Letters on Cyprus: It’s Cyprus, but not as we know it….

An interesting letter and thoughts from a Mr Brian Whiffen after a recent holiday to Paphos:

“Our final visit to Paphos“

Why you may ask will this be my final visit to Paphos? Well it all hinges on what you want from a holiday, and we have over the years had many in Paphos, but this we agree will be the last, our reasons are many fold.

We arrived at our hotel, a modern and fairly new building in good condition, which has plenty of pleasant enough – though mainly off island – staff. The house keeping is first class, so what is wrong with it?

The hotel is soul-less. once through the doors we could be almost anywhere in the world, no sign of that Cypriot touch, no Cypriot music – in-fact no music at all. All of the artwork comprises modern photo prints.

Perhaps the dining area would re-affirm where we are? No, it was an international dinner menu. There was no village salad, no dips, factory bread and in the main poorly- prepared breakfast was as expected cold platter or hot selection, with a token Greek-style yogurt.

We walk out to the nearest bars only to find an Irish bar, an English bar/cafe and a Russian owned Italian restaurant.

The next day we jumped a bus to the harbour. This became the highlight and we went back a few days later and with work done and some in progress it’s becoming as smart as any we have been to around Greece.

But, once we walked away from the sea front to areas and hotels we remember well We came to an immediate agreement: ‘what a dump’. Many of what use to be excellent hotels now look almost derelict, the taverns and bars we use to frequent look filthy and run down. In fact the whole area now look like a third-world town, Every spare plot now has signs in Mandarin or Russian rather than the three official languages of the island,

I still love the island and its indigenous people and will continue to follow the ups and downs of daily life in the Cyprus Mail in the hopes that when we can afford to make our next visit, we can find once again that little bit of Cypriot heaven somewhere else on the island.

Brian Whiffen,
Bedford, UK

This letter was published in the Letters section of the Cyprus-Mail online newspaper.
More letters can be found in the Letters on Cyprus category in my blog.

KEO brewer for the next Cyprus President?

There is a man in Limassol
I don’t know his name
He is very good at what he does
And brewing is his game
I don’t mean brewing coffee
Or even brewing tea
What he brews is KEO
And he will do for me
You know when you’re in Cyprus
How hot the sun can get
Cold KEO is the only drink
To keep your whistle wet
So this man in Cyprus
Whose skill is heaven sent
For brewing nectar of the gods
Should be the President 

Terry Pappoo Rawson,
Limassol

An interesting thought I found today in the Letters section of the Cyprus-Mail online newspaper….

More information about KEO (the lager beer) and the brewery here. It’s not just beer that is produced at the KEO factory. They are also responsible for wines and various spirits.

Cyprus: where are my Christmas cards and presents?

It’s the question on every Expats’ lips again this year due to a distinct lack of mail arriving from the UK.

Mail seems to arrive with regularity from other destinations but from UK it seems like post and presents have disappeared into another black hole.

My mother posted a Christmas card to us over 2 weeks ago now – and there’s still no sign of it even though we get a mail delivery from our local “postie” on his moped on a daily basis (with the exception of Monday as a rule).

This comment below is from the head of the postal services:

“PEOPLE are still waiting for Christmas letters and parcels from the UK, but the postal services said yesterday they were trying to resolve the situation with the Royal Mail.

“Over the past few days – just like last year – we have unfortunately observed delays with UK delivery because there are fewer flights [from the UK to Cyprus],” the head of postal services, Andreas Gregoriou, said.”
Follow the link through the image below for the remainder of this Cyprus-Mail article.

Now that’s as maybe, but – my understanding is that mailbags do not get put onto every flight that departs UK. There are designated routes and flights for mailbag dispatch so I’m not totally convinced of this explanation. Particularly more so in my capacity of being a regular dispatcher of envelopes and small packages from Cyprus to UK. Our mail is currently reaching our customers inside 7 – 10 days whereas normally it takes around 3 – 7 days (depending on the day of posting).

These quotes below are from a number of Expats living in Cyprus :

• “We seldom see our postman (on his moped) deliver when it’s raining, maybe that’s the reason.”
• “This is true, very few cards and expected parcels not received from the UK, no doubt it will be like last year with hundreds of mailbags waiting to be sorted and delivered at Larnaca airport! Most cards arrived in January.
• I also think, due to the shocking price of postage in the UK, many people are now sending a lot fewer cards.”
• “Went to the post office this morning as I am waiting for cards and parcels from the UK. Picked up one parcel which was stamped 6th Dec ? Asked the post lady what the problem was and she said mail is stuck in Heathrow.”
• “They seem a surly bunch in the main PO, quite unlike the staff at the Old Post Office who seem much friendlier and generally more helpful.”
• “We experienced this a few weeks ago. At the new PO they were totally unhelpful and couldn’t care less whereas at the old post office the lady there was very helpful.”
• “The lady at the new Post Office is very helpful as well!! I have seen her on many occasions. Her name is Miss Ellie and is upstairs.”
• “Cards are slower than usual but I ordered a pc from Amazon on tuesday afternoon. I received a call at 5pm on thursday to say it had arrived by courier. When I told the guy that I wouldnt be able to get up to thir office before xmas, he said he would bring it to me. It arrived at 11am yesterday morning. Excellent Service!! Merry xmas.”
  (Posts from Cyprus Living forum members)

Compare that article with a similar one from last year.

Is there nowhere safe to walk our dogs?

LETTERS ON CYPRUS

I have lived in Cyprus for 11 years. I love this country and the people who are mostly kind and generous. However, one Sunday recently I and my friend walked our four dogs along Melanda Beach, Avdimou towards Pissouri, a walk we have taken nearly every week for the last nine years sometimes with my grandchildren.

This is one of the few beaches registered for dog walking and we have always believed it to be safe from poison and hunters. On the return from the cliffs the dogs ran onto the beach.  I could see some fishermen winching in a small fishing boat onto a trailer. I whistled the dogs back. Unfortunately, within minutes they all started to display signs of poisoning. Within the 10 minutes it took to fetch the car the smallest, a Miniature Pincher had died, the second, a large Lab was in a coma and the third was going through terrible convulsions.

By the time we arrived at the vet’s in Avdimou five minutes later, all three dogs were dead. The fourth had eaten enough grass to vomit the small amount of poison she had ingested and survived.

Police were called, and an autopsy was done on the Pincher.  The vet found only ‘a small handful of fish food which smelt strongly of insecticide’. The dog also had massive internal bleeding.  Everyone agreed there was evidence the dogs had ingested a very strong poison, stronger than banned Lannate.

Why was poisoned fish food on a beach that is used by families, and what were fishermen using it for?

Locals and the vet believe some use the poison fish food to kill fish, scoop them from the surface, and use them ‘for personal consumption’ as suggested by the police – or  they’re sold for public consumption.  While it’s known that this happens, no one will admit to knowing anyone who uses this method.

Since that fateful Sunday we discovered that in the last three months six more dogs and three cats have died a similar death in the area. But because they were not reported and no autopsies were done, police are treating this as an isolated incident.

Evidence suggests that the fish food was either deliberately thrown to dogs by the fishermen or carelessly left on the beach where a child could have have picked it up.  The Avdimou vet has urged the police to take action and notify relevant government bodies .  Police do not believe there is a risk to public health, nor do they have the resources or the finance to pursue such cases.  So unless my friend and I find the fishermen WITH the poisoned fish food, no further action will be taken.

Although we are mourning our dogs we are more concerned that a child could have picked up the poison or seen their own dog going through a terrible death.   Are the police really waiting for the death of a child or someone else who has eaten contaminated fish before they act?

I for one won’t be eating local fish unless I know and trust who has caught it.

Karina Wild,
Avdimou

Letter taken from the Cyprus-Mail.com online newspaper

See also my blog post and related comments on safe dog beaches in Cyprus