Northern Cyprus, the Homeland of Wild Donkeys – Part 1

For the readers of the Globetrotter online magazine, I explored Cyprus together with a long-time volunteer of Hostelling international Slovenia and journalist of the Globetrotter online magazine, Dušan Berdnik, who will present a part of the island under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Cyprus.

The time of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the conditions for migration between regions and countries are quite different from those before the pandemic, also marked Cyprus, so that the passage through a checkpoint in the center of the only divided capital in the world, Nicosia, is far from easy.

How happy is the one who says I am a Turk

The EU COVID-19 certificate wasn’t enough to move to the northern part of the city, where EU citizens can also travel with an identity card. At this checkpoint, the only one intended for pedestrians, they also demanded a negative result of a rapid or PCR test and proof that we had stayed in the Republic of Cyprus for at least ten days.

Considering that we traveled around Cyprus in a rented car, we also intended to enter the northern part at one of the road checkpoints, so we went to another checkpoint intended only for the passage of vehicles.

At this checkpoint, we were at least a little lucky, because, in addition to the EU COVID-19 certificate, they demanded "only" a negative test, which we took for free a few minutes before the crossing. It should be emphasized that car insurance isn’t valid in the northern part and so we also took out car insurance at the border. At the same time, I would like to warn all readers who plan to travel around Cyprus with a rented vehicle to check the rental conditions carefully, as some don’t allow the passage at all, and with all the others you’ll be travelling solely at your own risk.

At first glance, Northern Cyprus is different from the rest of the island, as the words of the founder of modern Turkey, Kemal Atatürk, "Ne mutlu Türküm diyene" or "How happy is the one who says I am a Turk", await you. It should be emphasized that this isn’t a poster or a roadside sign, but an inscription on a hill, which, together with the flags, stretches across the surface of four football fields and is also visible from space.

Between cats and donkeys

Northern Cyprus is less populated, but not when it comes to donkeys and cats, which are inextricably linked to Cyprus. The cats were brought to Cyprus, the island of Aphrodite, by Cleopatra with the intention of exterminating snakes, which they largely succeeded in doing, as I saw only one snake on the whole island, and it was run over on the road. However, this doesn’t apply to cats, which we meet at every turn and are still highly respected today because of their important role. Like cats, donkeys are respected in Cyprus and have even become the island’s unofficial mascot. Cyprus is dominated by European donkeys; dark brown with a light belly, which are slightly larger, and in addition to European, there are also slightly smaller gray African donkeys, representing about 20% of the total donkey population.

But if you can run into cats at every turn, it would require much more effort to run into a donkey, as in nature they are found only in the northeast of Cyprus in the Dipkarpaz National Park on the Karpas Peninsula, which is almost 150 kilometers away from the capital.

The path to the national park is quite picturesque, and along the way there are also many excellent beaches and restaurants, so I have no doubt that this one-day trip will impress you.

"Road robbers" in the northeast of Cyprus

But you will surely be thrilled when you drive into the interior of the fenced area, where donkeys, like some road robbers, will soon block your way, surround you and expect some treat; best of all some ripe carob beans, which are sold at the entrance. If you’ve ever wondered if the window on a car is big enough for a donkey to push its whole head through, you’ll get the right answer right there.

In addition to donkeys, the peninsula also boasts the monastery of St. Andrew or "Apostolos Andreas", located at the very end of the island, whose history dates back to the 15th century, when a small chapel was built here, followed by a larger one in the 18th century and a hundred years later also by a monastery in its present form.

After visiting the monastery, of course, a breakthrough to the exit awaits you, and if you’ve used up all the carob beans, I advise you to equip yourself with new ones, otherwise you’ll have a hard time convincing the donkeys to clear the way for you.

Famagusta, Gazimağusa, Mağusa and Varosha

Despite all the names, under all of them hides the city of Evagoras, a Greek king from the 4th century BC, which is located exactly on the demarcation line, which is also associated with the recent history of the city. Until 1974, both the Greeks and the Turks lived in the city, and after the events of 1974, Famagusta became a part of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, including the Varosha district, which was inhabited predominantly by the Greeks, who left it entirely. Given that the owners of the land and buildings were almost exclusively the Greeks, the city district has remained intact since 1974. Varosha, once a famous resort, is still a stumbling block to the European Parliament and even the UN Security Council, which in July 2021 declared any settlement of anyone other than former residents unacceptable.

Unlike Varosha, which meets all the conditions for the title of ghost town, the Turkish part of the city, especially the old part behind the walls, is a real tourist treat, as the very entrance to the old town is impressive. We enter the historic center of Famagusta through one of the city gates in the walls, which atre extremely well preserved and are in itself a tourist attraction.

At the entrance to Famagusta, I also conclude the first part of the travelogue, and you’ll learn about what’s inside the walls, about the capital, the most beautiful port and much more in the second half of the travelogue in the next issue.