Spring Comes to the Kishon!
Spring is here, and it seems we have survived another winter! Birds are singing, buds are budding, and everything is warmer, nicer and…. springy. The Kishon river, which empties into the marina, is getting cleaner every day, after the large chemical company which polluted it for years was sued successfully by Adam, Teva VeDin, an environmental pressure group. Thanks, guys!
We feel as though we are in a nature reserve, as the reputation of the Kishon keeps people away and makes it into a refuge for wading birds of all kinds, cormorants and seagulls, who all gorge themselves on the large fish which swim undisturbed here ( except by the wading birds, cormorants and seagulls of course, which have actually gulped most of them down already). The marina is outside Haifa and surrounded by a park which is usually empty, although it is kept clean and neat by a team of gardeners. Who would believe that this is the el cheapo marina of Israel? We feel rather like royalty as we take our morning walk in the grounds, although royalty probably doesnt have to delouse its own dog. They probably have someone to do that.
We are getting itchy feet, and although part of it may have something to do with the dog, we are planning a shakedown cruise to Turkish Cyprus. Last year we stopped in Gazimagusa on the way to Turkey, and liked it so much we wanted to stay longer, but our plans wouldnt allow it, so this year we really want to go back.
Gazimagusa, which was once called Famagusta, is a strange place. As you approach by sea, a ghost city rises out of the land mist, a high rise, modern and completely deserted urban area, with shops, apartments and hotels waiting for owners who will probably never return. The port is reminiscent of a Polish commercial port in the height of the cold war, and the truth is that this city is still in a cold war of its own. Unrecognised by the E.C., Turkish Cyprus is in limbo, and although Girne, on the opposite shore, is quite prosperous, Gazimagusa is too far from Turkey and too overshadowed by Larnaca to get on with life normally. Cars thirty years old still putter along its streets, hardly any tourists get here, and the atmosphere is heavy, a pall of sadness clinging to places that once were bustling thoroughfares. There is a lot of archeology here, crusader walls that surround an ancient and undug city, hamams from the 13th century and churches from the 16th. There is a modern city too, with supermarkets and gas stations, seeming somehow incongruous in the middle of all the history. It is cheap, especially if you eat where the locals do, with a good meal costing about $2, although there are much more expensive restaurants attempting to attract any tourist who does get over the border from Larnaca.
By the way, dont expect a modern marina to await you in Gazimagusa. You tie up to an old wooden pier, free for five days and only pennies after that. There is no electricity, very little water and no showers or toilets, so arrive with full tanks and be prepared to shower onboard, conserving as much water as possible. Water flows about twice a week from a tap on the pier. There are usually one or two foreign yachts, and about five or six local ones. The check in procedure is at the other end of the port, so if you have a bicycle you will be glad of it.
Although this is probably enough to stop many people from wanting to visit, I would recommend Gazimagusa to anyone tired of picturesque little tourist villages and all that jazz. This is something else.
