natural2020, Author at Natural-Greece.gr

Experiences along the Athens Coast: a Sea Turtle Rescue Center Tour

If you plan to visit Athens and are looking for a meaningful experience, there’s 1 place to go: The Sea Turtle Rescue Center along the Athens Riviera. Europe's biggest Turtle Rescue Center is run by Archelon, the Sea turtle protection society. Little known fact: Greece is the European country with the most sea turtle nests. And this is the turtle's veterinary hospital. What to expect on a Sea Turtle Rescue Center Tour? Our small group arrived on a Sunday morning at 11:00 AM. At the end of winter 2020, just before the Coronavirus travel ban. That is, everyone but 1 couple that came by tram. They showed up a little later, due to some mix-up with the tram lines, so it’s a good idea to carefully check out this Urban Rail Transport website before taking of. When we all got together our friendly Archelon host welcomed us. We walked alongside large outdoor basins, designed for adult sea turtles. During wintertime, you will see typically fewer animals being cared for. In Summer most of these large outdoor basins will be filled with Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) and occasionally other turtle species: green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and most unlikely the giant leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea). After hearing the first intriguing turtle facts we could freely shoot our questions. In Greek and English, the 2 languages used in this tour. A short walk led us to the section with the sheltered basins. It is a little warmer here for the sick and injured patients. Here you get to see the injured turtles. Our host explained us that some patients are stressed out easily and those turtles are not even shown to the public. Sea turtles here may suffer from a range of injuries including: Flipper injuries Head injuries Carapace (the hard upper-shell) injuries Hook & line ingestions Fishing gear entanglements Plastic ingestions Some turtles you will see are just weak, having suffered from hypothermia or fishing gear entanglements. Next: we walked along the Sea Turtle Information Boards. With information of all the 3 turtle species' behavior, a map of the Mediterranean Sea, information on the nesting grounds and more. By now, the small children in our group got restless and therefore we had to move on. Clearly it was too much data for our lively little boys, even though thousands

If you plan to visit Athens and are looking for a meaningful experience, there’s 1 place to go: The Sea Turtle Rescue Center along the Athens Riviera. Europe’s biggest Turtle Rescue Center is run by Archelon, the Sea turtle protection society. Little known fact: Greece is the European country with the most sea turtle nests. And this is the

Rise of the Woman-led Tour Operator – Natural Greece in The Independent

The Independent article “INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY: HOW TRAVEL IS LEVELLING THE PLAYING FIELD FOR WOMEN” talks about the growing demand for Women in Travel, Female Tour Guides & woman-led Tour Operator Natural Greece . Kudos to Catherine Roberts & The Independent for putting Women in Travel on the map! “Demand for female-led

The extraordinary Culture & Nature of Northern Greece

This fall, 32 ladies from The Netherlands set out to explore the hidden gems of Northern Greece. From cultural highlights to wine-drenched wild bear tracking to a WW2 fortress and mushroom liquor tastings. It was an unforgettable journey led by a Dutch baker with a travel bug: The one and

Great News for Dolphin Populations in Greece!

Dolphin Conservation Holiday in Alonissos island

An unprecedented increase was recently observed in the dolphin populations of Greece, living in the Northern Sporades Marine Park! In the middle of the Aegean Sea, you can find the Sporades islands, which consist of the famous triplet of Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos and many other uninhabited islets. The National Marine Park of

Spring birding on a rainy day – Schinias National Park

Yesterday, we had the chance to get out of the office and take Eric from Oregon, USA to a half-day birding trip. He and his wife came to Greece, for a few days holiday time and he managed to steal one weekday afternoon and go birding with us to the

Spring Birding Report in Athens

Michael and Kendall are two very enthusiastic birders from Kansas, USA. They came to Greece, during their European tour, together with their family, along the SE coastline, including Italy, Greece and Croatia. So, before they followed the groups’ demands and moved to Santorini, they had roughly two-three days to go

Lake Kerkini Birding Break – Trip report Winter 2019

Have you ever considered taking a Lake Kerkini Birding Break in winter? The 3 friends Mike, Bob and Steve from the UK decided to give it a try, on 8-11 February 2019. Here’s their trip report. “We’ve just returned from a really great trip around Lake Kerkini. Mid-February was not going to be the best time

Author: natural2020

Experiences along the Athens Coast: a Sea Turtle Rescue Center Tour

Rise of the Woman-led Tour Operator – Natural Greece in The Independent

The extraordinary Culture & Nature of Northern Greece

Great News for Dolphin Populations in Greece!

Spring birding on a rainy day – Schinias National Park

Spring Birding Report in Athens

Lake Kerkini Birding Break – Trip report Winter 2019