Old Kavala-Path to the waterfall-Greece

Since I came to visit my town Kavala in Greece I am trying to spend as much quality time with my friends and family as it is possible and enjoy myself. My friend Elpida came to see me soon she found out that I am here. By the way she plays the role of my mother’s daughter when I am not around and I can never thank her enough for this. We did not see each other from the last summer so we had a lot to share. I told her about this blog that I started. She was so excited about it, especially for the one I wrote about hiking with my mom for the wild roses tea. Then she came out with a brilliant idea for my next article.

She said next Sunday I will take you to the most magical place that you are going to love it, and it will be inspirational enough so you can make the next amazing article for your blog. I liked her idea so I agreed. Therefore I dedicate this article to her.

First we checked the weather forecast. We were so happy to find out that weather will be sunny and warm until Sunday afternoon. We decided to start early and come back home before the rain.

We took a road ΕΟ12 from Kavala to Drama, through the villages : Stavros and Amigdaleonas. Until we reached out of the big toy store ”Jumbo” on our right side. Then we left behind the ΕΟ12 road and we turned right to the village Palia Kavala (Old Kavala). The driving distance is less than 15 minutes by car from the city of Kavala.

Before we reached the village, on our right hand we saw next to the road a wooden sign. On the sign was written: Neromilos (The Watermill). There we park the cars behind the sign. Then we slowly started to getting down through the dusty road.

Elpida took her two babies along with us for hiking. My mom came  with us too, she wouldn’t miss hiking in the nature for the world. Elpidas’ husband also and few more dear friends joined us too.

Very quickly we reached the old watermill which is recently renovated. Elpida said that Cultural union of  local community of Palia Kavala village regularly holds courses in the Old watermill. They teach you how the flour was made in the old times and how to make your own bread. I find this very interesting.

We continued following the road of water as the locals call it. This is the part of the big path that the locals used to follow to bring supplies of water for the city of Kavala during the Turkish occupation.

 

Old Kavala, every year hosts one of the biggest festivals of outdoor activities in Greece, which is performed on the first weekend of the summer (or last of spring). The environmental path of old Kavala is the space of the events of Wood Water Wild Festival.

It is a path that was completed under the Leader program in 2007, with total length of 2.5 kilometers.

The main venues of the festival are the watermill engaged. There are musical events, outdoor activities (climbing, archery, flying fox), the outdoor bazaar construction, handicrafts and traditional products market, the tour operation waterwheel and traditional buffet Sunday morning and so on.

The second event venue of the festival is placed in the square of the village of old Kavala where the venue termination and awards for both races of the festival (mountain race & mountain bike) will take place. I am so sorry I will  miss this year’s event.

The environmental path of Palaia Kavala is a very good example of how the natural environment of the area can become a tourism destination, as it has easy access and manages to bring out in a unique way the beauty of the whole region.

 

The path is clean but please don’t  lean on a wooden fence beside the path. It’s not stable actually the fence is pretty rocking.

Following the water and the path you will pass through many wooden bridges. The old trees, beautiful flora and fauna.

Regarding the flora my mom  taught us about the herbs that we passed by on our way.

We found wild oregano.

The wild thyme.

 

Wild asparagus.

Wild chamomile, where she explained to us the difference between margarita and chamomile. The chamomile petals are facing downwards, and the yellow part of the pollen in the middle of the flower is bulging out. Margarita has flat the yellow part and also flat petals. This can be a kind of confusing because the colors are exactly the same.

The sound of water follows you through the path along with a twittering of many different kind of birds and also hundreds of crickets.

The sun rays are passing  with difficulty through the dense leaves of the trees. Afterwards, the sun’s rays that manage to pass through are bounced from the running water and they shines like a thousand of small lanterns over our heads.

What ever I write is just not enough to describe this. You have to see it with your own eyes, hear it with your own ears, and breathe the sentences of the environment to understand what I am trying to describe. It is simply magical exactly as Elpida said in the first place.

 

The stream that runs alongside the path is actually crystal clear water running round and falling down from the rocks. There you can also found a freshwater fish if you are lucky. Some people are coming here to pick up the snails after rain because the environment is clean. Some others like my mom for herbs and spices. Others for trekking and jogging.

The best part of hiking was when we arrived to the unique waterfall which is about 15 meters high. Sometimes a lot of water is falling down from the waterfall, sometimes not, it depends on the amount of the rainfall and the season. The water is very, very cold, but don’t hesitate to make a jump into the small lake, it will definitely revive you.

There is a thick rope hanging from the top of the waterfall where you can climb carefully to the rock from where you can make a jump into the small lake under the waterfall. Also there are two swings on which you can climb to jump if you are afraid of slippery stones around the waterfall.

 

Next to the waterfall there are two big wooden tables and benches where you can have a picnic . In the open space you can also camp at night, it is not forbidden in Greece, as long as you have respect to the place and never leave your garbage or open fire behind you.

 

My mom’s idea was that we should make a picnic when we arrive to the waterfall. So all of us should bring a little something for snack. After all, Elpida and my mom was the most organized when it comes to food, they  brought so many different things we couldn’t eat it all.They even brought along the tablecloth to put on the wooden table.

There we had a nice brake. Then we decided not to go the same way back, but we came down to the other side by the old marble quarry.

On our way we found a dead snake on the road.

There are a lot of snakes in this area, most of them are not dangerous, but you always have to be careful, and not to go into the grass if you don’t have good boots.

We also met one little turtle on the way.

There was one curious goat near by. She was staring on us as we were passing by.

Since we came back to the main road a way down from the place we left the cars, my dad was so kind to came and pick up the drivers so they don’t have to climb all the way back to the hill to take their cars.

We had a great and unforgettable picnic all together. We were also extremely lucky  to be back home just a few minutes before the storm. If you ever find yourself in Kavala or in the vicinity and you love the nature I can highly recommend you to go for hiking through this environmental path It is an amazing and magical experience.