Blog Post

November has, since I can recall myself, caused me the blues. Not because I hated winter. In fact, I loved the winter chill and frost, the rain, the fluffy grey clouds, the raging waves. Indeed, winter used to be my favorite time of the year, both as a child and as a young adult. There was something – or a few things for that matter, about the eleventh month of the year though that I loathed. To me, it was a dull month, there was nothing special about it, no sparkle or fizzle to go with it. The time change made things even worse, as daylight was constrained to what seemed to me an ephemeral phase, just a fleeting point. I’d get an annoying and frustrating feeling of scarcity: not enough time, not enough daylight, not enough liveliness…

As youngsters, our lives are actually more or less molded and cast: school in the morning, afternoon activities right after lunch, studying till bedtime...during the weekdays at least. Sadly, not too many opportunities nor too much awareness to relish the ambience.

As adults though…well, that is an entirely different story. Luckily. Despite work and family obligations, as adults we get to have an amazing capacity that could potentially change our thinking frame altogether: the freedom to adjust our daily program accordingly and set out to perform activities that would add vitality and joie de vivre to our existence. Simply because we are independent. Simply because we can. Several years following my childhood, I decisively consider myself blessed and grateful to be living in Limassol, Cyprus, on the Eastern Mediterranean tranquil sea, where the sunlight is yellow and bright and healing…even during the month of November. Although the sun sets at approximately 5PM, it rises at around 6AM, which for an early riser is glorious. In Limassol, the seaside zones bustle with movement and energy from as early as daybreak. The temperature ranges from 20-25 degrees Celsius, such a slice of heaven for those of us who enjoy exercising on or by the beach.

The seawater still at its warmest is freely available for a morning swim. Groups of people meet up and perform organized workouts in the water. The promenade by the sea lends itself to walkers, strollers, runners while the parallel bicycle track accommodates numerous cyclists. Yoga lovers greet the advent of the sun at Molos (seafront next to the Old Port). All one needs to do is take advantage of every second of sunlight and perfect weather conditions bestowed.

Tourists in Cyprus thrive during this underrated lower season, as they benefit from the pleasant weather state, they get to avoid the intense heat and humidity of the summer months, and score mind-blowing cutbacks on lodging costs.

At our lodgings we’ve had the pleasure to host guests who were ecologists, and had specifically visited Cyprus in November so as to take a groovy selfie with a gorgeous pink flamingo. Thousands of migrating birds land on the island during this season, in pursuit of food and rest, rendering it the most opportune period for nature lovers.

One of the most spectacular occasions is the annual stop of the greater flamingos on the south-eastern shores of Cyprus. Give or take, around 20,000 flamingos first head to the Akrotiri Lake (also known as the Limassol Salt Lake) during the months of November and December, where they patiently await for the water level of Larnaca Lake to adequately increase. The Greater Flamingos can also be spotted at Oroklini Salt Lake as well as Paralimni Lake. We were also delighted to host professional cyclists from northern climates who opted Cyprus for their training, as besides the appropriate type of weather it offers, the road surface quality as well as the assortment of elevation present on the island, make it an enticing destination. Likewise, a great deal of bike-lover-tourism prefer to cycle across the island’s 9,250sqm territory, as it happens to be an excellent way to basically take a glimpse of everything.