What better way to recuperate after the Legion Run than a 6-hour hike on the Akamas Peninsula? Yes, mental, particularly since my muscles hurt even to get dressed. We’ll take it slowly, I thought. Well, there’s slow and there’s practically walking backwards. And that’s what we did – practically walked backwards across the Akamas Peninsula. But it was worth every step.

The Akamas Peninsula is on the western coast of Cyprus, to the left of Polis. It is 230 kilometres of wilderness that provides a haven for many animal and plant species. The best way to explore it is on bike or by foot along a number of hiking trails. I’d heard that the most scenic is the 7.5km Aphrodite trail that starts at the Baths of Aphrodite and climbs up to the peak – Mouti tis Sotiras – and over the other side. But 7.5km?? Our 2km hike in Cedar Valley took us 2.5 hours!

Since we’d need every second of daylight to complete this hike, we decided to get a hotel for a couple of nights in Latchi, a small seaside resort a few kilometres from the trail. We stayed at the Souli Hotel, a slightly tired-looking hotel right on the sea front, with great views across Chrysochou Bay. At only £45 a night, it was an ideal base.

We started our hiking day with a hearty hotel breakfast and about ten cups of tea. By sheer coincidence, we’d run into one of Matt’s colleagues in the hotel restaurant the day before. She’d lent us her copy of Rother’s Walking Guide to Cyprus. We must buy this book! It is so much more detailed than the brochure from the Cyprus Tourist Office. With any luck, we wouldn’t get lost. I could see the peak of Mouti tis Sotiras from the restaurant and felt quite intimidated. How were Goobie’s little legs and my sore ones ever going to get up there?

The Aphrodite trail starts at the Baths of Aphrodite, the pool where Aphrodite was supposed to have bathed. You walk through a small botanical garden and the pool is nestled into a nook in a narrow valley. A beautiful fig tree covers it and the vegetation is so lush it felt almost tropical. The pool was smaller than I expected and I didn’t realise you weren’t allowed to swim there. It was a pretty spot but I’m pleased I didn’t make the journey especially to visit it.

After passing the Baths, the path brought us out onto the trail proper. From that point it was a 4-hour slog up to Moutis tis Sotiras. After the first 50 metres, Goobie found a flower for me. 20 metres further on he found another, then another. I hate flowers being picked, it feels like an execution. Goobie was so pleased with himself that I didn’t have the heart to stop him. But after walking only 200 metres in 20 minutes, I persuaded him to stop picking me flowers because the ones already in my pocket would get squashed.

After half a kilometre he sat down.

‘I’m tired. I want to go home.’

We chivied him on, through juniper woods and up rocky slopes. We pretended we were a caterpillar and he was the head. He insisted I was the bum.

After the juniper woods, the trail went in a straight line up the hill. It felt hot (mid-20s) and there wasn’t a lot of shade – I wouldn’t recommend doing this trail any later in the year when it’s even hotter. Each kilometre is marked on the trail and at the 2km mark we started celebrating every one. We took regular refreshment breaks, wee breaks, one poo break (Goobie’s) and, after 2.5 hours, made it to the Pyrgos tis Rigenas ruins.

The Pyrgos tis Rigenas ‘The Queen’s Tower’ ruins were part of a Byzantine monastery and sit in a leafy glade halfway up the mountain. However, the real reason for wanting to do this trail was to see the magnificent 500 year-old oak tree next to the ruins. It didn’t disappoint. We climbed up it and had a picnic in its thick branches. It was so peaceful; we could just hear the birds and the bells on the goats that roamed the mountain. Local myths claim that this is where Aphrodite used to rest after her bath, before meeting her lover Adonis (the name of another trail).

It was so relaxing that we only had a mild panic attack when we realised it had taken us 2.5 hours to walk a fifth of a 2.5-hour trail. But we’d done the hardest part.

Buoyed up on chocolate croissants, we walked the remaining 1.5km to the Mouti tis Sotiras summit in an hour. The actual summit is flat, like a table, with a sheer cliff-face to the west. And it is covered with ladybirds and wind-beaten trees. We sat on a bench and took in the spectacular view across the Blue Lagoon and all the way to the end of the peninsula.

We still had over half of the trail left to walk, but we were so relieved to have finished the climb that we got a second wind and started our descent in high spirits. Goobie loved the narrow zigzag path down because it was pretty vertiginous and he saw the opportunity to give me the Mummy-Wobbles. The Mummy-Wobbles is an embarrassing affliction that strikes whenever Goobie is near a steep drop. On my own, I’m fine with heights. I’ve done South America’s highest bungee jump for god sakes! But when Goobie is with me, I’m a mess. Holding his hand makes me worse. Instead, I’m constantly shrieking at Matt ‘HAVE YOU GOT HIM??!!’ while I’m crawling on the ground, dizzy. I’m still too embarrassed to return to St Hilarion Castle . . .

Goobie thinks the Mummy-Wobbles is the funniest thing he has ever seen.

‘Look Mummy, I’m walking on the edge!’ he yells as we follow the zigzag path down the mountain. Oh, the power!

At 4km, my legs have had enough and shout What the hell do you think you’re doing??!!  after what I put them through two days before. I’m too knackered even for the Mummy-Wobbles. The view tries to distract me – the mountainside is carpeted with yellow bushes and pink and yellow flowers. And the sea is so incredibly blue. Eventually we get to the 5km mark.

Soon after, the zigzags finish and the path curls round the side of the mountain. Before the 6km mark, the path joins The Road From Hell. This road was the location of a couple of almighty Wobble-attacks last year when we drove along it to get to the Blue Lagoon. It’s basically a very rough track that clings precariously to the side of the mountain. It is a SINGLE track, yet an oncoming car last year didn’t agree. It was too dangerous to reverse so we had to squeeze round it.

‘WE ARE ABOUT TO PLUMMET! I’M GETTING OUT!!!’

‘You are safer staying in,’ Matt said calmly. He was right – there was only centimetres between us and the cliff-edge.

We survived (just) and drove on until we came to a ‘Cyprus Drop’. A Cyprus Drop is basically the start of a slope where the car bonnet is slightly elevated so that it seems like you are going over the edge into oblivion.

‘THAT’S IT, STOP THE CAR, I’VE HAD ENOUGH. GOOBIE AND I ARE WALKING!!’

I hauled Goobie out of the car and walked on jelly-legs down the not-so-steep slope. After a minute of silence:

‘What was that all about then, Mummy?’

I had no idea a 4 year-old could be so patronising.

Anyway, this road is scary and I was pleased not to be driving on it this time. I spent the remaining 2k of our hike looking over the cliff edge and reminding Matt how close we had come to Certain Death. It turned out that I hadn’t been a total loon over nothing. In 1997, a jeep went over the cliff after part of it gave way in heavy rain. Luckily it landed in a tree halfway down and no one died.

At last, we reached the 7km marker and practically skipped the remaining half a kilometre back to the car. I couldn’t believe we’d done it! It had taken 6.5 HOURS!! Goobie amazed me – he’s only four and yet we didn’t need to carry him once.

After a long shower at the hotel we went out for a celebratory meal. When I’ve driven through Latchi in the past, it struck me as being a little lacklustre. But what I discovered was that behind the souvenir shops is a charming little marina lined with restaurants.

Of the three restaurants we ate in during our stay, the Latchi Plazza had the nicest food (the stuffed sole with crab meat was to die for), though Faros was also good. Neutered, well-fed stray cats sat politely next to the tables waiting for a softie, like me, to give them a portion of my dinner.

After the day’s exertions, a lie-in the next morning seemed a dead-cert, but Goobie was bouncing on our bed at 7am. He’d done so well the previous day that we decided to do something more child-friendly on our last day in the Akamas. We spent the morning on the beach attempting to dig a hole all the way to Australia. In the afternoon we took a 3-hour boat trip on the Alkion II from Latchi harbour along the Akamas Coast. Perhaps because it’s off-season, we got a good deal on the price – one adult half price and Goobie went for free. All for 30 euros, including a snack and some wine.

As we sailed along the coast, we could see how far we’d walked and how high Mouti tis Sotiras was. I had a different view of the Road From Hell too. In places, the cliff has fallen away underneath it so that the road doesn’t seem to be sitting on much. No wonder some of it gave way in 1997! Will I drive on it again? Probably. The Blue Lagoon is too alluring. But I definitely won’t be driving near the edge, no squeezing past other cars – and not if there’s been rain.

The boat took us around St. George’s Island and past some beautiful bays, many only reachable by sea (unless you are a rock-climber). The Alkion stopped in the Blue Lagoon and we had time to swim. The sea was a stunning blue, the likes of which I’ve only seen off the coast of Agia Napa. It was tempting, but at 21 degrees, too cold for me and Goobie.

The boat took us back to the harbour, where we had dinner before going home. Our visit to the Akamas had been a great introduction to the peninsula. And we will go back – there are more trails to walk, sea to swim, and the Smigies picnic ground to picnic in. And best of all, it’s a place that we can explore on foot – even when those feet are little or sore.