Tag: Rivers

Evros river has some islets, the most important of which is "Islet A", which is near Dikea and is divided among Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey. In the middle of the islet there is the "tri-national", which is the point where the borders of the three countries meet. This is marked by a concrete triangular pyramid, one meter high, on the sides of which the three flags are painted. The islet covers an area of 340 acres, 170 of which belong to Turkey, 85 to Greece and 85 to Bulgaria.

The delta of Loudias River is a place of wildlife and primitive beauty, which is why it has been included in the Ramsar Convention and the European Natura network. This is where some rare species of birds and animals find shelter and reproduce. As it is near the national highway Athens - Thessaloniki, it is being severely threatened by human corporate interventions.

His Albanian name is Ali, but the Greeks call him Alexis. He comes from Librazhd of Albania and has been living in Greece for 18 years, most of which at the estuary of the Aliakmonas river, where he grazes sheep. He works in the heart of a biotope under conditions of absolute wilderness and solitude, away from people but close to birds and other wildlife.

" 'Why are you crying father,' my children once asked me when we had gone to Athens. 'It's not that is crying, it's my eyes because of the dust and the gas', I answered. I stayed in the hospital for 40 days and I couldn't even drink water. I don't like water from tanks and in nylon bottles. I couldn't wait; I wanted to go home beside the river as soon as possible. When I first came to live here I was bothered by the sound of water, but then I got used to it. My grandchildren don't like it here because they feel lonely. They don't even ask how the watermill works. They only care about the dogs; they are constantly gathering bones to feed them".

"Mussels are sensitive to temperature change. The heat kills them and the cold delays their growth. The 'kokoretsia' (the rope where the mussels are grown) must reach the bottom of the seabed, so that crabs can go up and eat the spawn that covers the mussels and clean them. Crabs weigh over 400 grams and have claws that can cut a whole fish in the middle".