Saturday 7th March 2026

There is an orchid that grows on a canyon wall between two of the UK military bases on the island that is so rare, it is the number one tick for orchidists.

It is of a species more common in Israel, Palestine and Syria, but here on Cyprus maybe half a dozen plants cling on, thriving in the water of a small spring.

But before then:

Up at seven, as it is the weekend, the hotel is packed, so to get a prime spot on the terrace for breakfast, you have to be first.

The terrace was indeed empty, apart from the group of waiting cats, who purr for titbits and morsels, although the owner does feed them actual cat food.

Unattended plates are likely to be raided. But we are wary, and always post a guard over left plates.

This was to be a long day, so we left the hotel at half eight, heading to Paphos along familiar roads, then past the airport to the side of a hill where a rare Wheatear might be spotted.

Rain had already begun to fall, so Richard and I stayed in the van while the others tried to spot one, but didin't.

So back aboard the Skylark, and off to a mountainside, dominated by two decade old turbines, we set about looking for reptiles.

All the harder due to the rain, hail and thunderstorms.

Under racks we found a lizard or two, and a fine adult gecko, as you see here.

And again back down to the van, now in bright sunshine for a drive to the canyon.

Alarms had been sounded every day this week, but the site is known to the police, so after passing through one base, into the valley, we park next to the canyon wall, where the handful of plants had begun to flower a full month early, and one of the plants at the roadside was in flower, so we could get shots of Epipactis veratrifolia.

That done, scramble back into the van for another long drive through Limassol to a green valley, and a track lined with more orchids, and where we would eat our snap.

The afternoon was getting on, and we had one more site to visit: a picnic area near the centre of the island's lacemaking industry. Here hundreds of Ophrys elegans thrived, and we took shots of many of the plants in the hour we wandered around But also saw signs of where plants had been dug up.

And from there it was a two and a half hour drive back, but on the way we stopped at a huge café for drinks. Huge it was, with dozens of tables, but only three being used, as most shops and cafes had already closed at three.

An hour's blast along the motorway back to Paphos as the sun sank in the west, and the road gave us views of the sunset over the calm sea.

It was nearly dark by the time we got back, so we went straight into the restaurant for dinner, as there was a huge party of local walkers in for the night, and they were going to have a disco.

Friday 6th March 2026

started to come down with a cold on Tuesday. Just a sore throat at first, but then a slightly bocked nose. Got worse on Wednesday, and then on Thursday I had a very runny nose, sneezing and an annoying cough.

Although no one else seemed to notice.

Anyway, Thursday night I woke at half midnight, wide awake, and not really able to breathe. I laid in bed listening to Jools sleeping as the hours crawled by. One, two, three, four. Until, at about half four I did drop off.

I woke at half seven, and I had already given thought to not going out with the tour, as I did not want to pass the germs around, and it was a heavy walking day, I would only slow the group down, and I really didn’t fancy walking 16,000 plus steps. So at breakfast I told Richard I was bailing, and he was understanding.

So instead of woolfing down breakfast, I had a slow meal, looking a the coastal scene over my shoulder, munching away.

Jools went out, and I retired to the room where I listened to podcasts, and spent the day in the dark so to ward off a migraine.

Jools returned at one, and so after lunch, we went out, guided by directions to a rare species of orchid, growing on a dusty hillside about a ten minute drive from the hotel.

We drove down a dusty track to a trailhead, then powered up the sat nav for the half mile along a track, and then looking in the undergrowth for a different Ophrys species from the half dozen we found.

I felt like shit still, but being outside soon made me feel better. The air was full of the sound of calling Cyprus warblers, males looking for a mate, and as I climbed the rise to where the orchids were, the landscape to the right fell away giving grand views down to the coast.

Ophrys species can look similar, so after a few false calls, I narrowed down the area to a small clearing north of the track.

I found one plant after an hour. A small single spike with a single flower, but with more buds, as for Ophrys aphrodite, the season was yet young.

Then walk back the half mile, uphill, to the car, and down the hill to the beach where we allowed ourselves to have an ice cream and coffee sitting on the beach. The tours van pulled up, and our friends joined us in ice cream as the sun sank and the warm temperatures dived.

Thursday 5th March 2026

One of the UK’s remaining RAF overseas bases is on Cyprus, it was subject to a drone attack on Monday. It also has a rare endemic orchid growing near its perimeter fence. So, with all the fuss of the drone attack from earlier in the week, and with things getting back to normal, that is where we would be heading this day.

A part of the island that is literally part of Great Britain.

It was a good hour and twenty minute drive there, and we are on course to see all species on the hit list, so we started the day at nine, after a lazy breakfast. Jools headed to Paphos early to join a walking tour round the old town, so I was on my own, with just the cats and Dave, the tour co-lead, to have breakfast on the terrace as the morning warmed, with views over the bay.

We all got in the bus, and we drove to Paphos via the supermarket for supplies of insect repellent and cold juice, before driving to the motorway by way of the phenomenon on the mountain road, then down to the coast and joining the motorway to head east.

First stop was just beyond the airport, a roadside bank covered in orchids with the first new species of the day, Ophrys iricolor, a fine small orchid with an oversize interflorance.

The area around the base is British sovereign territory, and until yesterday there were roadblocks for non-service personnel after Monday’s drone attacks.

We got through with no problem, but once we had bought more supplies at the base Waitrose, we drove to some salt flats beside the base, with strict instructions not to point our fingers of our cameras towards the base, as the military police patrol the area.

Hidden in the long grass and shrbs is the key endemic species, Ophrys kotschyi, a drmatic mono-coloured orchid, and one suffereing from the early heat, as those spikes in the open were already burned.

But we found some in good condition, and took our shots. But also found some that had been apparently trampled, and one spike broken totally. There were several other species, so we snapped them, and two butterfly species, then made our way to the nearby monastery of the cats.

Cats.

And there were cats.

Lots of cats.

As we arrived, something like fifty strays headed towards us. Just as well as we had bought bags of kibbles, so we fed them. But more and more cats came, and soon they were meowing and begging for morsels from our lunches. One cat took half a sandwich from my bag, took the top off, removed the ham and cheese and scoffed them.

It was then that the next suspect drone attack took place.

A long and loud siren, signifying an emergency filed the air. Jets took off, and we stood frozen.

It stopped after ten minutes or so, but more drones had been spotted. And there was us, chasing orchids and feeding cats!

We headed out to another coastal site, where another new species was seen, before we headed to the hills, were more new species were seen.

Orchis x sezikiana is a stable hybrid between two other orchis species, neither found on Cyprus (!), and produce diminutive plants, but wonderfully spotted lips.

We slowed to turn, and three cars behind us crashed, blocking the road. Of this, we were unaware, so we took pictures of the orchids, but upon leaving, the police were there trying to work out what happened.

We drove away quietly.

At the bottom of a deep valley, near a hairpin bend, we found the last new species of the day: Ophrys lapethica, a fine looking orchid, only slightly different from about four other species.

We climbed the low wall to get out shots, then faced with a 90 minute drive back to the hotel, down from the mountain, along the motorway to Paphos, then along the coast to home.

We got back at half five, time for a quick drink before the end of day debrief, then drinks, dinner, more drinks. Phew.

Onwards and upwards

Four months is a long time in football.

In my pervious writing, I bemoaned the lack of quality management in the decisions and change I had witnessed at Norwich City Football Club. My heart ached, as it seemed to me the club and team were circling the drain to League 1 ever quicker.

The sacking of Johannes Hoff Thorup and replacement with identikit Liam Manning made little or no sense. And then there was the recruitment that seemed to have delivered a group of players who could not play.

And could not win at home.

At all.

If you would have told me that after sacking Manning, he would be replaced with a former Rangers manager, I would have assumed with a very heavy heart that it would have been former Canary captain Russel Martin.

I have nothing against Martin, I wouldn't have thought someone so damaged by events at Ibrox then sitting in the dugout at the Carra trying to get a tune out of the squad at Manning couldn't, would have only brought relegation quicker.

But instead a Belgian rode into The Fine City on a white horse, armed with a magic wand, and soon had Norwich not losing, then winning.

At home.

Players who looked like unskilled strangers began to gel, even as injuries robbed us of first choice players, their replacements came in and did a fine job.

Even the star striker going on strike was a mere slight bump in the road, as others played upfront and scored. For fun.

What I said before about the poor management was done without seeing document evidence, and reasonable conclusions I think. But what now?

A poor decision in appointing Manning (right man at the wrong time?) was corrected, a new coach brought in, one with experience, and almost straight away began to turn things around.

Players bought in the summer began to show the potential that must have been seen. And further recruitment in January was nothing less than spectacular.

My Spurs supporting friend, peter, wails about their injury crisis. Spurs have nothing on ours, and yet City have climbed from being seven points adrift from safety at the end of October to be only nine point shy of the play offs now.

The only crisis in the future is how to put the gallon of talent in the squad into the pint of a match day squad. A problem managers and coaches like to have.

I am man enough to say that I was wrong about the management of the club. Ben Knapper has my support and admiration. Recruitment of players has been shown to be sound, and the correction of Manning's appointment carried out calmly.

I am a supporter of the club with over 52 years following the club. In my opinion, the only manager to maybe be as transformational than Philippe Clement was the man in the hotseat back in November 1972, Ron Saunders, who lead the club to the old First Division.

Wednesday night was a joy, as the team peppered the Blades' goal with shots, and Forson curled the winner in the far corner. The way the squad and coaching team celebrated in front of all four stands at the end brought tears to these old eyes.

Happy days are here again, and I am more than happy for our rise up the table to be mostly un-noticed by the rest of football.

OTBC

Wednesday 4th March 2026

Up at seven again, and after a shower and getting dressed, we go down to breakfast, each table has an attendant cat, to clear away any unwanted food. This morning we had a very meowy ginger cat, who was very keen to help dispose of any food.

We sat on the terrace to eat, having lots of coffee, fruit, and for me, pancakes with chocolate spread.

We left the hotel at nine. Jools was going to find a boat to take her on the high seas, where our first port of call was a seaside limestone pavement where we hoped to see a Blunt-nosed viper or two. But after half an hour’s searching, we drew a blank.

So back in the bus for a run of about an hour to a secluded valley with a couple of new orchid species, growing on the wooded slopes above the road.

The roud soon wound its way along a steep valley, with banks rising sharply on the right hand side, which had supplied numerous boulders of various sizes which Richard had to avoid.

The slopes were steep enough to make footing tricky, but we saw Dachtyoriza romana and Orchis troodi, the former a custard yellow and the latter, pink and white. We stay longer to hunt butterflies and other plants, before driving further up the valley to a ruined monastery, where we did more butterfly chasing, as well as looking at the ruins.

Another hour run to the lunchtime site, a picnic site high above Paphos town, where among the woods were at least three species to be found, as well as in the case of Ophrys, some indeterminate forms that could be a new species, or a hybrid.

The monastery was dedicated to St George, and it seems the country of Georgia pays for its upkeep and so must be its Mother church. Anyway, the ruins had icons and shrines on many walls, the whole site protected by a steel-framed roof.

After eating, I chased butterflies for a while, capturing a male Orange Tip at rest, for once.

Who knows?

We walked round the site for two hours, racking up the steps to over 10,000, before driving further up the hill where we stopped at a small coffee shop for refreshments, then to a site right on top of the hill, with panoramic view over Paphos and the coastline.

We found another new species, Ophrys israelitica, and some over familiar ones. But a re-finding of Orchis punctulata, a species not seen on the site for over a decade was made.

We drove back to the hotel, stopping at a beachside Italian ice cream shop, so we could eat the ices sat on a terrace overlooking the beach, while the sun set away in the west.

Finally, back to the hotel, where there was a power cut, just to make life interesting for an hour, before it was restored in time for dinner, where the wine flowed well.

Tuesday 3rd March 2026

The first full day of the tour, though only half the tour was here. But we would make the most of it.

Breakfast was another buffet affair, enjoyed after a shower and dressed in clean clothes. The hotel has a posse of resident cat, who do come to say hello and offer to dispose of any spare food.

Before setting off, we go to the back of the hotel, where on two low banks, two species of orchids could be found, and we tried to guess which species they might be. Two closely related species, whose forms slightly overlap and can also hyrbridise with each other too. This would be a repeating theme of the tour.

We leave at quarter to nine, with a short drive to where Jools and I had walked the day before. Though going up the hill via a different route.

In our bags we carried water, juice and a packed lunch, while hanging from my shoulder was the old trusty camera.

We spent an hour in a field, where we found many interesting orchid species, some the same but different to what we had seen the day before.

Across a drying up stream to another partly fallow field where we found more orchids, and some reptiles, including skink and gecko, of which we all got shots while our tpur eaders held the tiny animals.

and as time went on we climbed higher and higher. Until we came to a road, so followed that at an angle of something in excess of 35 degrees, past two new build villas, and son a leafy valley the other side.

It was now near midday, and warm enough to cause even the fittest to begin to sweat. Doubly so for me, and yest I coped, and as the week would go on, I got used to the temperatures, and struggled less as the daily stepcout climbed towards 10,000.

All the way down I thought to myself that we would have to climb the way back later, I regretted each step down, knowing there would be harder steps back up.

We found more orchids along a track leading to an an abandoned quarry, we chased butterflies, like the endemic Paphos Blue, and delighted in finding orchids everywhere we looked.

We stopped by a small chapel for lunch, and beyond were dozens of the rare Orchis punctulata, all along the sunny side of the track.

Overhead, the sky was blue, and temperatures peaked in the low twenties in the afternoon, until it was time to turn back, and retrace our steps along the valley, and then up the hill.

It took five minutes huffing to get up, but the view opened up to the view of the bay between the two headlands. Then along beside a field, where we arrived where Jools and I walked the day before, so I could show the group the orchids we had found.

Down, finally, through the building supply stores, and the helipad to the main road and back to the van. Leaving us with a two minute ride back to the hotel, where Jools was waiting with a fridge full of cold beers and ciders.

Happy days.

Monday 2nd March 2026

Occasionally, our lives interact with world events. This has been such an occasion.

Between us leaving home on Saturday and arriving a Gatwick, the US and Israel bombed Iran, including a girls school killing nearly 200. Our flight wasn’t affected, but later that evening, two drones attacked an RAF base on Cyprus causing flights to be cancelled, including half the people on the tour whose flight into Paphos was cancelled early on Monday morning.

We woke at seven, and lazed around before going down to breakfast. Where there were half the number in the restaurant enjoying the fayre on offer. We ate, then went back to pack, load the car and check out.

And having four hours to kill before we were due to all meet up at the airport. I texted a message to my friend, Roger, wishing him safe travels, but he responded that the flight had been cancelled, and the information desk didn’t open until eight.

I let the tour leader know, but he already knew. But the plan was to still meet at the airport at one, and see who turned up, and some others had travelled early like us.

We drove into Paphos, and on the long drive into the town, we passed a strip of apartments and places offering “British fry ups” and “traditional roast diners”, whole couples of a certain demographic struggled with the warm sunny weather: balding men with red faces and orange skinned wives tagging along.

We turned round and went to St George’s Point, where we found a car park and low grass-covered cliffs, dropping down to turquoise shallow sea. Others, like us, had come to take in the sight, walk and take selfies. Though we didn’t take selfies.

We decided to drive to the airport, Jools driving for the first time to get used to the car and roads.

We arrived safe and sound, parked up then walked insde the terminal to use the facilities and have a coffee while we waited.

We had just got our coffees and were sitting down when all hell broke loose. A woman went round running and screaming in Greek: we had to evacuate the building.

We did.

Then when all outside, we had to move to the far side of the car park, as the police and army arrived.

The tour leader said he was parked nearby, s we went to meet Richard, and then move the tour van, and Jools drove our car out. Jools left the airport, but we had two people to pick up in the chaos, in the end we were allowed to go in, find the couple, then turn round and head for the hills.

Two drones had been spotted within the airport airspace, and coming after other drone attacks by Iran, the airport was closed for the rest of the day.

We would meet Jools at the hotel. But we would go and so some light orchiding near to the hotel. So as Richard drove, the rest of us got to know each other and shared stories, while stunned that actions by the Orange President could affect our lives.

We went to a filed near to the hotel, down a long and dusty lane. Got out and went to explore the rocky outcrop that the plough had managed to miss.

Over two hours we found a dozen orchid species, among the plants thriving in the poor soil among the rocks.

We all got back in the minibus, then drove the ten minutes to the hotel, about a mile beyond the one we vacated that morning. Jools had already arrived, checked in, so I grabbed my gear and walked to the apartment, not as spacious as before, but good enough where Jools had unpacked after carrying the luggage from the car.

At six we went to reception for a review of the day’s finds, and a cold beer to go with it. Then to the reception where there was a buffet meal on offer, so we ate, drank and talked, with the red wine flowing freely.

Outside the near full moon shone from a jet black sky, stars glistened all around. And we went to bed.