Hey Guys,
this year me and my wife made (the third year in a row) herping vacation in Cyprus...okay, not only herping (it was more a prework for a forthcoming scientific project in the next years with Macrovipera lebetinus, to find good locations). The last three years we visited Cyprus on several occasions to find out the best time for vipers (and the worst time). We can assume that the ideal time doesn´t exist (it´s a bit comparable to Morocco...one year you can find a lot of individuals of one species, the other year you might see almost nothing at the same spots, the same time and the same hours). The best chance to see a Macrovipera at daytime is (of course) definitely in April / May, and in my own opinion the last week of April is the most "productive" one. Anyway a friend of mine (who was also several times on Cyprus for scientific stuff) told me, that he had an April with no findings the whole month long but then appears a peak in May.
Anyway, we started our vacation this year (last week of April and first week of May) with an unpleasant stay in a hotel in Aachen, Germany before we headed to Frankfurt airport for takeoff.
At arrival in the middle of the night at Larnaca airport we headed first to a supermarket and bought some food for a late (or early) dinner. Fortunately in Cyprus a lot of local stores are open everytime (even if Google says that they´re closed).
We drove to our destination in the Paphos district.
The next day we started at a place northeast to Paphos (close to Androlikou) which I accidentally identified as a potential habitat in 2021. We found three Macroviperas in around one hour, one of them a youngster from last year.
Cyprus is definitely a place for lizard hunters as you can find a lot of individuals nearly every meter you walk, irrespective of the time of the "active" year (except harduns which are predominant in the hottest months from May to September)!
While searching with flashlights during the evening or flipping stones in the Paphos district during the day, geckos where frequently found everywhere in the Paphos district.
We visited a lot of reptile habitats in the sorroundings of Paphos and enjoyed a beautiful flowery scenery with "comfortable" temperatures (only 24-30°C...compared to 40-48°C in late August which we suffered in 2020)
We also had the chance to take a look at some other, more sightseeing - like places
Besides lizards many intersting animals were found (especially birding people will find their paradise)
Signs of snakes were seen almost everywhere in the area...very common as DOR´s. It seems that the island is completely filled up with snakes and indeed there are a lot...but it strongly depends and from previous trips I know that Cyprus can really be a pain in the ass when it comes to snakesearching . This year we were lucky with a lot of vipers (usually one per day) and everyday Dolichophis jugularis (which were to fast and usually to far away to get a good photo).