COVER N.76 - Cyprus

Postmark: Larnaka - Cyprus - 1FEB22
Posted on the 14th February; received on the 23rd February
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I spent a few days in Cyprus a couple of weeks ago. I had the opportunity to visit a good deal of the country, experiencing all kinds of weather: rain, a tremendous hail shower, mountains with roads closed due to snow storms and warm sunny days by the sea... the full catalogue, it seems.

I found it full of interesting archaeological spots well worth visiting, lively cities that somehow seem to be undergoing a transformation from the old colonial towns that seemed you have stopped in time after the independence  into modern and functional cosmopolises and a beautiful and inviting seaside.

I was also lucky to have been greeted by the first flowers of an early spring (this was the warmest winter of the last 30 years, I was told... bloody climate change to blame...) and everywhere I looked wild anemones and cyclamen were dotting the ground with their graceful presence and colours. I also saw the first wild Orchids of the year there -  Orchis collina - of which there were plenty in the main Pafos Archaeological site.

Orchis collina

Unfortunately I wasn't able to go to Northern Cyprus, because the insurance for the car wouldn't cover it. I could (and did try to) walk my way through in Nicosia, but a negative COVID test was being asked for at the crossing checkpoint and it was already late so there would be no point in doing it to visit the northern side of Nicosia by night and the very next day I was going to Larnaka so... maybe next time!

I couldn't let go of the opportunity to send me a cover, but it was not the easiest thing to do because the post office is only open from 8 to 14 and since I'd be travelling or visiting sites in the mornings I had to find me a way of getting the visit to the post office into my journey programme. I managed to finally do it in Larnaka, but when I visited the post office there I wasn't wearing my glasses and I ended up making a mess of the glued stamps because I used way to much glue on them...

I also sent some post cards from some other cities and they did arrive today also, but  unfortunately all came with uncancelled stamps..... 

Anyway, a most pleasant visit and another country in my philatelic Atlas!

Stamps:

As a way to help finance the Refugee Fund created by the Cypriot Government to deal with the problems caused by the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974, a special "Refugee Stamp" was created in 1971, with a value of 10 mils, that was thereafter obligatorily applied to every object to be posted.

From 1984 the refugee stamp started to be denominated in Euro with a value of 1 cent and, from 1989 on, it has become an yearly issue, always with the same design but with a different background colour. Staring in 2008 it's face value was increased to the current 2 cents.

The 2020 stamp on my cover was issued on 12FEB2020.

4 0,34€ stamp souvenir sheet issued on 8JUL2021, celebrating the Natura 2000 Network Sites in Cyprus. Quoting directly from the European Environmental Agency: "Natura 2000 is a network of protected areas covering Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats. It is the largest coordinated network of protected areas in the world, extending across all 28 EU countries, both on land and at sea. The sites within Natura 2000 are designated under the Birds and the Habitats Directives."

The stamps are illustrated with pictures of protected animals in their local habitats, and clockwise from top left we have  (quoting the Cyprus post website): the lake of Oroklini with the Flamingos, Tripilos in the forest of Paphos with the Agrino (Mouflon), Akamas with the snow crane and sea area with Posidonia oceanica and Caretta Caretta turtle.