Welcome

Crete is a special island. It is 5 million years old, located in the middle of the Mediterranean at equal distance to Europe, Africa Asia. It is obvious to have special nature with various influences. The endemic character (10 % of the species) and the diversity of ecosystems are essential features of its nature.

The large mountain areas above 2000 meters along the length of the island, often snowy, act like natural dams for the weather. They create rain , store water and cause diversity in ecosystems.

So visitors will be surprised when in a short time from the exotic beaches, they could find themselves in cool ravines filled with herbs or oak, in green fields with orchards or even in the Alpine region of its mountains.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The Nature Park

The Nature Park

The world of Cretan nature, its colours, forms & aromas
The Nature Park “BIOTOPES” has the concept of an ecosystem. On the hill already existed rich wild vegetation which we protected and filled with other plants from Crete. In the Biotopes, visitors encounter the edible plants «chorta», herbs with therapeutic attributes, herbal teas, aromatic plants, decorative flowers from Crete, Greece, and certain infrequent and threatened types of species of the island. Between the different plants live a lot of animals, like ants, worms, hedgehogs, frogs, turtles, lizards, spiders, scorpions, snakes, birds and butterflies. We created a lake and lots of the animals are attracted to live around it. People brought us some tropical animals they kept in the house, like iguanas, chameleons and snakes. We wanted to put those animals into their own natural biotopes with small lakes, plants and create for them the entire environment they need.
In the park, the signs provide a lot of information of the roughly 220 species of plants and the 50 species of animals. The signs include: the official Latin name, period of blossoming, their use, type of growing environment, as well as other locations the species can be found around the world.
In the Kiosk we offer some books about the Cretan Nature and a variety of natural products, like Cretan herb teas & oils.
Our ambition is to help the children and adults getting closer to nature again and realize that in nature we can find everything we need to live in harmony. Mother Nature can tell us so many stories, stories of creation, originality, development, competition, survival and finally balance.

5 comments:

  1. A really interesting, thought provoking and enlightening experience. My family enjoyed every minute. A friend who accompanied us said that on many occasions he had paid a great deal more than 5 euro for conducted tours and this one beat the lot hands down. Gret value, great guides we all loved it and will recommend and visit again

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  2. The Nature park is open from 9:30am-1pm and 6-8pm daily

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  3. Hello!
    What is the cost os the tickets?

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  4. Good afternoon, Will this be an easy walk for older people??

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  5. Hello,
    I’m a teacher in Belgium and I’ll visit your countries with my student (aged 19 years old) in may (6may 9 may) and I just want to know if it’s possible to visit your park in english during this period.
    Thanks you very much for your attention.
    Falcata Stéphanie
    faniefalcata@hotmail.com

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