Discovering Crete, Part 17 - The palm beach of Límni Préveli II
Greetings Steemians!
Welcome back to the palm beach of Préveli!
After the last episode I got a friendly complain that, given it's name, this beach would be a bit short of palms. Well, I gonna fix that with todays post.
This was the moment I learned that I could have gotten here by boat, too. If I had only known before...
One of the first things that captured my attention when approaching the beach was this peculiar, mushroom-shaped rock, which sticks out of the water in not more than 10 m distance from the shore. I observed several youngsters trying to climp the rock in order to jump into the water. Only one of them finally made it and left the rock with a backflip into the blue.
Later I took a swim around that rock, too. Despite it's proximity to the shore the water depth was already an estimated 6-7 meters. So it was indeed safe to jump from the rock - main difficulty though was to climb it in the first place, which, admittedly, I was not able to.
After a refreshing swim I was ready to explore the lagoon and the eponymous palm grove.
The mountain creek Megalopotamos forms that lagoon lake at the exit of the valley, just behind the beach. The entire area is a precious biotope that meanwhile has been declared as nature sanctuary.
Some of the Cretan date palms (Phoenix theophrasti) are reportedly more than 200 years old! Many of them are still marked from a devastating forest fire that happened in August 2010. Large parts of the palm grove had been burned down. And yet, already one year later in 2011, the palms had recovered almost completely.
By far the most tropical appearing place I had visited on Crete. Fortunately, without alligators...
I hope you enjoyed this little trip into the palm "jungle" of Preveli and I hope to welcome you in the next and final post of my Crete discovery tour!
Thanks for watching and 'til next timet!
Shaka
All photos were recorded by myself with an Canon EOS 7D / Tamron 18-270 mm in Mai 2018. All rights reserved.
There is a similar rock formation called the "Mushroom Rock" on the Maltese island of Gozo :) You made me wonder if I have ever seen date palms... Are they common in Greece and other parts of Southern Europe? The leaves look familiar to me but I am not really sure...
Btw, beautiful natural photos as always ;)
Thank you!
The distribution of the Crete date palm is apparently very restricted but Preveli is one of the areas where it grows in large numbers.
Laughter! I am the complainer and I got rewarded!
I wonder where this attachment to palm trees comes from. Had I seen any on television back then and from then on regarded them as the epitome of paradise? Anyway, I don't imagine Adam and Eve in a German spruce forest. :)
Whether people from the Caribbean or equatorial regions feel the same longing when they see snow-capped peaks or moss-covered ponds and dark forest paths?
In any case, I am always delighted by the beaches, blue water and the breeding summer heat. Fiesta, siesta and fans are for me the epitome of holidays. The wanderlust is strong in us humans. I would love to go on a boat trip around the world, where I would not be carried to the other continent by motor power, but would have to make the way slowly and with some effort. But I'm afraid I'm too old for that. And get seasick, too. :(
So I treat myself to travel reports like these and am allowed to share a bit of the landscape and impressions.
Good, that the palm trees grow so fast!
You haven't been the only one complaining :D
As for the palms, I think for us central Europeans they give us the general notion of a distant place. It makes us think of holidays, adventure, exploration, distant shores and so on...
Versprechen eingehalten, Palmen wunderschön ersichtlich. Hat was von einer Oase in der Sahara die ich einmal besuchen konnte. Ein Wasserloch, ein paar Palmen, ab und zu Felsen und sonst nichts.
da gäbe es noch Platz für die fehlende Hängematte.
Tolle Gegend.
Gute Idee mit der Hängematte - nehme ich das nächste Mal eine mit...;)
I think the reason of these mushroom shaped rocks is the erosion activities of the sea water which is cutting those rocks near the level of the sea waves. Air also cut rocks and creates fascinating structures.
It is amazing that this place is full of date palms. I thought date palms can only be find in the desert areas of the Arabian peninsula and similar geographic locations.
BTW this place is very beautiful and so is your photography.
Thank you! Your explanation regarding the erosion of that rock sounds reasonable to me.
The Crete date palm doesn't produce edible fruits like the Arabian date palms. It's another subspecies with restricted distribution, occuring only on some Greek and Turkish islands.
Welcome dear!
Thank you for information about the date palms of Greek islands.
That rock that comes out on the beach has a heart shape, I could say that is a heart that turned from stone to lack of love hehe However the other photos are fantastic those of the plants called my attention much
Haha, nice thought :) You should write the underlying story/fairy tale for that ;)
Shaka how are you? The palm beach of Límni Préveli is truly wonderful, it is a place full of tranquility, the mushroom-shaped rock is impressive, how about your dip in those calm waters?
Your journey has taken me to a wonderful place without leaving home I admire you because you also take very good photos you explore each place to show me its majesty.
I already said I had seen that that was the last but I'm glad to see a little more
Surely because of what you mention of the way by boat it was more pleasant while the sea is calm although it is seen that it is calm
I like that rock in the form of a mushroom but climbing there I do not think that it would undoubtedly come to a beautiful place that I would visit I love the beach
Hi @shaka how are you? it's good to see a little more also I thought it was the end however I'm very happy with this
I enjoy this trip a lot, it made me feel that big rock, and I see that it is very deep, but you are right, it is a good place to jump from that rock
Rock like a heart (on the 3d photo),nice👍
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