The flamingos have arrived! This weekend we took Goobie to see them at Akrotiri Salt Lake, near Limassol.

Thousands of Greater Flamingos spend the winter in Cyprus on their migration across the Mediterranean. They flock to the wetland areas, such as the Akrotiri and Larnaca salt lakes, Kalavassos and Alassa dams. The last time I saw a wild flamingo was in Africa, so their arrival in Cyprus only increases the feeling that I live in an Exotic Place.

Akrotiri Salt Lake is one of the most important wetland areas in the eastern Mediterranean and home to 260 species of birds – 70% of the species found in Cyprus.  With the winter rains, the water level in the lake rises and in the summer it can evaporate entirely. Up to 20,000 flamingos can visit the salt lake and, as they are waders rather than swimmers, the length of their stay in Cyprus depends on the water level.

The best place to view the flamingos is from the Akrotiri Environmental Centre, just on the edge of the lake before you reach the military base. Unfortunately it isn’t open at the weekend and so we parked on the side of the road and followed a little path towards the lake on foot.

A word of caution: while there appear to be tracks going onto the lake, cars aren’t allowed and you could be fined. Not only could cars damage the unique environment of the lake, they could also get stuck in the mud – and I’ve heard some horror stories about people being stranded.

There were little gorse bushes everywhere and, occasionally, little bones and areas packed with shells. As we walked on, we began to see mud-encrusted pink feathers and tracks. We could hear the flamingos chattering in the distance. Apparently there are 10,000 flamingos here at the moment and they create a magnificent haze of pink when you look across the salt lake.

We didn’t want to disturb them, so we stopped some distance away and viewed them through the full zoom on my camera. It is a powerful zoom so Goobie got to see them really clearly. They can grow to over a metre tall and look truly spectacular in flight. Cue lots of photo fun!

The sun started to set and it was time to go. The salt lake is flat and deceptively large – it would be easy to lose the car – so we retraced our footprints back the way we came, feeling privileged to have seen these incredible birds in the wild.