Betty Boothroyd's Bolthole

Baroness Boothroyd, former Speaker of the House of Commons, was asked by the Sunday Telegraph what place she considered to be heaven on earth. Her reply was Cyprus.

She said "I discovered Cyprus in the 1970s on a parliamentary group trip, and fell in love with it. It's now my little bolthole, to which I try to escape several times a year.

I've been all over the island - driving through the Troodos Mountains, and visiting the monasteries or other antiquities like the ruins of ancient Salamis. I've even been paragliding.

I usually stay outside Paphos, on the coast, and my routine is to have breakfast outside in my swimsuit and shorts, and then go beachcombing. I also love to swim and the water is so clear you can see the colour of your toenails. Occasionally I'll have lunch with some of my many friends on the island. After a day outdoors, I'm happy to spend the evening with friends in a little taverna somewhere.

Turtle Watching in Cyprus

Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and Loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) nest only in a handful of select locations around the world. Cyprus just happens to be one of those locations. The pollution-free sands of the Akamas Peninsula (particularly Lara Bay) and the beaches near Polis provide an annual refuge for turtles to lay their eggs. These are special places that should be treated with care and respect.


The action always begins in June. Turtles from all across the Mediterranean descend on the beaches of Western Cyprus and Turkey. They arrive in their hundreds under cover of darkness, choosing sand high up on the beaches in which to lay their clutch of eggs. Typically a hundred eggs will be laid in one clutch, the turtles returning three, four or even five times through the summer to lay new clutches on the beach. Despite these apparently large numbers, only 20% of eggs laid are hatched. The remainder fall foul of foxes and other wildlife on the island.

Eggs hatch in around seven weeks. A mad dash to the sea by the hatchlings then ensues. Again, not all of them will make it, the wildlife picking them off before they can reach the relative safety of the water.
Lara Bay in Akamas is now a protected area during the turtle breeding season. Conservationists work to protect the eggs and to escort hatchlings to the sea. Even so estimates put the yearly survival rate of turtles at only 6,000 - 7,000. It is a very low number for two species that find themselves on the verge of extinction.

Turtle watching is best performed from afar so as not to disturb these beautiful aquatic reptiles. Evening twilight or dawn break are the best times to see the turtles waddle across the sands. Some people have even spotted turtles swimming in the crystal clear waters close to the beaches in daylight hours.

A beachfront villa with outstanding views of the sea and the tranquil countryside close to this beautiful Akamas conservation area would be an ideal holiday home, or as an investment.



Iberian International have a 2 bedroom beachfront villa

for GBP171,000 at Argarka Bay

Spring Delights

The first orchids bloom in January in Cyprus, and by mid-February the countryside is already alive with fresh green meadows and almond trees in bloom. March days can still be cool (daytime temperatures around 19C or 65F, (9C or 40F at night) but steadily moderate. Early spring is a wonderful time to visit to Cyprus, with pleasant daytime temperatures and many of the ancient ruins framed by a carpet of red anemones and other wildflowers. In April and into the middle of May spring is in full force. This is an ideal time for nature hikes and off-road adventures in the pristine Akamas Peninsula.

Cyprus has 1,950 species of flowering plants, 140 of which do not grow anywhere else except on the island, and in the Akamas alone, there are 700 plant species, of which 40 are endemic. From February to April, pink cyclamen sprouts up from rocky foothills and thickets and forms a riveting adornment to the Baths of Aphrodite. From March to April, the pink wavy-leaved monkey orchid (Orchis italica) grows in dense patches around Paphos. In summer Cyprus is the place to bask in the sun, but spring is the time to savour the natural beauty of the island in bloom.