We all know her Andros for its wonderful beaches. But how many of us know that there are wonderful paths that some have decided to protect and highlight with the sole motive of their love for the island? These beautiful routes, which hide unique surprises for those who will follow them, have become the focus of his attention. Andros Routes who is feverishly preparing the second Andros on Foot Festival to be held in October. An initiative based on volunteering of locals but also people who arrive on the island from different parts of the world to do hiking tourism in calmer tones and to offer non-profit.
"Andros is a mythical and unknown place, but this beauty is sevenfold hidden and is given only to those who will walk even a little. "Paths are the key," says Ms. Olga Karagianni one of the founders of Andros Routes who spoke to Newsbeast about this special effort while also revealing some of the most beautiful routes of the Cycladic of the island.
What exactly is Andros Routes and how did it come about? "Andros Routes - Andros routes is the name we gave in 2009 initially to an idea, which evolved into a vision for the revival of the use of Andros trails. A vision that we had the great joy, all those who believed in it and worked for it, to experience its transformation into action in the last decade.
Speaking from my personal point of view, the vision of Andros Routes was "born" through the discovery of the incredible beauty of the forgotten inner Andros. I find the "spark" of the idea in the first hike I did on the island, in 2004. A walk from the mountain village of Katakalaia to the next, Apoikia, in order to shake my body a little after reading and writing for many hours my master's thesis in the field of sustainable tourism.
The legal "roof" of the idea is the non-profit organization "Andros Research Center" which was founded in 2009 with headquarters in Andros and the statutory purposes are the protection and promotion of the natural and cultural heritage of the island. Co-founders of two more anxious people, o Alexandros Mavis, environmentalist and activist and the George Speis, engineer-anthropologist-researcher ".
An initiative based on volunteering. What exactly are her goals? What are its actions? "Yes, volunteering was and I think is the only solution, because as those in charge told me in the first years that I" chased "the authorities in the Prefecture and the Municipality, to do something to take care of the abandoned paths…" there is no money and no is a priority ".
In most European countries with delivery to hiking such as Germany, England and France, the maintenance of the routes is done by volunteers. Its importance is recognized and institutionalized, but in Greece we are still far away.
The goals of our project are many. The awareness of the inhabitants of the island for the valuable natural and cultural heritage "engraved" in the landscape of Andros since antiquity, the recording of the local history of Andros that disappears under the vegetation, the reuse of an old social resource, the traditional hiking trails. in a modern way benefiting the economy of the island, stimulating life in the villages of Andros that are still inhabited. Particular focus on this most mature stage we are in, the support of the people who live and produce in the villages of Andros ".
- the utilization of every available resource for the perpetual maintenance of a network of 180km of hiking trails mainly through the operation of a 20-member volunteer team, in combination with granted and paid labor
- the creation of income for the trails through the sale of a book and a map for hiking etc. promotional products, subscriptions, sponsorships, donations from individuals and companies
- the tourist promotion of Andros through our website that operates in 5 languages and has detailed information about hiking and trails, participation in exhibitions, publications and other promotional activities
- the cooperation and support of travel organizations in Greece and abroad in order to design packages and travel proposals for hiking in Andros
- the systematic organization of open care hiking actions on the paths of Andros
What is so special about the paths of Andros? If we follow them, what exactly will we know, what will we experience? "Beauty and variety inconceivable. So unexpectedly rich vegetation and running water that you forget that you are in Cyclades. Forests, rivers that flow all year round, springs, waterfalls and ravines, intense relief, small and large mountains that hide in the hundreds of small valleys of the island incredible secrets and stories. Dry stones and terraces everywhere, thousands of stone houses scattered on the fertile land, arched bridges, watermills, tower houses, springs, rural complexes with olive presses, presses, threshing floors, pottery, waterfalls running through the mountains and water canals running from the mountains. Andros is a mythical and unknown place, but this beauty is sevenfold hidden and is given only to those who will walk even a little. "Paths are the key."
"These people, who in recent years have come mainly from the Netherlands, thus combine holidays and creative community work and know the place from the inside. This event is not only impressive but admirable and moving! I think the values that motivate them are the undisturbed natural landscape of Andros, the authentic hospitality, the tastes and the warmth of the locals, the ability to escape from the urban sterile environments where they usually live and work with their hands catching stones and soil, revealing steps and other human constructions in places inhabited continuously since antiquity. Many of them want something more… to help the Greece of the crisis and the Greeks who are trying to do something for their country.
I would say, however, that I am more moved by the constant presence of our "local" volunteers and I put the quotation marks because some of them are from Andros, but many are not from Andros and many are foreigners, mainly from northern Europe. Most live permanently on the island, others own or rent cottages. They have time and energy all year round to keep the trails clean, with careful signage so that walkers can enjoy them calmly and safely and the island's businesses can prosper.
Recently, perhaps the most moving conversation I have ever heard came from the lips of one of the workers who work a few months a year cleaning paths, so Washim from Pakistan said to me: “I want to help you too, to undertake to I voluntarily clear a path… ”».
Does the Greek state support you?
"All these 10 years we have not received any state aid. Just last October we had the support of the Ministry of Environment in the co-organization of the 2nd Panhellenic Meeting of Trails which was a parallel action of the first Hiking Festival - Andros on Foot Festival - as well as support from the Region and the Municipality of Andros for the Festival event. Although we tried very hard to have their support in the ongoing work of maintaining the hiking trails that today reach 180km, it seems that the authorities understand or have a much greater opportunity to support events than infrastructure work.
In any case, I think the results of the last years, the fact that we managed to obtain the European certification Leading Quality Trails-Best of Europe for the 100km Andros Route hiking route that crosses Andros from north to south in 2015 for the first time and its renewal last year In October, the extension of the tourist season of Andros and the increase in the number of walkers coming from many European countries and other continents, the international recognition of Andros as a top destination for hiking, with dozens of articles in the international press, proved how important and decisive for the development of a place can gradually become a small, spontaneous, romantic local initiative ".
Finally, we would like you to tell us which is the most beautiful route of Andros in your opinion and why?
"I honestly find it difficult to suggest just one…! The peculiarity of Andros is the incredible variety of landscapes it hosts. If I had to choose I would say in northern Andros the route to the mill of the village of Frousaea, a wonderful wooded side road with the ruins of watermills, in the central I would choose the routes to the forest of Rema and Arni, parallel to Arnipotamos and the route leading to arched bridge of Achlas, the largest river of Andros. To the south the route to Steno between Andros and Tinos and the area of the Monastery of Tromarchia because the view and the rural landscape there are inconceivable wildness and beauty ".
- The photographic material was provided by androsroutes.gr