Karpathos, and particularly the northern part of the island, is an exceptional place for birdwatching. Other than the numerous migrating birds, there are many other types of endemic birds that flourish here, extending to the island of Saria and nearby rocky islets.

There is a small wetland in Tristomo – the only one in the area – which represents a refuge for waterfowl and wading birds such as the Plover (Charadrius dubius), Little Stint (Calidris minuta) and Wood Sandpipers (Tringa glareola).

Very noteworthy are the birds of prey such as Bonelli's Eagle (Iieraaetus fasciatus), Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus), and Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) observed relatively easily throughout the year. You will also be fascinated by the beauty of the Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius) and Island Partridge (Alectoris chukar), as well as the numerous Spanish sparrows (Passer hispaniolensis), elegant Ortolan Bunting (Emberiza hortulana), restless Eurasian Crag Martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestris) and chirpy Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (Hippolais pallida). Less frequent species that you might be lucky to spot include the Isabelline Wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina), Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (Merops persicus) and Citrine Wagtail (Motacilla citreola).

Pixabay, babilkulesi

Spring in Karpathos brings with it a panoply of colors and melodies, with migratory passerines that flood the small valley of Avlona and the surrounding area, including hoopoes, shrikes, wheatears, flycatchers, warblers, wagtails, orioles, and leaf warblers. Birdwatchers will revel in the flying flocks of swift, swallows, bee-eaters (Merops apiaster) and Spanish sparrow. Quite common is the presence of Katsoulieris (Galerida cristata), the Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala) and Mafrolaimidon (Saxicola torquatus) observed throughout the year on the island.

Ιn the meantime, the sea around Karpathos and surrounding islets is surrounded by the European Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) which lives in this environment all year round. Also present are Cory’s shearwater (Calonectris diomedea), Mediterranean shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan) and Eleonora's Falcon (Falco eleonorae) which are actually migrating birds.

The elegant Audouin's Gull (Larus audouinii) can commonly be seen in the skies over Karpathos, particularly since it breeds in the greater region like the Monk Seal (Monachus monachus) and the Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta). If you visit in fall you're likely to see migrating birds of prey like the European honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) and others that fly on a migratory path from Karpathos to Africa.

Walking through the island's established hiking paths from Tristomo to Diafani and Papa Mina, as well as from Vroukounta to Avlona and on to Olymbos, visitors can admire numerous little birds and birds of prey, but should take care not to disturb them, particularly during breeding season. The same applies for birds on the island of Saria.

Environmental matters in the region of Northern Karpathos and Saria, which lies in a Natura 2000 zone, fall under the responsibility of the Management Agency of Karpathos and Saria Protected Area. There is an information office in the seaside village of Diafani along with an exhibition area about the fauna and flora, as well as ecological and eco-tourism related activities and initiatives. Printed material, books and hiking guides will help enlighten visitors who are interested in ecotourism.

Get ready for a Mediterranean gastronomy tour like no other. While Crete has become famous worldwide for its healthy and tasty Mediterranean Diet, its lesser known neighbor Karpathos has equally delightful culinary surprises that are just as healthy. The island is big on seafood from its untouched turquoise seas, free-range chicken and meat, wild greens, exceptional sea salt, aromatic herbs, quality olive oil, delicious breads, and a myriad fruits and vegetables of course.

It is not uncommon to see women mill wheat or barley on traditional stone mills to make homemade pasta, such as the variety called Makarounes. These are served with onion and fried in olive oil with dry Mizithra cheese to create a mouthwatering pasta dish. This tasty cheese also goes into a wonderful cheese pie (Myzithropita), and there are a variety of local cheeses to sample across the island.

Stuffed baby squash flowers (Kolokythoanthi) and lentil rice with onions (fakorizo) will delight vegetarians, so will small pies called Kopeles that are stuffed with greens. Seafood lovers will certainly delight in the parrotfish found off the coast and cooked to perfection.

Pixabay, DanaTentis

You can even derive a culinary experience from a visit to a traditional coffee house where you can drink some ouzo while grazing on anchovies and Manouli (hard goat cheese). The panoply of dishes on offer range from a unique version of Trahana soup (with tomato) to escargot with dill and bay leaves. Noteworthy is the herb Krithamos (known elsewhere in Greece as Kritamos) growing near the sea and paired beautifully with salads and seafood dishes. More adventurous meat-eaters might come across the rare dish of Anterizia or Anderizia that is made from intestines and meat cooked in spices and different flavors, then served with rice.   

Best in bread

Karpathos is famous for its breads, such as sesame bread rings and onion bread (Kremidopsomo). Villages still bake in wood ovens, especially in the traditional town of Olympos. There are savory bread varieties with different ingredients such as cumin or pepper, as well as sweet bread varieties with cinnamon, mastic or clove. During Easter you'll love the Christ's bread (Christopsomo) sesame and what the Greek's called black sesame (Mavrosousamo) which is really the seeds of the fennel flower. You should also try the sweet bread with a red-dyed egg in the center if you're on the island close to Easter time.

Celebration time

You'll be eating well during feasts and holidays on the island. If you happen to be in Karpathos during a wedding, baptismal ceremony or other celebration, you might be lucky to taste a delicious fish called Pasti Menoula, a tasty small fish related to the sea bream and generally caught in February's cold waters. Easter brings forth a lamb or goat dish called Vizanti stuffed with rice and herbs, cooked slowly in a clay pot. After such a meal sweeten your tooth with Easter 'Tourtes', made of lightly sweet leavened bread, aniseed and sweet Mizithra cheese.

Christmas also features delicacies, such stuffed turkey with a Karpathian twist, as well as beef or goat in tomato sauce slowly cooked together with bulgur. A pork dish called 'Pichti' is also on the Christmas menu, complete with plenty of herbs and spices such as bay leaf, pepper and cumin, together with lemon juice. On the sweeter side you may get to try Paklava – a different version of Baklava – representing a fried dessert with honey, cinnamon and clove. Christmas is well known for a raisin dessert called Zimpilia (pronounced Zibilia) that should be sampled.

Sweet surprise

Home cooking brings with it a good variety of sweet delicacies such as Moschopougia, representing crescent-shaped cookies stuffed with walnuts or almonds. Karpathos also boasts delicious Takakia, a fried doughy dessert topped with support. You will always find varieties of Baklava, as well as sweet cheese pies called Myzithropita. Sweet triangle-shaped cheese pastries will delight those with a sweet tooth, so will the Sissamomeli, a dessert that combines honey and sesame in sinful ways.

Pixabay, Michelle_Maria

You're going to be impressed with the hiking opportunities that the island offers, with vistas of the sea, mountains, cliffs, rolling fields and all sorts of fauna and flora. The island of course was a hiking haven for past civilizations, from the Ancient Minoans to the recent Saracen pirates.

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Hiking o the Northern part of the island is also special in that it lets you discover places that are unreachable by car. There are 10 main hiking trails on the island to explore:

1. Spoa – Olympos (5.5 hours)

2. Olymbos – Pei Area – Olymbos (4.5 hours)

3. Olymbos – Forokli (2 hours)

4.  Olymbos – Diafani (2.5 hours)

5.  Olymbos – Avlona (2 hours)

6.  Olymbos – Peak Prophet Elias (1.5 hours)

6Α. Peak Prophet Elias – Olymbos (1.5 hours)

6Β. Olymbos – Cross Road trail No 1 – Olymbos (3 hours)

7. Olymbos – St. Constantine Col (1 hour)

7Α. St. Constantine Col – Diafani (1.5 hours)

7Β. St. Constantine Col – Diafani (1 hour)

8. Avlona – Tristomo (3.5 hours)

9. Avlona – Ancient Vroukounda (1.5 hours)

10. Avlona – Diafani (through Vananta Beach) (2 hours)

This long island does not come without a mixed variety of beaches, from sandy and pebbly to shallow and windy (perfect for windsurfing). Beaches on the southern part of the island are more easily accessible and are busier, with more chance of finding organized beaches that offer sunbeds and umbrellas. The adventurous, however, will revel in exploring the central and northern part of the island, as well as the islands of the coast by boat, including Saria and Sokastro.

Pixabay, lena1

This long island does not come without a mixed variety of beaches, from sandy and pebbly to shallow and windy (perfect for windsurfing). Beaches on the southern part of the island are more easily accessible and are busier, with more chance of finding organized beaches that offer sunbeds and umbrellas. The adventurous, however, will revel in exploring the central and northern part of the island, as well as the islands of the coast by boat, including Saria and Sokastro.

aegeanislands.gr

What makes Karpathos very special in terms of nature is that it's been evolving in total isolation for the past 2 million years. This has given rise to many plants and flowers that can't be found anywhere else in the world (i.e. endemic), with a few common only to Karpathos, nearby Kassos and in a few cases the island of Crete. The Management Agency of North Karpathos – which was established to manage and protect the area's biodiversity and nature – reports the presence of about 90 different endemic species in the region (mostly Karpathos with some common to Kassos and Crete). It also points out to 18 separate ecosystems or habitat types that are relatively in a very good state.

Forests, surprising trees and interesting herbs

Occurring generally at lower elevations, healthy Turkish pine forests (Pinus brutia) can be spotted on the eastern slopes of Northern Karpathos and on the southern side of the nearby Saria Island. There are also other enigmatic Mediterranean tree species such as mastic trees or lentisk (Pistacia lentiscus) and Carob trees (Ceratonia siliqua) that even until today flavor some of the foods and desserts in this region of the world.

Present on the island too is Black hawthorn or Mediterranean Buckthorn (Rhamnus lycioides ssp. οleoides) which offers good nourishment for birdlife but shouldn't be consumed by humans in big quantities as it could be poisonous. The pretty rockrose (Cistus spp.) with its purple flowers also graces the landscape, while a wild type of thyme known as conehead thyme (Coridothymus capitatus) – apart from its potential cosmetic and culinary value – has been shown to have powerful antifungal and antibacterial properties.

Intriguing shrubs

A certain kind of shrubbery thrives in the rocky regions and gorges of the island, scientifically known as chasmophytic vegetation. The most common is Ptilostemon, a kind of plant that is placed in the thistle tribe within the sunflower family. Similarly another flowering plant from the thistle tribe called Hirtellina fruticosa is reputed to grow only the island of Karpathos.

In higher altitude you'll find shrubs such as tree spurge (Euphorbia dendroides) and Phoenician juniper (Juniperus phoenicea), while a specific type of garrigue or phrygana – a kind of low, soft-leaved scrubland – can be found in the form of Euphorbia acanthothamnus, as well as the endemic germander (Teucrium gracile).

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Plants that thrive in salty and windy environments can be found on the coastal rocks including the rare and endemic limonium (Limonium carpathum) and the white beancaper (Zygophyllum album). Worth mentioning as well as certain plants related to old cultivation practices on the terraced hills, namely the Dutchman’s pipe (Aristolochia cretica), the Holy orchid (Orchis sancta) and the Lusitanian woad (Isatis lusitanica).

Protecting the Monk seal

The northern part of Karpathos the nearby uninhabited island of Saria fall within an environmentally protected area, under the responsibility of the Management Body of Karpathos and Saria. One of its key missions is to protect the endangered Mediterranean monk seal, Monachus Monachus. Within a European context, it is also involved in protecting locally and regionally important ecosystems and habitats on land and sea

Monachus Monachus is in fact the most threatened sea mammal in the EU and is in danger of extinction. While Karpathos is a very suitable habitat for the seals, there are only a few dozen on the island left.

Pixabay, suju-foto

Shells and snails

Beyond the seal the island has a few other curiosities, endemic wildlife and endangered species that should be respected. For example, an interesting kind of gastropod or land snail on the island is Albinaria unicolor, with its elongated shell. Also curious is the land snail Pyramidula chorismenostomawhose spiral whorls are not attached to one another. Other snails include Vitrea clessini (almost endemic) and Zonites sariae (obviously from Saria Island). A type of rare locust called Rhacocleis silvestri and an uncommon island beetle known as Danacaea insularis are also part of the fauna on Karpathos.

The bivalve mollusk Arca noae – Noah’s Ark shell – can grow to about 10 centimeters and can sometimes be visible in low-tide areas, particularly in Tristomo Bay. Another such mollusk known as the fan mussel or noble pen shell (Pinna nobilis) is also a protected species and flourishes in the bay’s seabed. It can grow to much bigger proportions, as much as 1.2 meters, however it usually measures anywhere from 30 to 50 centimeter.

Cave life

There are two caves on the island that are home to different kinds of life. Saint John’s cave hosts different species of crawling bugs known as isopods (actually a type of crustacean) such as Bathytropa granulata and Chaetophiloscia cellaria, as well as an endemic insect (orthopteron) known as Discoptila kinzelbachi.

The Olympos cave on the other hand is home to the barn owl (Tyto alba), bicolored shrew (Crocidura leucodon), lesser mouse-eared bat (Myotis blythii) and an intriguing species of vesper bat known as Savi's pipistrelle (Pipistrellus savii) which are considered protected species under European and/or Greek law.

Pixabay

Rare frogs and salamanders

Some rare or endangered species of amphibians can be found within the limits of the protected area, such as the Karpathos Lycian salamander (Lyciasalamandra helverseni), known also as Kochylina. It can be found only in the Dodecanese. A very important endemic amphibian species of the island is the Karpathos frog (Pelophylax cerigensis) and is considered critically endangered.

In terms of serpents, Kotschy's gecko (Cyrtopodion kotschyi oertzeni) and the Snake-eyed skink (Ablepharus kitaibelii fabichi) – both of which are considered protected species – can be found only on Karpathos and nearby islands. Also protected are:

Snake-eyed lizard (Ophisops elegans)
Ocellated skink (Chalcides ocellatus)
Turkish gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus)
Grass snake (Natrix natrix)
Large whipsnake (Coluber jugularis)