A Day In Lavender Land

The Cypriot summer always makes us to crave greenery and nature but finding blooming flowers after April is quite a challenge which we happily took on when we visited Cyherbia park. Back in June the park held the Annual Lavender Festival and we couldn't say no to that.

We drove all the way to Avgorou village, though many farming areas following the signs of the botanical garden in Famagusta area.

Cyherbia has a really nice and inspiring story about how it all began. Adam and Miranda, the founders of the park had a constant battle with their daughter's health problems which was deteriorating slowly despite the doctor's prescriptions. One day Miranda decided to turn to natural remedies and even got her degree in herbal medicines. With the daily infusion of sage, peppermint and thyme the little girl became healthier and stronger. In the meantime Adam had a vision of growing herbs which lead him to buy a land in Avgorou and after many years of sweat and tears Cyherbia finally opened its doors for the public in 2012.

We purchased our tickets which included free samples of lavender tea, lavender ice and cakes and Emma received a list of tasks she could complete by going around the gardens and the labyrinth trying to find the answers for all the questions for a small bag of dried lavender at the end.

It was already very hot so we decided to have a few minutes chilling time in the tea garden before we explore the entire park.

As expected the whole area was decorated with herbs, mainly lavenders and smelled amazing. In the middle of the restaurant they set up a workshop table where kids could make lavender wands, candle holders or dream-catchers. Emma didn't fancy doing it so we looked around in the herbs shop where I bought myself a beautiful diffuser necklace and claimed our ice teas and cakes. (They were super yummy and refreshing)

Through a small wooden gate we walked into the themed herbs garden and lavender labyrinth where Emma could begin working on her sheet and hunt for the hidden figures while I was sniffing around.

There were 9 themed gardens such as kitchen, cosmetics, meditation, poisonous... representing different herbs and plants with their uses. Emma was amazed by the butterflies and caterpillars and Philip found his spot too.

The walk took a good 20 minutes before getting back to the starting point, where just to avoid dehydration we ordered another round of ice teas and relaxed a bit in the hammocks enjoying the breeze. The park's main attraction, the maze was still ahead us and we needed to catch our breath before getting lost in the sun.

Yes, we did get lost, took the wrong turns quite a few times but it was really fun. Emma was still doing her researches about the local birds, running up and down, hopping through cheating holes occasionally before we reached a viewing point. We climbed up the tower to have a chance to memorise the maze's layout, how many lefts and rights we need to take until we can get to the centre of it. In another 5 minutes the mission was completed and we were on our way to the last but largest part of the park, the map of the island formed by Cypresses.

All along the path they hid little fairy houses and butterflies to keep the children entertained, and our exploration ended in a small wooden cabin, which reminded me of a hobbit cottage. Sun dried flowers, herbs and educational posters about Cyprus's flora and fauna were covering every bits of the place.

At the exit Emma handed over her questionnaire and received her little prize as promised.

We walked back to our car slowly, taking all the beautiful memories with us.

I found out later that they organise many creative events throughout the year, such as Faerie Folk Festival, Halloween and Pumpkin Carving, Lavender Festival and  Easter Egg Hunt with costume plays and adventures so I'm pretty sure we will return to Cyherbia at least one more time.