A genuine Kri Kri family

ANY day out with our senior group KAPI usually means a short visit to a church ior monastery, but this week was a little different, we were actually able to see Kri Kri. Kri-Kri is the common name of the Cretan feral goat (Capra aegagrus ssp. cretica) which is the largest wild mammal on the island. Its grandeur, its bravery, its ability to observe without being noticed, its speed and its impressive horns are the features that were loved by the locals and made it a symbol of Crete and the untamed Cretan spirit.

 It lives mainly on the White Mountains and its local name is "Agrimi" (GR: Αγρίμι = the wild one) for the male and "Sanada" (GR: Σανάδα) for the female. Recent years, young kri-kris have approached the old village of Samaria, where they are fed by the park rangers and can be seen by the visitors. Kri-kris and goats are close genetically, as the hybridization that exists between them show. Kri-kri's size however is a good deal larger than that of a goat. The young kid was skittish of course, but was lured to the fence with some grass for a photo chance.

We saw them in a taverna high up in the hills during a  day trip to the west of the island, when the staff pointed them out to us, as they are rather special. They had a whole family in a perfect setting. We had seen images of them and even stuffed ones in the natural history museum, but it was nice to see them up close and personal.

  Our day out included the village of Vrisses, where they sell their famous yoghurt and then to Georgeopoulis, famous for their traditional bread. Needless to say we came home with bags of both, whoever the two coachload of KAPI members actually cleared the bakery out, which was some going as they produce over 1,000 loaves every day.  Some of the locals had to make do with a wait, only 15 minutes to get to the next batch.