Ayia Napa resort and wildlife

So Ayia Napa then. A UK Garage hot spot back in the late 90's and such its branded as one of those party towns, and place that we visited for a day some ten years later.  Our hotel was the Tasia Maris Sands a small and friendly place overshadowed by massive building works going on in the vicinity. 

The staff were very nice bar one miserable cow on reception, but we'll let that slide.  There was a buffet style diner, with a limited but good stock of stuff to eat.  I miss having sausage rolls for breakfast as they were replaced with olive rolls which weren't that nice. Also really liked the Apple Baklava they served as well as spinach pie and dolmades (stuffed vine leaves, which always taste of lemon). As you can guess I go fully native when I'm abroad.

Cool Dude

Quite a nice area actually, despite it being Ayia Napa, there is no UKG now, replaced by Elevator Dance Music its bland equivalent.  If you like the main drag, and innumerable cunts on quad bikes and motorised scooters then be my guest Ayia is great. Me I'll be down on the wasteland with the plants.  As you can tell I'm no fan of Fuck off, Fuck off, Ayia Napa.

The harbour area is better and there are some good places but mostly its bars and clubs and the attendant pricks they bring. Also a metric fuckton of russians.  

Highlights of this being some little dude with a smaller version of the troll guy shirt I was wearing. His mum was hot and also a Slav.

I also regret not snapping the strip club with a Costa coffee next door. I guess there is a market for combined lapdance / coffee bar. You could call it Starfucks.

Waiting 3 hours for your main to arrive.

Also, look out around 8 pm in the evening in certain spots for wild cats. They hang around to get fed and are adorable. My favourite must be a man ginger clone who is often on his own but if you offer food then a load will rush out of the bushes to meet you.  Cyprus has capitalised on this and you can buy cards, and other tat with strays on.  

Those not prepared to wait can go down the beach and look under the trees for a glimpse of several shoe persons asleep and awake. Includes a small Morgana type black and white with one eye. 

Plants. and other stuff.

Black Chamaleon Cardiopatium Corymbosum

The good people of Nissi Beach are spreading awareness of local and endemic plants by planting out, or more likely, conserving what dune and wasteland habitat is left. As a result there are boards up and tags put in to describe what flora can be seen. So if you've a yen to see the Sea Daffodil or Beach Morning Glory its well worth taking a walk along the wasteland down to Ayia Napa and cutting back when you get to the harbour.

Also take a look around to see the bird life, here a few of the places have Swallow nests, including the bike shop and next door to Pow the Shop. Mostly its sparrows here, so get used to them hopping around, dust bathing and begging for crumbs. Be warned they get quite close.  

Also have a look out for lizards especially the Agama lizard, which is one of the larger European lizards, or the smaller snake eyed lizard.

Snorkelling has it own rewards and you can be sure to spot some Ornate Wrasse as well as mullet and Gilthead. As well as attendant puffer fish, refugees from the Red Sea (and beyond.) Invertebrates include, round the rocks some shrimp, and a mass of snails including the feared Cone Shell as well as less feared mussels and ceriths. We were lucky to see a weed covered crab and on one occasion out on the rocks, an orange nudibranch. (NB is Chromodoris now invalid as a name, everywhere I've seen this, has it as Goniobranchus.)

On land we saw a rose chafer and in our final week quite a few Painted Lady butterfly. All in all quite a nice trip out.