Text: Anna Kalatzi
Photos: Gerard Kramer
Translation in English: Violandi Vratsanou

Accompanied by summer weather in spring, which officially started with the vernal equinox, the 4th hike of 2023 took place on 26 March, the same day as the time changed… which confused some people and made them miss the appointment!!!

At 09:00 the group met at the chapel of Agia Triada near Stavropeda in order to be transferred by coach to the Monastery of Panachrantou. After we got the blessings of the Monastery through the representative of our hiking group, Father Panagiotis, who entered the premises of the Monastery together with several hikers, we started our hike on path no. 7, in a weather atmosphere that you couldn’t tell if it was spring or summer… The nature, in full blossom and colorful, testified that we had left winter definitively behind us and everything around was reborning… while the temperature and the sun, which from the very first meters of the hike made us take off everything unnecessary, put on hats and smear ourselves with sunscreen… predicted an early summer! !

Our group was descending, enjoying all the benefits of nature and the landscape, which have a beneficial effect on the soul and the mind; and gradually you could see the joy and euphoria in the eyes and lips. Volunteers of Andros Routes along with the hikers who participated in order to have a pleasant walk with their friends or with their family and their pet, were helping in the rhythm of walking removing stones and clearing the terrain with their footsteps from the rapidly growing vegetation, cutting branches that were obstructing and inspecting the signposting of the path.

The 8 km long route connects the Monastery, located in the green hinterland, with the dry western coastline, crossing the mountain chain of Gerakonas with its rich biodiversity. A wonderful rural landscape with impressive views first towards the peninsula of the aristocratic capital and then to the west , leads and ends at the archaeological site of Zagora with a view to the sea and the distant past of the first settlement of the island.

Thank you very much for your participation in our project and for feeling you close to us. Stay tuned for our next hike , which will take place close to the Easter holidays…. with corresponding colors , aromas and touches of the Easter nature and Andriotic customs!!!