on the eco-tourism bandwagon recently, to the extent where the label has become almost meaningless, but not in Guyana: nearly all the lodges we stayed in were built from locally sourced materials, run in co-operation with local communities and serving locally-grown produce, ensuring not only that tourism has a minimal environmental impact but also that local communities reap the benefits. Whilst the accommodation in some areas is basic, and you may have to share it with the odd creature (one night one of our group had a large spider, a bird and a frog as room-mates) the pristine rainforests, colourful wildlife and beautiful scenery more than make up for this.

In the centre of Guyana lies the Iwokrama Forest, which covers 1 million acres of rainforest, and which was granted as a gift to the international community by the President of Guyana in 1989. Administered by a collection of international forestry agencies, the Iwokrama Rainforest is a living model showing how tropical rainforests can be conserved and sustainability used to provide ecological, social and economic benefits to all. There is very little logging in Guyana, the region has a healthy jaguar population, and with the tourism industry developing slowly and responsibly Guyana is something of a model for eco-tourism

So knowing you can come here with a clean conscience and be sure your tourist dollars are making a difference, here are some of the highlights of my trip:

The Giant River Otters at Karanambu Ranch. Karanambu Ranch is the home of Diane McTurk, well known for her work rehabilitating orphaned Giant River Otters before releasing them to the wild. Guests can sometimes swim with the otters, although we decided not to take our chances with the four resident otters when we visited (below).



An evening boat trip on the Rupununi River. The owners of Karanambu Ranch look after their guests very well; after a lunch of Moussaka and apple crumble (the sweet puddings of Guyana are a hangover from the British colonial era) we headed out for an afternoon boat trip on the Rupununi. The river is home to magnificent birdlife but the highlight for me was the covering of giant lily pads, which you can observe flowering as dusk falls. We watched this nature show with generous amounts of rum punch, made by our onboard barman, before heading back to the ranch under a blanket of the clearest stars I have ever seen.

Kaieteur Falls: In the two hours we toured Kaieteur Falls we saw three other tourists. The Falls are spectacular in scale, the largest single drop falls in the world, but unlike most major waterfalls there is no souvenir shop, café, or even handrail separating the tourist from the flowing water.










Surama Village: The fact that Guyana is English-speaking means visitors can really interact with the locals. At Surama we visited the primary school where we took part in perhaps the largest hokey cokey Guyana has ever seen, after listening to the students sing a song about Surama (see below).



Rock View Lodge: Rock View Lodge has plenty of obvious assets: The refreshing swimming pool; the extensive vegetable gardens providing fresh ingredients for the fantastic food; the warm and friendly staff; the range of activities on offer; and the magnificent setting where the savannah meets the jungle. What I liked above all was the fact that Rock View is a focal point of the charming villages surrounding the lodge. Schoolchildren pass by on their way to school. Locals drink in the lodge’s Dakota Bar. Whilst here I took a ten minute walk to the charming village of Annai and watched an inter-village football game take place against a stunning setting on the plains of the savannah.

Becoming a twitcher: I’m not about to start spending weekends in hides birdwatching in the UK, but I couldn’t help but become interested in the colourful birds of Guyana, and by the end I knew my yellow rump from my white throated toucans (left).

Wally Prince: Our guide at Iwokrama Field Station, Wally Prince, responding to our calls for a closer look at a three-foot cayman by fishing it out of the water with his bare hands during a night time boat trip.

The Trip: Visit Guyana on our 11-night Guyana Experience tour. For more information on Guyana visit Wilderness Explorers, our agents in Guyana.