Sunday 3rd April 2022

A week ago, a holiday on Rhodes seemed a million miles away. I had convinced myself that the trip with Ryanair would be shit and chaos, I was right in that. But beyond the flight, I knew and expected nothing.

So, a blank page.

I woke at seven, and after getting dressed, went for a walk up to the hairpin bend above the hotel, and seeing one of our guides walking up a track, winding it's way up the hill, I set out to join him.

Many flowers to see, though none in flower, but a leg-stretcher and I was ready for breakfast.

Greek yogurt, honey and nuts went down well, and then a couple of sweet pastries, washed down with a cup of sweet Greek coffee.

I was set.

We boarded the minibuses, and drove for 45 minutes to the south end of the island, to an area of dunes where we should see some orchids.

On the way we stopped at a deep gorge, where on the roadside under the trees were filled with orchids, a new species for us all. Light on the gorge was stunning, and plants hung to the shelves of rocks the way you imagine they did at the Hanging Garden.

We had an hour and set off to explore, and soon found several species, all of which were life ticks for most of us, and there were other floral delights too.

Among the wonders was a single wild Salsify, looking glorious in the low sunlight, but fabulous in detail. This is a relative of Goatsbeard back home, and some of these have escaped intot he wild and hybridised with Goatsbeard.

We drove down from the mountains, through a village with narrow streets that we few thorugh, and at the bottom, another larger village where women dressed in black and wearing scarves were sitting outside a cafe. I waved at them as we turned right, and they all waved back.

The road took us to the coast we had flown over the day before on final approach. We passed alongside small fields that went all the way to the edge of the sea, people scraping a living wherever they could. They must be growing something hardy to survive nearly on the beach.

Further along, we stopped at a dusty area at the foot of some dunes. Here be orchids and other delights, we were told. We were given another hour.

Cries went up as a new orchid or some exotic species was found.

We drove inland a short way, and parked on a dusty track, then went to explore the low hillside. Here we found yet more orchid species among the chicken wire bushes: Ophrys regis-ferdinandii, Ophrys speculum, Ophrys calypsus.

We walked back to the van, finding ever more orchids in the storm drain beside the road, and spilling over into the field next to it. We would have been there all day, but there were more orchids to see and photograph. We climbed back on the bus.

For lunch we stopped at a site where there was a small church, and all around were yet more orchids. We had unch, and explored, and found a fine pair of Horned Orchids, as well as more Tongue orchids and other Ophrys species.

Our final two calls were beside a road leading to a military base, where a hybrid swarm had been seen. We got out of the bus and walked to the field beside the road, and found it full of orchids. We did find the hrbrids, plus more beside.

Now, you might call me a drama queen, but people have been arrested for taking shots at or near military bases in Greece. OK, they were taking shots of the planes in the airbase, but we were within half a mile of radio and radar masts, I tooked up each time a truck went past. Nothing happened, and soon we just got on with searching.

A short way up we were looking for another new species, but found others, and the endemic Rhodes Fritillary, which is just devine.

By the end of the day I had done 15,000 steps and was parched: would I like to go for an ice cream?

Yes, I would.

So, once back in the village we went for a walk to the central square my legs complaining with each step up the steep alleyway leading to the squareI ordered a waffle cone with a coffee then sat on the street to enjoy the moment and savour the ice cream and reflect on a long and productive day in the orchid fields of Rhodes.

Back to the hotel to review shots before going down to have dinner, which I washed down with a half bottle of local red. After which we went through the sightings for the day, and back to the room to write the blog, and have a shower, I was pooped.