The Petrified Forest

Dateline: Sunday, April 3, 2011.

Today was a bit cloudy and cool so we decide to drive to the Western part of the island to the Petrified Forest. Lesvos is a volcanic island and somewhere in the far distant past eruptions of ash covered a standing forest which later became fossilized. The drive to this area is over mountains through valleys on an ever twisting road with dramatic changes of elevation. This island has several thousand people, mostly living in Mytilini and Molyvos which are on the Eastern side of the island, the rest of the inhabitants are scattered throughout the countryside, outnumbered by sheep, goats and a few cattle. There are a number of smaller villages along the road and for the life of my I am not sure what they do for a living, except sheep herding which seems to be the predominate industry.

We travelled by several monasteries, some very poor in appearance, one that had quite an industrial appearance with olive groves, sheep, many buildings and large farm areas, to a monastery that was on top of the highest mountain. This monastery appeared to be the epitome of desolation, desperation and starvation, probably perfect for a monastery. Along the way to the first we skirted the Bay of Kolloni , along the tidal flats were large numbers of European white storks feeding in the estuary. These storks were nearly extinct in Europe but are now returning to substantial flocks. There are a number of cities designated as stork friendly in Europe that provide habitat for the returning birds after their winter migration from North Africa. These large birds build their nest on chimneys and tall smokestacks in cites, and on top houses. We have a couple nesting in Polichnitos that already have young. Lesvos is a stop over point for the migrating flocks as they return to Northern Europe, but I am not sure if we are either early or a little late to see all the flocks.

Monday, April 4, 2011.

Today we drove to Mytillini; the weather is very nice, lots of sunshine. We were planning a trip to Santorini for later in the week. Santorini is probably one of the most visited tourist islands situated on the remains of an ancient volcano that exploded in Minoan times. We plan to leave on Saturday and return to Lesvos the following Tuesday. The weather improves everyday and in Mytillini we saw a few brave souls in the bay swimming, for me the temperature is still a bit on the cool side for any swimming but sitting in the sun like a lizard is okay.