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Xyloscala: entrance to the Samaria Gorge

The main trail is so well-tramped that it is easy to follow and needs no signposting. Instead, signboards indicate points of interest. Drinking water, WCs and smokers’ stopping places are provided at intervals. Do not add to the huge number of stone cairns made by thoughtless trippers within recent years. They are not a natural feature of the valley floor and, worse, they have been seen to injure the kri-kri when they run away as, naturally, they are skittish. Wardens patrol the route and a mule-borne rubbish-collection patrol operates in the late afternoon, after most walkers have gone. Keep your ticket; it is collected at the other end.

KRI-KRI

The agrimi (‘the wild one’), also known as the ‘kri-kri’, is a type of goat about the size of a sheep, with a black stripe down its back. Both sexes and even the newborn have horns, but an old male sporting the huge horns once so prized by hunters may not exist in the wild at present. Some tavernas still feature kri-kri horns as wall decorations, but these date from the time before this delightful animal was protected from hunting. Only the sight of the massive cliffs and steep mountainsides of the upper gorge can explain how the kri-kri has managed to survive into modern times. The agrimi features in Bronze Age illustrations, but since it can be tamed and milked (or eaten), archaeologists rate it as an even older native of Crete – perhaps a Neolithic domestic goat. In the spring, when there is plentiful food on the high crags, you may not see a kri-kri. But in the autumn, when food is scarce, it should be easier, as some of them – protected by the wardens – frequent the Ay. Nikolaos chapel area and Samaria old village. In spite of conservation efforts there is inter-breeding with domestic goats. Among domestic goats nearby and in the lower part of the gorge you may see half-breeds with the characteristic black stripe down their backs (see also ‘ssss1’, above).