Vegetation

2391-lemnos-island-ileThe flora of the Island is deeply linked to the seasons. Very green and lively in Spring, the plants are surviving during the hot season. Lemnos goes from the colour green to yellow during May and June. The vegetation is mainly a Mediterranean type with eccentricities due to the geography and the climate of the Island. Trees areas are pretty rare and they are most of the time big pine trees. There are easy access farming lands. There are also many places covered with various bushes, made of cactus more or less aggressive, they all have their own feature, they 2112-lemnos-island-ileare impenetrable without good shoes and gaiters which have to protect you at least up to the knees. You can also discover the Island of Lemnos through its scents. You can smell thyme, wormwood plant, different aromatic plants…which is wonderful!

124821-lemnos-island-ileIt exists a dune vegetation in the North and East of the Island with a few endemic plants…

So Lemnos can also be characterized by its various ecosystems which are situated in specific places on the Island. Hardly a few square kilometers for some plant species or hundreds of meters for others. Some of the waterfalls harbor treasures of native plants which is difficult to admire somewhere else. If the Island of Lemnos doesn’t own all the Mediterranean plant species, it is there, without any doubt, that they are well conserved.

The salt desert in Lemnos2132-lemnos-island-ile

Incredible again! These are three huge brackish water swamp which are dried in the Summer…one of the rarest desert. The wild and natural salt desert of Lemnos is the only one like this in Europe… A salt desert just about 10 meters from the sea… If you plan to cross a salt desert, the one in Lemnos is at your fingertips… Just a few kilometers to walk with hiking shoes, glacier glasses, a bottle of water…and a hat!115651-lemnos-island-ile2142-lemnos-island-ile2138-lemnos-island-ile

We could enjoy the walk on one lightly cloudy morning and it was a very good idea! The reverberation is exactly the same as on a mountain glacier and think about the heat which is there too.

180255-lemnos-island-ileDuring your stay, you have to  go and see the big wild meadow of Posidonia situated in the bed of the cove of Neakoutali. The water is about 28°C, a maximum of 1m60 deep accross the bay and at the bottom: a meadow! Native people go there in the afternoon, their head covered with a hat, they are usually in a circle in the water and they have a chat with each other.

Enjoy your time in Neakoutali thanks to the few little restaurants near the harbour for a snack, then visit the Maritime Museum in the beginning of the afternoon (if you can find the person in charge of the museum opening) and then enjoy a long “farniente” bathing during the hotest hours of the afternoon! Amazing and wonderful!