KARPAS NATIONAL PARK

This "national park" (Karpaz Milli Parkı, Εθνικό Πάρκο Καρπασίας/Ethniko Parko Karpasias) covers the Karpas peninsula between Rizokarpaso/Dipkarpaz and Cape St. Andrew over 192,3 ^km2 (9,645 ha on land and 9,485 ha at sea), including Golden Beach, the Apostolos Andreas monastery and the Aphendrika church site. This is in fact the "Karpas Special Environmental Protection Area" (Krapaz Özel Çevre Korum Bölgesi), created in 2004 on the site of a former Turkish military zone. Due to the legal status of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, this protected area is not recognized as a "national park" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Nevertheless, a number of plant and animal species benefit from a large area without a strong human presence. The most emblematic is the Cyprus donkey (Kıbrıs Eşeği, Κυπριακό Γαϊδούρι/Kypriako Gaïdoúri), here known as the "Karpas wild donkey". This subspecies is related to both the common donkey (Equus asinus) and the African wild donkey (Equus africanus asinus).

Donkey dams. The peninsula's 1,500 or so donkeys are the descendants of domestic donkeys that were left to fend for themselves after Greek Cypriot farmers were forced to leave following the 1974 invasion. Protected since 2009, they live in the wild, but are mainly fed by tourists. Tour operators here have got into the habit of bringing them carrots, apples and cucumbers so that they can be approached and tourists can have their photo taken with them. Over time, the donkeys have understood this and now block the roads to beg for food and water. So be sure to bring enough supplies to get through the checkpoints organized by these animals... whose reputation for being stubborn is confirmed here! The "national park" is also home to nine nesting areas for green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) and loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta), notably on Golden Beach, as well as the important nesting area of Audouin's gull on the Klides archipelago at Cap Saint-André, and several rare species of butterflies and bats, such as the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus). Sleeping in the park is possible. While many illegal structures have been destroyed in recent years, a number of hotels remain and, in the absence of any real controls, wild camping is also an option.